Heart Palpitations, shortness of breath while sleeping

I have been under a lot of stress with relatives having surgery house issues...trying to keep puppy alive from an autoimmune disease etc

I work on computers so I dont always exercise as much as I want specially if the weather is crummy

I have been taking amoxicillin for sinus infection
Benedryl or Zyrtec for allergies
Have weaned myself from alcohol about 3 weeks ago

Like so many others here..i feel myself drifting off then ZAPP/PLOP and sometimes I have to jump up to restart things

I do have a history of anxiety but it hasnt bothered me nor have I been on anything for it in about 8 months

I feel alienated with how I feel during the day..finding it difficult to function and interact with people because I am so on edge
I have had similar sleep problems when I would just jolt awake growing up but not frequent

Ive had an echo and several ekg's in the past and thyroid checked all normal

I do have a hemoglobin deformity called thalesemmia minor which effects oxygen flow..so I believe I have a combination of issues attributing to this annoying result

Its scary when a doc in a free clinic suspected a pituitary tumor because of my cortisol levels.. I looked up the results online and they were on the high side of NORMAL..the reason this is relevant is pituitary tumors can cause central sleep apnea..
But ive been to several doctors since then and they brought up no such thing..SOME DOC's are after your $$$

Other than the anxiety and poor sleep I have no other symptoms of pituitary tumor...even so anxiety can mimic the same condition

I am going to cut out the antihistamines and I am just now completing my amoxicillin and completely exile caffeine even though I dont drink much and let yall know how that turns out!!

This forum has been a blessing :-D

I have this exact same problem! It's terrible - I've had it for three years now ever since I took n-acetyl cysteine……… I am just wondering whether anyone else was taking supplements when it started? If you are feeling absolutely hopeless I can tell you that there is one thing that definitely alleviates symptoms (although it doesn't cure the underlying problem) CO ENZYME q 10. This is the only thing that i've tried (and I've tried MANY) which actually helped.


Anyhoo, good luck everyone in getting this treated and it's nice to know that there are others suffering (ha ha) !

Wow, thanks so much for posting, people!
You rule! This thread really gave me the answers I wanted.
I'm a 24 year old female.. Maybe a little underweight, not sure.
I was feeling real out of it, almost rigid, for all of yesterday.
I couldn't communicate properly, just super super slow which is really quite contradictory to how I am normally-energetic & talkative.
Well after I carried like 4894092 of groceries and useless c**p i bought up 2 flights of stairs a few times, i started feeling the aforementioned heart palpitations that you all know and love.
Ok, no biggie, I tell myself it's probably nothing and crawl into bed at 10pm. I can hear my pulse in my jugular against the pillow/comforter... I try to calm myself down and take deep breaths but the deeper my breaths, the faster my heart goes. I was so tired and out of it all day and i kind of started dozing off..
then.. BAM!
Like a host of pissed off angels came down from yonder, then tazed me and held me down as the others b***h slapped me with all the lord's fury.

My saga with this evil form of torture was extra fun, because it lasted from 10pm till about noon the next day. (WTF)

My left arm was heavy, its muscles cramped, my body was jittery, i could only breathe shallow breaths. I drank like 84 cubic gallons of water/protein shakes/smoothies (***exaggeration used for effect).
IT DIDN'T HELP. STUPID HEART.
My palps were really pulsating in my neck.
Oh and guess what, they still are (it's 2:40pm).
I called up the doctor and said "ay brah, is this sleep apnea? can you take me off this ride?"
Dr. says "ayyy! I think you just have a panic disorder, calm down!!"
I got so mad, arrgh. It's so frustrating to get zapped mercilessly by the evil powers-that-be for 12 hours in a row and people treat you like you're a big attention seeking toddler.
Oh, so, my point?
Now I remember what I was going to say!
You guys seriously made me realize that that I'm not alone, which means you rule. I'm not a giant wuss,
Hooray!

