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Snoring On The Exhale

by Grant Neel
(Oklahoma City)

I'm a male in my 40's and have snored moderately for most of my adult life with no issues with sleeping or complaints of loud snoring. About 6 years ago my snoring changed from the more typical snoring on the inhale, to a snore while exhaling. I rationalized this behavior and considered it an advantage and aid to propel my stage or depth of sleep.

Until recently, I didn't consider that this type of snoring could have a significant impact on my blood gas ratios while sleeping. Active Internet research reveals practically no distinction of snoring on inhale or exhale, yet it seems the two would have distinct outcomes. Likening the habit to Pursed-lip breathing for COPD therapy, I must admit the chronic cough I had most of my life seems to be gone this last 2 or 3 years. However, I have developed psoriasis as a consolation. Are there any diagnosis, theory or known hazards or advantages to my tendency to snore this way?

Thank you.

Grant




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Snoring On The Exhale

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Oct 20, 2010
 Snoring On The Exhale
by: Kevin Morton

Hey Grant, thanks for writing in with this. I don't know anything myself about the distinction between snoring on the inhale and snoring on the exhale. I'll see if I can find anything out with this, and if I do I'll update this page with whatever info I'm able to get. In the meantime, please share with us if you find our anything yourself.

Best wishes,
Kevin
Oct 24, 2010
 Observations of snoring on exhale
by: Anonymous

I'm thankful that I'm not a snorer myself, BUT I've had 2 (female) partners over the years that have both snored on the exhale. Actually it seemed to me that it was more that their exhale through the nose was blocked ( seemingly in the back of the throat and not in the nasal cavity/nose itself ), and they would sleep also with their mouth closed. It's scary to watch because it looks like they stop breathing - they breathe in, but then they don't breathe out until the pressure builds up enough to be able to be forced out of the closed mouth. Often they would half wake themselves (and me) because of this constantly throughout the night. Neither complained of tiredness during the day. Before I met my 2nd partner I thought it was just a peculiar way my 1st wife slept - but it must be fairly common? Just thought I'd share the observation of what snoring on the exhale actually looks like for those that do it.
Nov 14, 2010
 Snoring On The Exhale
by: Grant

Thanks for the feedback. I have been browsing around and it seems breathing is fundamentally important! (Who knew)? The human body has quite elaborate systems to regulate the O2 and CO2, yet it appears that breath-hold divers, through training, can reduce their hypercapnia response(getting too much CO2). I suspect that stress during the day could cause a similar conditioning. My most recent blood chem test did flag a high CO2 level so this added to my quest for info. Like the pursed-lip breathing, snoring on the exhale, I found it’s often common for young children to grunt to assist in expanding the alveoli (the tiny air sacks in the lungs). I also found that when our breathing is insufficient we can develop a condition of respiratory acidosis where the blood’s PH is too low. PH (potential Hydrogen) is a very important component of our immune system and a low PH seems responsible for a wide variety of health issues such as skin eruptions, back pain, fatigue and systemic fungal infections that have been associated with an additional list of complex health issues.

It appears we should put more daytime effort in breathing exercises so that our sleep time can be more relaxing and less stressful trying to compensate for insufficient breathing.
Feb 27, 2011
 Co2 snoring
by: Anonymous

Grant, do you think psoriasis might be related with our breathing? That would be an interesting view, but haven't heard of much along those lines.

Kevin, are there any sleep studies that show a clear result of 'restricted inhale = lower o2 and restricted exhale = reduced co2 elimination? Thanks

Linda

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