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Last Night, I Must Have Started To Swallow Too Much
Question: Last night, I must have started to swallow too much saliva while sleeping and it woke me up coughing. I've never had that his happen before. Is this something to worry about? I do grind my teeth at night, which I have heard can be a sign of sleep apnea. I don't think I have any other sleep apnea symptoms though. I don't snore and I've never woken up at night with a breathing issue. Also, my father had spinocerebellar ataxia and had a lot of swallowing difficulties. So I do worry about whether this is a warning sign of developing SCA although I don't have any other symptoms. Or could this just be an unusual one-time event that isn't worth worrying about? I didn't feel as though I was having indigestion. I do have allergies in general and often feel like I have a lot of saliva in my mouth. I wasn't having bad allergies last night though. Would I definitely wake up if this happened again or is there any chance of choking and dying? I appreciate your advice.
Brief Answer:
No need to be concerned
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. I wouldn't be concerned about this one-time event. Coughing while you are sleeping may be due to many different causes, and it may be that some saliva irritated the larynx and triggered the coughing, or there could be many other benign causes. But if it is just a one-time event, I would consider it normal and no reason to be concerned or need to do any further evaluation.
If in the rare circumstance it was the beginning symptoms of a progressive or chronic condition, it would always develop slowly, and would not all of a sudden cause choking or be life-threatening. Even if you had a condition such as spinocerebellar ataxia, this will typically develop gradually and would not cause such drastic problems all of a sudden.
For now I would just monitor your symptoms and see if they continue or progress. If you continue to have frequent coughing, you may need to be evaluated for common conditions such as post-nasal drip, and lung infection, or even acid reflux can cause this. If you feel like you are aspirating saliva, you may need to have your larynx looked at to make sure it looks normal.
But for now I wouldn't be concerned, and would just see how it goes.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
No need to be concerned
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. I wouldn't be concerned about this one-time event. Coughing while you are sleeping may be due to many different causes, and it may be that some saliva irritated the larynx and triggered the coughing, or there could be many other benign causes. But if it is just a one-time event, I would consider it normal and no reason to be concerned or need to do any further evaluation.
If in the rare circumstance it was the beginning symptoms of a progressive or chronic condition, it would always develop slowly, and would not all of a sudden cause choking or be life-threatening. Even if you had a condition such as spinocerebellar ataxia, this will typically develop gradually and would not cause such drastic problems all of a sudden.
For now I would just monitor your symptoms and see if they continue or progress. If you continue to have frequent coughing, you may need to be evaluated for common conditions such as post-nasal drip, and lung infection, or even acid reflux can cause this. If you feel like you are aspirating saliva, you may need to have your larynx looked at to make sure it looks normal.
But for now I wouldn't be concerned, and would just see how it goes.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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