difficulty breathing because of sleep deprivation?

sophteie · Newbie Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 1

Before I go on about the symptoms, I'll put out some background information: I'm on an awful sleeping pattern, falling asleep around 1:00-1:30am, and I wake up at 5:30am for school. I pull all-nighters in order to finish homework, and I don't nap. Over the weekend, sleeping from 12am-12pm doesn't help me enough to recuperate fully. I don't nap because I take Adderall (I have A.D.D.) and it keeps me awake throughout the day. I get tired around 8:30pm, once the Adderall has run out completely I guess. Recently though, along with struggling with memory, eye-dryness, light sensitivity, dizziness, tension headaches, muscle aches, and slow speech, I've started to notice a change in my breathing. Just last night, I was trying to nap (around 9:30pm). I was lying on my side, as I usually do, and I could not take deep breaths. I thought it was my position, so I moved onto my back but the feeling didn't go away. My lungs felt compressed and although it wasn't painful, it was worrying me. My mind wanted to fall asleep but my difficult breathing kept me from it. If I did fall asleep, I only woke up shortly after, needing to take a deep breath, still unable to. Whenever I finally did take the deep breath, too soon woudl I feel the need to take another. I could feel my heart beating, and I found myself checking my pulse pretty often within this 1-hour "nap." It was going pretty fast, but not fast enough to worry me. Since Adderall, I usually can feel my pulse from within.

Is the breathing problem coming from sleep deprivation? Coudl this be something else?

dinad · Newbie Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 3

hello,
from what i understand ,i think u had a panic attak when ur very tierd and you dont sleep ur become hyper, thats the way ur body keeps going .but ur brain needs its rest so u feel this uneasy feeling (anxious)some ppl feel like they are having a heart attack or they r going to faint.i know that becaues i have the same symptoms and wores .my advice to u is cut off on caffein, suger and stimulents, use relaxation and breathing techniqs.and it never hurts to check up with ur doctor regulary to make sure ur in good health ,educate ur self about anxaity.and i hope this will help u.
P.S stop checking ur pulse u only scare ur self more. Wink

Guest · Guest

I feel your pain. I work 40 hour weeks and take 16 credit hours, plus my girlfriend rides my behind all the time. I get an average of 5 hours of sleep and I do not have a social life. I've been to several doctors and they typically say to lessen the load and stop overloading yourself. You are cognizant of your heart beat because you are relaxed and focused on your heart beat (its normal). It happens to everyone. Lessen your load, plus weight doesn’t help either. The more fat on your stomach--the harder it is for deep breathing. I never felt this shortness of breath when I was 180lbs, now at 223lbs it unbearable. You are burnt out-- I know because I feel the same way. Read scientific research on stress and memory-- it will tell you that stress has a huge impact on memory!!! Try these things:
-Lay off caffeine
-Don’t eat three hours prior to sleep
-Exercise
-School isn’t life or death
-Have a quality social life
-Lay off alcohol if consumed
-Deep breathing may help, but often times it will make you focus on breathing even more--behavioral psychologist would tell you to do a compensatory movement that has nothing to do with breathing.
-Talk to a medical doctor if the symptoms get worse
-Get chest x-rays, get allergy tests, asthma test, check your heart--once you check all of these things it "puts your mind at easy" that you have checked everything physically and that it is only psychosomatic (mental).
-And as cliché as it sounds-follow what you learned when you were in grade school. 1) Five basic food groups 2) Exercise. 3) 6-8 hours of sleep. We all know this, but we tend to forget in this fast paced environment. I am a combat veteran in graduate school. I have mastered these things and they are slowly helping me. I have been living with severe anxiety since I was in the Middle East during combat (4years). Don’t let it get the best of you and like the other person said study anxiety—slow down, school will mean nothing without your sanity.

difficulty breathing because of sleep deprivation?

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