Why Do I Make Noises When I’m Falling Asleep?

Have you ever been told that you make noise while falling asleep or during the night? The reason may be due to an uncommon condition called catathrenia.

Catathrenia is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which you moan, snort, or groan as you breathe in during sleep. Most people only find out they make this noise when a bed partner tells them about it. 

Catathrenia affects about 4% of adults. Anyone can have it, but most people who do are young and thin. Because most people don’t see a sleep doctor for it, it often goes undiagnosed. 

The exact cause of catathrenia is still unclear. Here’s what you need to know about this condition, including whether it’s harmless or potentially harmful, along with signs you might have a sleep disorder.  

Common nighttime sounds: groaning, snorting, and speaking

With catathrenia, anyone who’s shared a bed with you would probably say you made funny noises that sounded like groaning, grunting, moaning, growling, or high-pitched squeaking.

The noises you make when you have catathrenia are different from other common nighttime sounds like talking during sleep, a condition called parasomnia.

It also doesn’t sound like snoring, which most people can recognize.

Because of how monotonous the sound you might make with catathrenia is, the moaning you produce might sound like the same noises you make when you’re having sex or when you’re in distress. 

Catathrenia is mostly harmless. But it could affect your bed partner’s sleep quality. 

What Is catathrenia? (sleep-related groaning)

Catathrenia is a sleep disorder in which a person makes a long, monotonous groaning or moaning sound while breathing out, says Saema Tahir, MD, a quadruple board-certified physician specializing in pulmonary disease, critical care medicine, and sleep medicine. It usually occurs during REM sleep or light non-REM sleep, and the person is almost always unaware of it. 

“The International Classification of Sleep Disorders lists it as a sleep-related breathing disorder, but its exact cause is unknown,” she explains.

Researchers suspect a combination of:

• Upper airway anatomy
• Abnormal breathing control during sleep 
• Possible overlap with sleep-disordered breathing, since some patients improve with CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy that keeps breathing airways open

According to Taruj Ali, MD, sleep specialist at Mary Washington Hospital and Chief Medical Officer, SOMOS Health, this sleep-related groaning tends to happen during a slow, drawn-out breath out, almost like a drawn-out sigh or groan. 

Although it’s classified among sleep-related breathing phenomena, it’s generally considered benign. But because the sound can resemble distress, it can understandably alarm partners.

“It’s worth evaluating mainly to rule out something else, like a breathing disorder,” says Ali.   

Hypnic Jerks, myoclonus, and involuntary vocal casps

Most people exhibit different movements or make certain sounds during sleep that could be harmless or could be a sign of a sleep disorder.  Some common ones are hypnic jerks and involuntary vocal gasps.

Hypnic jerks are sudden, brief muscle twitches that happen as you fall asleep, Tahir says.

“They are thought to occur as the nervous system transitions from wakefulness to sleep, and they become more frequent with caffeine, stress, sleep deprivation, or late evening exercise,” she explains.

Hypnic jerks might feel like a falling sensation or a jolt that wakes you, adds Ali.

“They’re extremely common and almost always harmless,” he says.

Meanwhile, myoclonus more broadly refers to sudden, involuntary muscle jerks, and sleep-related myoclonus covers twitches during sleep, notes Ali.

“Most are benign, like the hypnic jerk, though frequent or disruptive limb movements can sometimes point to a condition like periodic limb movement disorder,” he says.

Involuntary gasps can accompany these jerks. 

“Involuntary vocal gasps or sounds happen when air moves suddenly through the airway, sometimes tied to a shift in breathing or an arousal from sleep,” Ali says. “An isolated gasp is usually nothing, but a recurring pattern of gasping, especially if it follows a pause in breathing, is one of the things we (doctors) pay close attention to, because that can signal sleep apnea.”

Sleep apnea vs. somniloquy (sleep talking)

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep-related breathing disorder that makes breathing stop and start during sleep.

