Catathrenia is a rare disorder that causes you to groan while you sleep. The sounds associated with catathrenia are often described as long moaning, humming, or cracking while breathing out. This article explains what catathrenia is, how it's diagnosed, and ways to treat it.
Your last period of REM sleep may last as long as an hour. These latter periods of REM sleep include most episodes of groaning. Groaning may occur from time to time during other stages of sleep. A moaning sound can also occur during an epileptic seizure.
What Is Catathrenia? Catathrenia is the medical term for groaning during sleep. Persons with this condition emit long, sometimes loud groans on exhalation or out-breathing, most commonly during REM or deep sleep. Catathrenia is, in this sense, the opposite of snoring, which occurs on inhalation or in-breathing.
Many people with catathrenia mention that they also have some form of stress or anxiety in their lives.
A typical polysomnographic description of catathrenia includes a deep inhalation followed by a protracted exhalation, which presents with a respiratory pattern of bradypnea resembling central apneas, during which moaning or groaning sounds are produced, usually lasting between 2 and 49 sec(13).
Catathrenia is a sleep-disordered breathing pattern characterized as expiratory groaning or moaning during sleep.
Catathrenia is very rare, with onset usually in adolescence or early adulthood (mean age 19 years with a range of 5 to 36 years). The prevalence of catathrenia is greater in men than in women.
Sexsomnia, characterized by sexual behavior during sleep, is within the spectrum of parasomnias occurring predominantly in NREM sleep, as a variant of confusional arousals and sleepwalking, with or without associated obstructive sleep apnea1.
/ (məʊn) / noun. a low prolonged mournful sound expressive of suffering or pleading. any similar mournful sound, esp that made by the wind. a grumble or complaint.
A groan is a brief, strong, deep-throated sound emitted involuntarily under pressure of pain or suffering: The wounded man groaned when they lifted him. A moan is a prolonged, more or less continuous, low, inarticulate sound indicative of suffering, either physical or mental: She was moaning after the operation.
Snoring, snorting or gasping: Noisy sleep is a warning sign that your upper airway might be obstructed. Not all snorers have apnea, but the two often go hand-in-hand. As snoring gets louder, chances of having sleep apnea are greater and greater.
Some medications, such as antidepressants, are also found to cause sleep talking. Drugs incite and increase muscle tone in REM, causing parasomnia such as sleep talking and sleepwalking.
The oral appliance for obstructive sleep apnea can be applied to patients with catathrenia by adjusting the vertical opening slightly. The MAD could improve symptoms and decrease groaning episodes.
Some arrhythmias that can happen with sleep apnea are especially severe and can stop your heart. That stoppage is a life-threatening condition known as sudden cardiac death.
If anyone sleeping near you has ever complained about groaning or moaning at night, you may have a rare sleep disorder called catathrenia. It makes you produce those sounds and hold your breath while you sleep.
What we are not taught is that moaning and other vocalizations serve a purpose. The sudden sound causes a release of breath, an exhalation, and the noise resonates in the brain, potentially increasing serotonin. Believe it or not, research has proved that cursing may increase pain tolerance!
Involuntary vocalizations are a striking feature of several neurological conditions, often associated with movement disorders. They range from simple and brief sounds (e.g., throat clearing, lip smacking, or grunting) to complex and socially inappropriate obscenities such as coprolalia.
Improve sleep
Masturbation releases hormones and neurotransmitters to help reduce stress and blood pressure while promoting relaxation, which may make it easier to fall asleep. A 2019 study that surveyed 778 adults found there was a clear perception of favorable sleep outcomes associated with orgasm.
Sexsomnia, also known as sleep sex, is a type of sleep disorder known as a parasomnia. Parasomnias refer to unusual sensations and behaviors, such as sleepwalking, that people may experience or exhibit while asleep, falling asleep, or waking up. In the case of sexsomnia, people engage in sexual behaviors.
Tactile hallucination is the experience of feeling like you're being touched when you're not. It's one of the most common aspects of sleep paralysis. Many people say they feel pressure or contact. It's like something or someone is holding them down.
Sometimes people sense that another person is in the room, even when no one is present. This sensory hallucination is commonly associated with sleep paralysis, which can co-occur with hypnagogic hallucinations.