Why do I forget to breathe – The human body is a fascinating machine that can be debated on whether it has been created or evolved. We literally sprung out of existence in this seemingly dead universe, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Life is not possible on any other planet on our solar system except Earth, and Mars is somehow debateable.
The point is, that we are fragile beings. We are made of a puddle of molecules and atoms which were the ingredients of a star, some billions of years ago. These molecules are what are reading this post right now.
We have segregated our bodies into different systems such as the digestive system, the respiratory system, the nervous system, which differentiates into different organs in our body.
These different organs exist in harmony with each other where everything is controlled by the brain. The brain controls everything, everything including the ones that you don’t know.
If we talk about breathing, breathing is both an involuntary and a voluntary function. Involuntary function means that it is completely autonomic, and you have no control over the same. Voluntary activities include things that we have a conscious control upon.
Breathing is both voluntary and involuntary, and sometimes involuntary breathing is affected by certain diseases. How can someone forget to breathe? It is clearly a statement that is used for reference to indicate sleep apnea. Let us look at this disease in a question and answer format.
Questions related to Why do I forget to breathe:-
What is sleep apnea?
Involuntary functions are those functions that are controlled by the brain without any interference from your consciousness. You cannot start or stop this process and it happens spontaneously.
Breathing, as mentioned above, is an involuntary function too. There is a disease which may or may not happen to you, and in that disease you forget to breathe literally. If you are sleeping for more than 8 hours a day, and you wake up in the morning and feel tired, then know that something is wrong.
Mark my words, I’m not saying that you didn’t sleep properly, you did in your own bed, with the right temperature and everything, for more than 8 hours, and yet you are tired. Yet you feel that your sleep is not complete, and you need more rest. This happens with the problem of snoring too.
Sometimes you may feel that your brain literally forgot to breathe, and you take long inhales which causes snoring. If this is a problem for you, you may have sleep apnea. There are two major types of sleep apnea, and clinical studies have shown that there is also a third type which is more deadlier than the two.
The first type is the obstructive sleep apnea In which the throat muscles are relaxed. You may be able to breathe normally, but you might snore a lot. As for the second type, it is known as central sleep apnea.
In central sleep apnea, the brain does not send signals for the diagram muscles to contract. This causes your breathing to become shallow, and it may lead to severe complications.
When people say that they forget to breathe, they mean that their brain is not sending the signals to your muscles properly. This causes breathlessness, and you might jerk yourself awake, and breathe hard. Sleep apnea takes a million lives every year, and it is also known as the silent death.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
There are various symptoms of sleep apnea that can be noticed by someone that sleeps close to you, or in your vicinity. The most common symptom of sleep apnea is snoring.
There may also be instances where you would try to snore, and you would feel that you are not breathing. This may be reported to you by the person that is sleeping with you, or in your vicinity.
Make sure that you ask someone to check on you, and notice whether you are breathing properly or not, and your breathing patterns. If you live alone and you don’t have anyone to check on your breathing patterns, you can get your own kit.
There are so many sleep apnea kits available in the market, and you can even buy them online. Another major symptom of sleep apnea is the fact that you wake up every day with a headache.
This is also known as morning headache, and you feel very irritated in the morning. As I have mentioned before, it is also possible for you to show signs of anxiety and depression.
There may be two different problems with the patterns of your breathing, and both of them are harmful to you. The first problem would be that there is an increased level of carbon dioxide in your body. This would cause your body to become toxic, and leach out toxins in your cells.
The second problem would be that oxygen increases in your body, and you hyperventilate when you sleep. Sleep apnea can also cause insomnia, where you won’t be able to sleep because of breathing problems.
It can also cause hypersomnia, in which you would just feel like sleeping throughout the whole day. You would not be able to pay any attention to anything while you are awake.
What is the difference between shortness of breath and hyperventilation?
When we talk about shortness of breath, it means that you would not be able to inhale properly. This could happen because of various reasons or it might be something that is obstructing your nasal partway.
Shortness of breath can also occur due to running, climbing, physical activities, or mental exercises. Shortness of breath is a very common term, and can be used for a variety of situations. But when we talk about breathing problems, we include the possibility of inhalation and exhalation.
There might be instances where your throat muscles are too relaxed or too constricted. This may cause serial problems in your sleep. Hyperventilation is also a problem with sleep apnea. So many people also include anxiety and depression in the same category, but it is wrong.
If I were to explain how anxiety feels like, it would be like burning on hot coals in the middle of winter, being naked with just shoes, while it is snowing. If you did not understand the previous statement, it is exactly what I wanted to say.
You cannot explain what anxiety feels like. Yes, anxiety and depression do have symptoms of hyperventilation, but you should not include anxiety and depression in sleep apnea.