Alcohol and AHI

[ppca]

I've gone through a few threads here, dealing with the same topic. Mixed reactions and different experiences, so here's mine.

Lots of times I take a nap after lunch. A good meal, combined with some alcohol, usually makes me sleepy, so I take a 1.5-2 hours nap. My AHI during that session is typically very low, and quite often zero. When I go to bed later that night (no alcohol), I typically sleep for another 6-7 hours, and my AHI is actually pretty good (anything between 1 and 2, in most cases), but always higher than during those sleep sessions after alcohol consumption.

It is also much easier for me to fall asleep after lunch (just a few minutes), while at night I am often struggling. Sometimes it can take an hour to fall asleep. I suppose the obvious answer is that a glass of wine, or a beer, after lunch helps to fall asleep faster.

It appears that moderate consumption of alcohol does tend to lower my AHI, and give me a good quality sleep (nap). During that short session, I do not wake up. It is typically a 1.5-2 hours sleep. No idea if I reach the REM stage or not, but normally I feel refreshed when I wake up. My overnight sleep is quite often a different story. I wake up multiple times, sometimes more, sometimes less, and the overall quality of sleep is not as good as during my naps.

I know one thing. I am definitely not going to drink more, in order to keep my AHI numbers lower (liver matters too  ). Just wanted to share my experience with the forum.

[bluesboybob]

I have the same experience with naps and AHI but there is no alcohol involved in my case. A couple of times a week I might take a 1-1.5 hour afternoon nap. I sleep soundly and my AHI is usually 0. At night my AHI is usually 1.0-2.0. I always figured the difference was because the apneas didn't kick in until after the first hour of sleep.

[mesenteria]

Napping is a once-a-year thing for me, but when I do go down because of a perceived deficit, I rarely sleep for more than one hour.  That's not really long enough to get to the first REM stage after sleep onset.  I think that REM and beyond invites changes to the body's tone or positional changes that cause more OSA's.  Also, alcohol is a depressant, so it shouldn't be surprising to learn after the fact that you slept differently than otherwise. We would tend to be more immobile with a depressant riding our sleep.

[ppca]

I have the same experience with naps and AHI but there is no alcohol involved in my case. A couple of times a week I might take a 1-1.5 hour afternoon nap. I sleep soundly and my AHI is usually 0. At night my AHI is usually 1.0-2.0. I always figured the difference was because the apneas didn't kick in until after the first hour of sleep.

Hmm...maybe my lower AHI during naps has nothing to do with alcohol consumption. As I said in the original post, my numbers are almost identical to yours: zero, or very close to it, during naps; 1-2 (sometimes a bit higher) at night.

However, with regards to apneas kicking in, I can see them in SleepyHead in the first hour, even in the first 20-30 minutes, during my night sessions...never, or very rarely during naps.