Have you wondered how drinking alcohol affects your sleep apnea? Maybe you’ve noticed differences in how you sleep on nights when you drink alcohol in the evening. No matter the reason, it’s important to understand how alcohol may affect your breathing at night.

Here’s what you need to know about sleep apnea and alcohol. With this information in hand, you can talk to your healthcare provider and make informed decisions about drinking alcohol.

Alcohol and Sleep Apnea

There’s no evidence that alcohol causes sleep apnea. However, research shows that drinking alcohol regularly can raise your risk for developing the condition. In fact, drinking any alcohol at all may raise your risk for sleep apnea by about 25 percent. However, researchers are still studying exactly how alcohol and sleep apnea are connected and learning more about what leads to being diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Alcohol is known to affect some processes and areas of your body that can also worsen symptoms of sleep apnea. These include:

• Relaxation of the throat muscles — The relaxation of your airway muscles can lengthen your breathing pauses and lower oxygen levels.
• Less arousal — Alcohol can make it harder for you to wake up and breathe normally again, leading to longer apnea episodes. Usually, you wake up when you can’t breathe.
• Weight gain — Alcohol can play a role in weight gain and obesity, which has been shown to worsen sleep apnea.
• More nasal congestion — Alcohol changes blood flow throughout the body, including the nasal passages. This increases congestion and forces you to breathe through your mouth instead.

Alcohol use can also make it harder to effectively use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. If the muscles of the throat relax too much, it can require more pressure to keep them open. You may have to remember to change the settings on your machine when you drink alcohol, which can be difficult.

Drinking alcohol can also make it harder to tolerate a CPAP machine because it can lead to nasal congestion, leaks in the mask, and mouth breathing. Even if alcohol doesn’t affect sleep apnea directly, it may make it harder to stick to your treatment plan and get effective support.

Alcohol and Central Sleep Apnea

For most of this article, we discuss obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, there is another form of sleep apnea that can also be affected by alcohol: central sleep apnea (CSA). In central sleep apnea, your brain doesn’t communicate properly with the muscles that are supposed to help keep you breathing all night. There are different types of CSA, and it’s not as well understood as OSA.

What we do know is that alcohol depresses, or slows down, the central nervous system. This includes the brain. So, alcohol can make it even harder for your brain and your muscles to communicate. If you live with CSA and you drink alcohol, you may have more severe or frequent apnea episodes, especially if you drink close to bedtime.

Alcohol and Sleep in General

Drinking alcohol can also affect sleep in general. This may make it even more difficult to get a good night’s rest, since sleep apnea can already disrupt sleep.

If you drink alcohol, you might experience some of these problems with your sleep:

• Increased snoring — This happens due to your relaxed or weakened throat muscles. If you already snore, your snoring might be louder or happen more often after you drink alcohol.
• Trouble staying asleep — Alcohol may make you sleepy initially, but it can also wake you up very early in the morning. This happens as your body withdraws from alcohol.
• Less restful sleep — Alcohol disrupts your REM cycles, making it harder to get the sleep you need. This lowers your overall sleep quality and can lead to insomnia over time.
• Slower breathing — Alcohol alone can lower your oxygen levels, even if you don’t have sleep apnea.
• Changes in circadian rhythm — This is your body’s internal clock that tells you when to go to sleep and when to wake up. It can be affected by drinking, especially if you do it regularly.

If you’re already having a hard time getting quality sleep because of sleep apnea, drinking alcohol can make the problem worse by interfering with your sleep in these ways. To avoid these issues and get better sleep overall, you may decide not to drink, or to drink differently.

Alcoholic drinks can also affect other sleep disorders unrelated to sleep apnea. If you’ve been diagnosed with a sleep disorder, you should talk to your doctor and make a plan to ensure you fully understand the effects of alcohol on your health and sleep.

Can You Still Drink if You Have Sleep Apnea?

There is no straightforward answer to this question. Researchers who have studied the topic concluded that drinking less could help prevent sleep apnea or lessen the amount of damage it does to your body. While the most effective action might be to stop drinking alcohol altogether, some people find that having a drink or two is enjoyable and contributes to their quality of life.

If you do want to drink, here are some guidelines on how to do so more consciously:

• Have your last drink at least four hours before you plan to go to bed — This allows your body to metabolize it before you’re trying to sleep or deal with a CPAP therapy machine.
• Drink less — Even two or three drinks can have negative effects, so drinking less than that is generally better.
• Practice good sleep hygiene — This includes keeping your bedroom dark and cool, avoiding screens before bed, and having a comfortable bed.
• Incorporate other lifestyle changes — If you don’t want to drink less, habits like exercising regularly, losing weight, and sleeping on your side can help with sleep apnea.
• Continue with your treatment plan — Even if it’s uncomfortable, using your CPAP machine and following other guidelines from your doctor can help you sleep as well as possible.

If you have questions about the impact of drinking alcohol on your sleep apnea, talk to your sleep specialist. They can help you make wise decisions about your health, including how much alcohol to drink and when to drink it.

They can also help you figure out how to incorporate changes into your life, especially if you’re used to drinking regularly, and you’d like to drink less. Be open with your doctor about how much you drink so they can find sleep apnea treatment options that work well for your needs.

Join the Conversation

On MySleepApneaTeam, people share their experiences with obstructive sleep apnea, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

How does drinking affect your sleep apnea? Let others know in the comments below.