Heart Stop/Sleep Apnea Question

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea for a year or so.  During the sleep test at that time they told me I would stop breathing for 3 seconds at various times. 

More recently, upon review of a heart monitor report my cardiologist told me my heart stopped for three seconds on 3 occasions.  Is this cessation of breathing due to the heart or apnea?  Is there a correlation between the two?

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks.


2 Comments

Apnea

by ROBO Pop - 2019-07-12 12:37:38

Which came first, the chicken or the egg. Well in honesty that answer is obvious, the chicken got laid first. But your question isn't so simple.

Sleep Apnea and Heart Failure go hand in hand. I don't know whether the heart stoppage or the breathing are the impedus but does it matter. I assume your Apnea is being treated and if you have a CPSP or BiPAP the machine will give you daily data on how your performing. The forced air should help reduce the incidence of episodes. Your numbers should be below 5 for APNEAs and 0 for periodic breathing.

Stop breathing

by AgentX86 - 2019-07-12 12:46:42

The statement that you stopped breathing for three seconds occasionally doesn't make much sense. The normal respiration rate is something like 17 per minute,  likely less when sleeping. That translates to three or four seconds between breaths. Stopping for three seconds doesn't seem to be all that abnormal.

A three second cardiac pause is definitely abnormal but not something to be overly alarmed about. I had three second pauses for several years and my cardiologist wasn't too concerned. Much longer than that and it quickly gains attention,  though.

Yes, these go together and it doesn't get better. Treating it now may mean that you can avoid more drastic steps later. The fact that you know about them while the treatment is simple, is a good thing.

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