h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

.... in your sleep? (I mean, in the sense of "does one swallow..".)

Or

If someone is pretending to be asleep and swallows, is this a sign that they're not really asleep?

I assume so because other wise you would wake up with a very dry throat. You probably don't want to know but I sometimes wake up with a bit of a drewl so that means that the saliva glands are still active.

After many hours of watching, mostly very small, people sleep, I'd say that in deep sleep we don't swallow. It seems to be associated with disturbed sleep.

Deep sleep can go on for quite a while so wouldn't your mouth dry up from breathing.

One hour and neither RF nor MuBeta has commented?

Ssshhh.. Don't wake 'em up

Well as I frequently wake up with a mouth feeling as dry as the Gobi Desert I can only say it doesn't seem so.

Mind that might just be because I end up sleeping with my mouth open...and all the saliva leaks away.

Ah - so the question is also: Do you produce saliva while you're asleep? If you don't, you don't need to swallow.

How-wever, if you produced saliva and didn't swallow, could you drown in your sleep?

my experience:

You can produce saliva.

If you sleep with your mouth open most of it dries off.

If you breathe through your nose, you will tend to block off the back of your throat with your tongue therefore you wont drown (you're breathing through your nose, not your mouth, so you're just holding the saliva in your mouth).

If you produce too much saliva and breathe through your nose and lie on your side or your front, you drool.

No, but I freqently spit in my sleep.


(Oh go on, someone had to )

Of course you should* swallow, as its rude to spit.

.. and against the <./>HouseRules</.>

Blimey, still no MB posting. Will this be some sort of a record?

Examundo
So, the prevailing view thus far if one may be as bold as to summerise the commentary thus far, is that saliva is produced during sleep, and swalloing does not occur (in direct violation of the houserules).
Saliva production is a result if I remember correctly of the autonomic nervous system, and an so-called 'involentary' reaction/response*1*.
Swallowing is likewise from what I remember controlled from the autonomic nervous system, but has a built in override response, I think somewhere in the pons. This enables us to have an involentary swallowing reflex, quite handy to stop us choking to death*2*.
However, due to the additional control built into the swallowing reflex, we have the ability to consciously swallow*3*.
It is this second, voluentary control of swallowing that is, ultimately responsible for the existance of McD *4*.
Therefore, as swallowing is both a volentary reflex, and an autonomic one, I really do think that it can easily occur during sleep*5*.
So, say, for example, one was asleep, and one managed, somehow to have an excess of liquid in ones mouth, I think the autonomic reflex would take over and the saliva or other liquid would be swallowed*6*.
So, this therefore can only lead to the one conclusion that swallowing dogs with choc pavloas is a volentary reaction that should be frowned apon*7*.
McD is as a direct consequence of choc pavlova eating dogs, and this also should be frowned apon *7*. Additionally, mobile phones are very annoying and can be swallowed accidentially during sleep if there is an abscence of burgers, choc pavlovas or creamy liquid to hand. Therefore, we speeck and swallow in order that McD can exist.



*1* Unless you are a dog who likes to eat choc pavlovas.

*2* E.G., abscent mindidly inhailing the sauce and liquid constitutient parts of a McD burger by mistake whilst symultainously laughing and trying to talk into your mobile, Inainly telling your friend that your in MCd just near the railway station.

*3* Thus enabling us to both conform to the house rules on spitting and also preventing the lush goodlyness all going to waste.

*4*. It is widly regarded that the ability to control swalling along with the ability to control breathing is quite important in the development of high level speech and assocaited communication skills, it is hard to imagine a world without human speach in which the lack of speach was allowed to peacefully coexist with McD.

*5*. Sleep meaning in this case, being asleep, and not what you filthy minded individuals may otherwise attempt to get up to in teh confinds or your own, or someone elses bedroom.

*6*. You really shoudln't be ending up with solids entering your mouth whilst your asleep, unless your still chewing on a McD burger, or a choc pavlova, the latter of course aplies only to dogs with bells, and pressumbably whistles also.

*7*. Other facial expressions may also be appropiate in such a situation, E.G extreme distaste, shock, supprize or ear wiggling.

:: A706808
I knew I thought I'd thunk that I remembered having read an edited entry about swallowing, I'd just forgotten that I'd actually written it

Oh, that's what I meant to say... I tend to find that if someone swallows, they are NOT actually properly asleep. It seems to be more of a concious thing than we think.

Only you could forget that you'd actually written the Entry you were thinking of, dear

When I get a really deep sleep and wake up from it I don't get a dry mouth so and why would the saliva glands stop working anyway.

The saliva glands don't stop working while their owner's asleep - they just produce a lower volume of saliva.

Saliva production is variable.
2legs mentioned Pavlonian conditioning. We tend to when something appetising appears because our digestive system is preparing itself in readiness to deal with the food.
Our mouths often dry up when we find ourselves in frightening circumstances. The body is preparing itself for Fight or Flight and anything which isn't needed to facilitate this temporarily decreases.

The reason for waking up with a dry mouth is probably due to sleeping with it open because the nasal passages are bunged up.

Swallowing, as 2legs also said, is a reflex action - ie, one does it without consciously thinking so wouldn't have to be awake in order to do so.

In response to the original post, I'd say that one could swallow whilst asleep.


Saliva's great stuff.

* waits for ing

My son often swallows in his sleep - he is teething so producing tons of saliva both while awake and asleep. If he didn't swallow he'd end up sleeping in a pool so I'd have to agree with Teuchter's summary of the situation.