11 Reasons You Wake Up At Night

You’ve got sleep apnea.

If you find yourself jolting awake and feeling like you need to catch your breath, sleep apnea might be the culprit. This disorder slows and/or stops your breathing while you are asleep.If you have obstructive sleep apnea, the muscles in your throat relax too much, which narrows your airway, causing your oxygen levels to drop, the Mayo Clinic explains. If you have central sleep apnea, your brain doesn’t send the right signals to the muscles controlling your breathing, again causing this potentially harmful drop in oxygen. Complex sleep apnea features characteristics of both conditions.