RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
On the one hand, it is frightening as heck.
On the other hand, it isn't like you just got this suddenly and could die at any second. You've had this for a while and you aren't going to die suddenly.
Try sleeping in a recliner or with propped up on pillows. Or try the backpack trick to keep you off your back. But sleep. Even if it is crappy sleep, do it anyway.
The waking up suddenly and with heart racing is why I stopped taking naps eons ago. It didn't bother me so much when I was sleeping at night but for some reason, naps were hell. Even now, with treatment, I don't like to nap. So I understand how you are feeling. A lot of us understand. We're here for you. You'll be okay.
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
10-14-2015, 04:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-14-2015, 04:13 PM by ezdrifler.)
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
The part that is more nerve wrecking is when you lay down, your body starts getting heavy, eyes itchy starting to close, then you get that weak palpitation in your chest that just gets the anxiety going and at that point youre just not going to sleep out of fear from your heart acting up.
I know that by this time my heart probably tried to wake up my body multiple times and just about had it with all the adrenaline going. I will try sleeping on my recliner sitting down and see how that goes.
Thank you all, ill update my original post once study begins
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
PaulaO2 ++ this all sounds like me, even the when I first lay down reaction and scared that I will stop breathing and not wake up.
Well 3+ months in and I am still here, always woke up or started breathing again on my own.
Getting your breathing messed with when you are asleep is pretty scary indeed.
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
Well I can sympathize with sufferers of this kind of anxiety because I suffered it myself for many many years. In my case these were daytime panic attacks where I was sure my heart had stopped.
I cannot tell you with absolute certainty that you (or I or anyone else) are not going to die suddenly but if you do it won't be because of panic. And it won't be a sudden direct effect of sleep apnea. Panic rarely kills - it leaves you alive so it can torture you some more...
Next time you wake up in a panic (and believe me I *know* that panic) remind yourself that if your heart had really stopped you wouldn't have woken up. The very fact that you are awake and able to have a panic attack means your heart is still working.
Sleep apnea kills you slowly and you will suffer from years of misery and pain if you have it and leave it untreated. Treat it and you will recover your health, maybe not completely, and maybe not right away, but you will recover.
My own panic attacks subsided slowly over many years to the point where it rarely bothers me today. I had my first one in my twenties and am now seventy one and have them only very rarely. But I am not entirely free of them, though long experience has told me that they aren't likely to kill me.
CPAP treatment has lowered my blood pressure significantly and largely cured the "skipped" beats I used to have a lot of.
Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH
Part cow since February 2018.
Trust your mind less and your brain more.
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
**UPDATE #1**
Last night as the time to sleep closes in I start experiencing chest tightness and shortness of breath, I remember everyones advice and decided to have dinner at least 3 hours before bed, then I went for a walk since it was too late to go to the gym and didnt want to have an extensive workout right before bed and this happened:
1) as i walked to the store with my daughter im still in chest pressure pain and feel as i can only fill 75% of my lungs each time i breathe, we got to the drug store and i started looking around the products and realized my pain and shortness of breath are going away, i bought a muscle relaxant cream since im a little sore from doing weights and we started heading back home.
2) as the thought of me getting back home abd going to bed returned i felt my chest pressure and shortness of breath starting to return and realized I was having anxiety episodes since I am actually afraid of going back to bed deep in my mind.
3) got home rubbed some muscle relaxant on my chest, got comfortable on my recliner, drank a cup of wine, put on my headphones and turned on relaxing sounds and put the fan in front of me, and all my pains faded away until i was out.
I can say i was able to control my anxiety since I was able to stay on the recliner my full 8 hrs, however this morning im still very sleepy and that could be from the sa.
i will keep posting updates, thanks.
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
ezdrifler,
I couldn't have said it any better than eseedhouse.
I know that feeling of anxiety and panic attacks all too well. I was like you....I was afraid to go to bed, because I knew I would wake up feeling as if I couldn't breath, and thinking my heart stopped.
Our minds are a powerful thing. You can talk yourself into this anxiety, or talk yourself out of it.
You proved you can control it. Just keep doing what your doing, anything to relax.
I slept in my recyliner for a long time, listened to "white noise", and slept that way for many nights.
It's been almost a year now, and I look back and can't believe I ever felt that bad.
It will get better. 
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
Good for you! You did it! Fighting that demon is not easy. But you did it. Congrats. You should be proud. I know I am.
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
First of all welcome to the forum ezdrifler! Have you ever come to the right place!! You will learn a lot and find helpful sympathetic people here.
Congrats on the first step to controlling your SA. You have shown yourself that you can help control your anxiety and therefore get better sleep - maybe not optimal at this point, but better!
Hope you can keep up the good work until you are diagnosed and finally on CPAP therapy. It seems like a long time to wait, but the wait will be worth it! It was almost 6 months from when my GP referred me to the sleep clinic to when I picked up my loaner CPAP machine. I'm sure you probably won't have to wait that long.
APNEABOARD - A great place to be if you're a hosehead!! 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EVERY ACCOMPLISHMENT BEGINS WITH THE DECISION TO TRY!
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
You have some of the same problems I have. My sleep study changed my life. I wanted to grap the machine and mask and walk out of there... get a sleep study, and then follow the Dr's recomendations. I am on the first leg of this journey, but my sleep test showed me how good I could feel in the morning (2 stage test, first without cpap, second stage with.) I am craving getting my equipment. Forget all the negatives, people here prove you can make it work, and feel good about it.
RE: 1am, nightmares of heart stopping keeping me awake
(10-15-2015, 10:11 PM)DWaldman Wrote: You have some of the same problems I have. My sleep study changed my life. I wanted to grap the machine and mask and walk out of there... get a sleep study, and then follow the Dr's recomendations. I am on the first leg of this journey, but my sleep test showed me how good I could feel in the morning (2 stage test, first without cpap, second stage with.) I am craving getting my equipment. Forget all the negatives, people here prove you can make it work, and feel good about it.
Oh by the way, I KNOW panic attacks like you are having really suck.
|