Somniloquy, on the other hand, occurs when someone talks aloud during sleep. It’s very common and usually harmless.

Many people do it, especially children and younger adults, and most of the time it means nothing, says Ali. 

“Research suggests there is an association between sleep apnea and sleep talking because obstructive sleep apnea repeatedly fragments sleep with brief arousals, and those partial awakenings can trigger sleep talking and other parasomnias,” Tahir explains. “Studies have found higher rates of sleep talking in people with sleep apnea, and some patients see these behaviors decrease once their apnea is treated with CPAP.” 

Other nighttime vocalizations can also be triggered by brief partial awakenings that fragment sleep in conditions like sleep apnea, according to Ali.

“While sleep talking doesn’t mean someone has apnea, if it appears alongside other red flags, like loud snoring, gasping, choking, or daytime exhaustion, then it’s part of a picture worth evaluating.”

When are sleep noises harmless vs. signs of a sleep disorder?

Differentiating between a harmless sleep noise and one that signals a sleep disorder usually comes down to the type of noise and what accompanies it, Ali says.

“Occasional sleep talking, soft sounds, the odd hypnic jerk are almost always harmless, and essentially everyone makes some noise in their sleep,” he adds. 

Sounds that warrant attention are tied to breathing, including loud, habitual snoring; gasping or choking; or audible pauses in breathing followed by a snort or gasp, Ali says. Those can be signs of obstructive sleep apnea. 

Other red flags, according to Ali and Tahir, are: 

• Noises that are frequent and disruptive
• Noises paired with disrupted or unrefreshing sleep
• Significant daytime sleepiness
• Morning headaches
• Shouting and physically acting out dreams, which can indicate REM sleep behavior disorder 
• New sleep behaviors that begin in adulthood, cause injury, or disturb a bed partner 

“My simple rule for patients: Harmless sleep noises don’t come with daytime consequences,” says Ali. “If someone is making concerning sounds and waking up exhausted, that combination is the signal to get evaluated.”

Tips for reducing nocturnal vocalizations

How you manage sleep noise depends on whether it’s harmless or caused by a sleep condition.

“For the benign kinds, general sleep hygiene helps because stress and sleep deprivation make a lot of these phenomena worse,” Ali says.

He shares these tips:

• Keep a consistent sleep schedule
• Get enough total sleep (experts generally recommend seven to nine hours a night)
• Manage stress levels
• Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake, especially near bedtime
• Sleep on your side, rather than your back, to help reduce snoring and other breathing-related sounds

The bottom line: “If the vocalizations are breathing-related, gasping, choking, or heavy snoring, no home remedy fixes the underlying cause,” says Ali. That’s not something to manage with position changes alone; it’s worth getting assessed, because the sound is a symptom of something treatable.”

If the noises persist or come with breathing pauses or daytime fatigue, treating the underlying condition such as sleep apnea is the most effective step, concludes Tahir. 

FAQs

Why do I groan, gasp, or make sounds as I fall asleep?

Making sounds while falling asleep can be caused by catathrenia (sleep-related groaning during exhalation) or brief vocal gasps linked to hypnic jerks as your nervous system transitions into sleep.

Isolated twitches and soft sounds are usually harmless, but recurring gasps or groans can also stem from airway disruptions or sleep apnea.

What’s the difference between sleep groaning and sleep talking?

Sleep groaning (catathrenia) is a sleep-related breathing disorder where a person makes a monotonous, drawn-out moaning or sighing sound specifically while breathing out.

In contrast, sleep talking (somniloquy) is a parasomnia that involves speaking spoken words or phrases aloud, often triggered by brief sleep awakenings.

When should nighttime noises be evaluated by a sleep specialist?

You should see a sleep specialist if your sleep noises are accompanied by daytime fatigue, morning headaches, loud habitual snoring, choking, or noticeable pauses in breathing. An evaluation is also warranted if the behaviors start suddenly in adulthood, cause injury, or severely disrupt your bed partner’s sleep.