Dear Dream Doctor,

I keep dreaming that I can’t breathe. Sometimes I’m underwater, sometimes holding my breath. Still other times I am running and running and can’t breathe. All of my dreams are about different things, some disturbing, others not. My boyfriend says that I REALLY snore. What he described to me sounds more like apnea. Is it a coincidence or do I need to tell my doctor?

—Marissa, Age 28, Pendleton, USA

Hi Marissa—

I’m glad you wrote in with this excellent question.

Dreams often include events that are occurring around us (or within us), into their dream story-lines. If it’s cold in our rooms we may dream that we are sleeping outdoors without a blanket. If the phone rings we may dream that we are trying to answer a pay phone—but can’t get in the booth to pick up the receiver. If we are consistently low on oxygen during sleep, we can have recurring dreams of being short of breath.

Contrary to popular belief, snoring is not a sign of “deep sleep.” Rather, it is only an indicator that a sleeper is experiencing difficulty getting air into his or her lungs. (In sleep disorders clinics, snoring is an indicator of “increased resistance in the airway.”) And, while it is true that not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, the fact is that snoring almost always is associated with this dangerous medical condition.

Sleep apnea is caused by the relaxation of muscle tone that occurs at sleep onset. When our muscle tone relaxes, our airways can become narrow. In some cases (especially if we are sleeping on our backs, which causes the tongue to fall back and crowd the airway), the airway can close off completely.

What’s the result? To see for yourself, try holding your breath for the next thirty seconds. After fifteen seconds, you will be uncomfortably short of breath. After thirty seconds, your lack of air will become an emergency. When this process occurs during sleep, the body releases a jolt of adrenalin (known as the “fight or flight” response) which wakes us up briefly so that we can resume breathing. Typically we arouse, change position a bit, take four or five deep breaths, and quickly fall back asleep. Once we resume sleep, however, the process soon repeats. People with sleep apnea often experience hundreds of “micro-arousals” during the course of a night’s sleep. The dangerous aspect of sleep apnea is that you can have this condition for many years without even knowing that you do. Typically the arousals are so brief that we don’t recall them upon awakening in the morning.

Given your boyfriend’s report that you snore heavily during sleep, I don’t believe that your dreams of being short of breath are a simple coincidence. To the contrary, your dreams almost certainly are showing you, in dream representations, that you are dangerously low on oxygen during sleep. The good news, however, is that sleep apnea is one of the simplest of all sleep disorders to treat. The other good news is that you have discovered this condition while you still are very young. If you make an appointment today to have your sleep apnea evaluated and treated, you will spare yourself the debilitating, and often life-threatening, consequences of this condition. (Sleep apnea places you into an elevated risk category for stroke, heart attack, hypertension and disease). It will also wreak havoc with your personal and professional life, by causing you to be continually tired, run-down, depressed, and not functioning at your full ability.

The most common remark I hear from sleep apneics after they have successfully received treatment and gotten their energy back?

“I wish I’d done this ten years ago!”

Make an appointment today at a sleep disorders center near you. You’ll be glad you did! And, once you get treated, keep spreading the word about the dangers of snoring. It’s no joke!