Throat closes during exhale

[Eurotrekker]

I just had a bronchoscopy today. The doctor informed me that my throat closes when I exhale. He said there is no medicine or surgery that will help. He said I need to learn to meditate. That is hard to do when you wake up from a sound sleep, unable to breathe. I have many illnesses, one is psoriatic arthritis, ankylison  spondylitis. I sleep in a recliner and I use a CPAP machine. There have been several times I've had to use a rescue inhaler to get any air. I even had to spend 5 days in a hospital, because I had carbon dioxide build up in my bloodstream from lack of oxygen. 
Does anyone else wake up from his/her throat closing during exhaling. I don't sleep well and part of that is fear of not waking.

[ajack]

I block on exhale, I just kept increasing my minimum pressure on my automatic till it stopped. Did he say what part of the throat closes, back of tongue. soft palate etc.
what model machine do you have? It should be written on it. It will help with any advice given

[Sleeprider]

It would help to have more information on your CPAP machine and pressures.  Positive pressure can stent open an airway obstruction.  The idea of being prescribed meditation tells me you need a second opinion.  There are many reasons you could experience an inability to spontaneously initiate a breath at the end of exhale.  Some strategies that might help are to increase exhale pressure, provide more inhale pressure support, use bilevel or adaptive servo ventilation.  It's possible your doctor has a good background in the anatomy of the throat, but lacks the knowledge required to treat sleep apnea with the many options available.  

We need to know more about your current therapy, but I would also suggest investigating a doctor that has full accreditation from the
American Academy of Sleep Medicine that have a more disciplined background to finding a more effective solution than meditation.

[quiescence at last]

a lot of us do actually have exhale resistance.  most of the machines measure something called flow limitation, and raise the pressure to reduce that.  but, the machine apparently only registers the flow limitation based on INHALE flow.  I have seen instances where registered flow limitation is zero, but the patient still complains that the airway collapses during exhale.

one solution is to set your minimum to the level you can tell you are not collapsing on exhale.  it is sort of a shot in the dark, because the parameters usually reported don't show you when you have adjusted correctly.

I will post a close up of an restricting exhale versus a normal exhale if I can find them, as an example. (by editing the post).

Hope you will be able to find some relief soon.  Getting SleepyHead or another software to visualize detailed flow may be a must to home in on best treatment.

Just going to ask this: does your throat close during exhale even when awake?

QAL

Update:
           



raspy blocking exhale.                          constricted throat flow limitation on exhale.        inhale flow limitation with some snoring.           normal inhale and exhale.

[Hydrangea]

My throat closes upon exhale as I'm falling asleep. What has helped me is:
- raising my minimum pressure (from 5, to 7)
- lowering the exhale pressure relief

[trish6hundred]

Hi Eurotrekker,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I hope you can get your health problems taken care of, good luck to you, hang in there for more responses to your post.

[kwhenrykerr]

I will post a close up of an restricting exhale versus a normal exhale if I can find them, as an example. (by editing the post).

Thank You GREAT post

[Eurotrekker]

Thank you all. My throat does close sometimes when I'm awake, but mostly when sleeping. I go in for another sleep study next month. Maybe I'll get some answers then.  
I truly appreciate your responses.

[Sleeprider]

Just make sure that the study evaluates you while on CPAP. It could be that you have issues with positive pressure that are not present normally. It seems you should at least look into what pressures are being applied, and try to solve the problem through some adjustments. Otherwise, keep us posted next month.

[Eurotrekker]

Thank you Sleeprider.