YOU CAN HAVE SLEEP APNEA WITHOUT SNORING. HERE'S WHAT DOCTORS WANT YOU TO KNOW

Sleep apnea is so closely tied to loud snoring in the public imagination that many people assume the two always go together. Doctors say that’s a dangerous myth, and it’s leaving millions of Americans, especially women, walking around with an undiagnosed condition that raises the risk of heart disease, stroke and more.

Can you have sleep apnea without snoring?

Yes. According to Johns Hopkins, you can have sleep apnea without much snoring at all, and you can snore loudly without having the condition. The two are not the same thing.

Snoring is a vibration sound caused by airway resistance. Sleep apnea is when breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, with each pause lasting at least 10 seconds. The most common form, obstructive sleep apnea, happens when muscles in the back of the throat relax and block the airway. About 29 million Americans have the condition, and nearly 1 in 5 women have obstructive sleep apnea, yet 9 out of 10 remain undiagnosed.

“When a normal person falls asleep who doesn’t have sleep apnea, the airway stays open. But in someone who has sleep apnea, the airway does not stay open and an individual stops breathing,” Dr. Aatif Husain of Duke University Medical Center told GQ.

What is silent sleep apnea?

Silent sleep apnea is a colloquial term for the form of the condition that occurs without the loud, disruptive snoring most people associate with it. There is no formal medical diagnosis by that name, but doctors say a significant number of patients quietly meet the criteria for moderate to severe cases.

“The term ‘silent sleep apnoea’ has been bandied about colloquially to describe a condition that does not manifest with the typical symptoms, with loud disruptive snoring being the most obvious and disruptive,” Dr Crystal Cheong, senior consultant at National University Hospital’s Department of Otolaryngology, told CNA.

The silent form is characterized by intervals of zero airflow, while regular obstructive sleep apnea still involves some partial airflow. “There is no snoring as there is a complete cessation of airflow due to the complete collapse of the upper airway. In a way, this makes the silent form more serious,” Dr Adele Ng of Singapore General Hospital told CNA.

What are the symptoms of sleep apnea in women?

Women with sleep apnea often don’t snore loudly, which is one reason so many go undiagnosed. Their symptoms tend to look like fatigue, insomnia, headaches and mood changes, which are easily blamed on stress, hormones or aging.

“Women experience insomnia, fatigue, morning headaches, mood changes, or weight gain more than they do snoring and gasping for air,” Dr. Andrea Matsumura, a sleep medicine physician and menopause expert, told the New York Post.

According to The Sleep Clinic, common signs in women include chronic fatigue, insomnia, mood changes, morning headaches, brain fog and frequent nighttime urination. Sleep apnea is still stereotyped as affecting older, overweight men, which means women’s more subtle symptoms are often not thoroughly investigated by doctors.

What are the warning signs of sleep apnea besides snoring?

Even people who don’t snore may have sleep apnea if they experience daytime symptoms that never seem to improve with more sleep. Untreated, the condition raises the risk of diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attacks, dementia and cancer, according to Dr Ng.

According to Sleep Apnea Org, warning signs to watch for include

• Excessive daytime sleepiness or fatigue
• Waking up gasping or choking
• Dry mouth or sore throat
• Morning headaches
• Difficulty concentrating or remembering things
• Insomnia or restless sleep
• Mood changes such as irritability, anxiety or depression
• High blood pressure
• Frequent nighttime urination
• Grinding or clenching teeth
• Nocturnal heartburn or reflux
• Night sweats
• Erectile dysfunction

A bed partner may notice pauses in breathing, but it is also possible to have obstructive sleep apnea with no noticeable symptoms at all. If any of these signs sound familiar, doctors recommend asking a physician about a sleep study.

This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.

2026-08-04T19:53:55Z