At this point, one of three things can happen:
1. You can wake up immediately to light sleep or completely awake, wondering why
they are suddenly awake,
2. You can stop breathing for 1-9 seconds and then wake up
to light sleep or completely awake, choking, coughing or gasping for air, with
your heart pounding, or
3. You can stop breathing for more than 10 to 40 seconds, and then wake up go
back to sleep.
Depending on how sensitive your nervous system is, you will either wake up
quickly every time you obstruct, or wake up after long breathing pauses. A pause
for more than 10 seconds is called an apnea. More than 5-10 apneas every hour
means you may have obstructive sleep apnea.
To compensate for breathing problems, most people with anxiety like to sleep on
their sides or stomach, but whenever they roll onto their backs, this is when
they are most likely to obstruct and wake up. Imagine if you kept waking up from
deep to light sleep 5-10 times every hour. Think how you would feel during the
day. Your nervous system, emotions and senses will be heightened, and you'll
overreact to every little thing. Plus you'll be always tired, no matter how long
you sleep.
So the next time you go to sleep, think about your sleep position, and which
position you tend to wake up most often. If you developed a habit of sleeping on
your back for whatever reason (your grandmother told you it was healthy, or your
dermatologist told you to do so to reduce facial wrinkles), go back to sleeping
on your back or side, or whichever is more comfortable.
