To be worried about friends sleep issue

[NorthernL101]

I recently stayed over at a friends house and I couldn’t help but notice that she was ‘snoring’ extremely loudly, louder than I’ve heard anymore snore before. Actually didn’t really sound like a snoring noise, more like an extreme breathing problem but it was incredibly loud, like a motor engine or something (apologies for the description, trying to explain what type of sound it was.)
I’ve been feeling worried for her health ever since. I’m not sure if I should mention getting herself checked out, but I feel it could be a sensitive topic and also what could the problem be other than just plain snoring?
I should add that she’s quite over weight so I’m sure this doesn’t help the issue.

Does she complain about being tired a lot? First thought would be sleep apnoea.
Saying that, some people are just awful snorers.

dont worry about it. WHy would it be anything that needs checking? People snore, particularly overweight people

Yes very tired all the time.

My worry was that it’s not just snoring more like restricted breathing or something, but I know so little about it.
Perhaps I am over worrying.

Could be sleep apnoea. I wonder whether a Fitbit or similar would pick it up. Next time she complains of being tired you could encourage her to seek her doctor’s advice.

It is normal to be worried about a friend.

I have a few friends that have sleep apnoea (all obese and use a CPAP machine). They ended up on the machines after worrying about their own health.. tiredness was definitely something they all struggled with.
You can bring it up by saying something like you notice your friend seems tired in the day, and that you notice they snore really badly.

Sound like it could be sleep apnea I would deffo mention it

I would mention it in a jokey way that you couldn’t sleep at all because of her snoring. She probably knows about her snoring but might not realise how bad it is.
Overweight people tend to snore; I’m not a medical professional, just my personal experience. My DH gained weight and his snoring became worse, not so bad so far. BIL (overweight) snores so loudly that you can hear it even next door, it sounds like tsunami waves next to you.

Thanks everyone.

@XenoBitch do you know what the CPAP machine does?

If you are concerned enough to post a relatively minor embarrassment on here you should definitely speak about it to your friend

It gives a steady stream of oxygen to the person wearing the mask. Without it, they tend to keep waking up or snore because their airway is getting obstructed by their own anatomy.

Thanks @XenoBitch that’s useful to know.

Serious snoring like OP describes is correlated with increased risk for heart conditions and things. It's to do with reduced oxygen. Often snoring like this comes with sleep apnea.
That's why people get given cpap machines. Losing weight often fixes it though. Depends on the cause.

So no, YANBU, but won't be an easy conversation. You don't have to say anything, it depends whether you feel they would act on it. Otherwise you just make them feel bad.

A lot have people have sleep apnea without knowing it, and it’s usually the partners that alert them to something being wrong (noticing long pauses in between breaths whilst asleep etc). There are a couple of types of apnea, obstructive, where there is a physical reason the breathing passages are being constricted, and centralised sleep apnea, where the brain sends faulty signals to the muscles that keep you breathing regularly. There is also another condition UARS (upper airway resistance syndrome) which doesn’t cause the complete apnoeas but still involves narrowed airways, and causes major snoring. CPAP is the standard treatment for all of these.
I have UARS, and have a CPAP machine CPAP doesn’t involve oxygen, it just pressurises normal air, pumped through a mask, which runs continuously while you are asleep, and the pressure forces your airways to stay open.
Tell your friend to go to her GP and ask to be referred for a sleep study, as she has been alerted to irregularities in her breathing whilst asleep.