Over the past 10 years I woke up gasping for air only a handful of times but I felt like I almost died each time. Very scary! Luckily it doesn't happen often. The symptom that bothers me the most is as follows:
As I am falling asleep I was up feeling short of breath. I take a deeper breath or two start to doze off again and bam it happens again. This happens a multitude of times for hours on end. It doesn't feel like anything is obstructing my airway at all. More like I'm not breathing enough. Like a brain issue or something. So I had a sleep study done. The results are as follows:
I had 4 hours of fragmented sleep (52% efficiency), N1 18%, N2 44%, N3 19%, REM 19%. I had 89 arousals and 39 awakenings with an AI of 22. I had 2 OSA events while in REM and lying in the supine position. I had 1 CSA event while in REM and lying on my left side. No hypopneas. My AHI was 0.7. SATs stayed above 90% all night. My RDI was 8.2 per hour with 31 RERA's. MD impression: Snoring and RERA"s consistent with upper airway resistance. He recommends an oral appliance for snoring.
Question: During my sleep study I did not experience my main problematic symptom stated above. I assume they are RERA's but are they typical symptoms of UARS or could they be CSA"s that were not caught during sleep study since I didn't experience the symptoms during study? Again I don't feel obstructed upon awakenings when I do have them. Also what do you think of the MD recommendations? Thank you!