I say we all learn witchcraft so we can turn this concept into a mere human being, gang up on it, and kick its a$$.
That's all I have to offer, though i will agree with the dude who works out, my sleep hours are usually the worst.
Thanks again everyone. <3

i had this just yesterday. I was sleeping when all of a sudden woke up due to palputation and difficulty breathing. I then went down to our clinic asking for oxygen. Nurse then get my bp w/c happens to be 180/90 and pulse rate of 110 per minute. I was then rush to e.r. Had ecg but came out to be normal including oxygen level. Was given pantoloc tru i.v and valium to lessen acidity as per doc and put me to sleep to relax. Bp went back to normal. Diagn0sis? GERD and anxiety attack

Wow, if only I had typed this into Google sooner! I have been tormented by what appear to be exactly the same symptoms - After going to bed & falling asleep, I awake but am almost paralysed as my heart races at an indistinguishably fast rate. The noise created in my ears from my blood pumping at God knows what rate make it impossible for me to discern separate heartbeats. I feel dizzy and have a sensation which i can only describe as spinning backward head over feet while floating - bordering on an out-of-body feeling. I don't experience problems with breathing during the "attacks", but the racing continues regardless of how deeply I breathe. The intensity of the symptoms also vary during each attack - usually it starts off milder and progresses into a very violent "heart seizure" for lack of a better description, and after actively concentrating on waking up for a few minutes, the symptoms relieve before disappearing altogether and my heart rate returns to normal. Sometimes I have a recurring attack on the same night and other times weeks or months could pass before I have an onset of these symptoms again. The sensation was incredibly terrifying at first - I really thought I was about to have a heart attack. But the strange thing is that it isn't painful at all, I just feel really exhausted afterwards. I had my first "attack" when I was about 24, and while I wasn't unfit, I wasn't particularly fit either. I was, however under a lot of stress from work and living in Johannesburg, South Africa which made me nervous enough. I had several of these attacks while living in Johannesburg over the course of about a year. Johannesburg is approximately 1800 m above sea level, and I moved to Perth, Western Australia about two years ago (at sea level). I have been exercising much more since moving and have been running and cycling on a regular basis (I ran several half-marathons and a full marathon last year, run approximately 12 km every few days, sometimes up to 20 km, and mostly cycle to work and back ~25km return trip). It appears as though the attacks may be related to periods during which I am particularly active or stressed (I ran 20 km two days ago and had an intensive gardening session yesterday, and had an "attack" last night). During the normal course of my life when I am awake, I am never short of breath, never get panic attacks despite elevated stress levels and I almost never have any problems falling asleep. I sometimes become aware of my heart skipping a beat when I'm awake, but it is very rare and never lasts beyond one or two skips at a time. I drink very little alcohol (maybe 2 beers or glasses of wine a week) and haven't ever smoked or taken any drugs. I maybe drink two or three cups of tea or coffee a day and I'm turning 27 this month. I have not discussed my symptoms with a doctor yet, because of the infrequent nature of the attacks (I always convince myself they've gone away when I haven't had an attack for a few months), but I should probably seek some sound medical advice by the sound of other testimonials. Thank you guys for sharing - it makes me feel a lot more hopeful of getting the right treatment!

I got this for the first time about a year and a half ago when I was 18. I was dead scared when it happened first as I was alone in my room at university and when the heard palpitations came on really strong it took me a long time to figure out how to 'wake up' from my weird dream that I thought I was having. I was literally paralysed for ages, wondering how I was going to stop my heart from beating so fast. I figured it out in the end and since then I've found it easy enough to wake up from sleeping when the palpitations come on, it went away for a while, comes back sometimes when I drink too much or am having a nightmare... Then all of a sudden this last week I've had the palpitaions every single time I try and sleep without fail. I'm not exhausted simply from trying to stay awake to avoid the scariness of it. I'm 20 now, fairly healthy for a student, not overweight, maybe a little stressed but nothing too unusual.
Should I go and see my doctor? I just don't know what it could be and it sounds weird to tell someone that I'm paralysed in my sleeping state because of fast heart bears and shortness of breath.
This article has helped so much! I had no idea anyone else had this problem!

Ruby

Ive noticed that that happens to me also but only when I take to much aspirin. Dont know why. I have Mitral Valve Prolapse so I take aspirin regularly to help with the chest pain and every now and then the same thing happens to me. I use to take Atenolol for my MVP but it makes me short of breath also when I start to dose off.

hey u need to get an appointment with a cardiologist
anyway i think this maybe a condition called < paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea>
it a condition where u suddenly awake from sleep with sever shortness of breath
regardz

hey there i think its better for you to go to a cardiologist
anyway this condition maybe paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea
its a condition where you are awaken out of sleep with sever shortness of breath

sory for doublposting
regards

Hello, I am a 14 year old. I've only experienced one symptom, which is shortness of breath when breathing which results in heart palpitation. Sometimes I get up and take a deep breath, and this would go away for about 30 seconds but it would then come back. I do push ups and sit ups every night and I jog one or two miles everyday. This is a pretty strange symptom for me. Normally, this symptom would only occur if I lied down just awake, included my sleeping before that, for a total of 9 and up hours. It was only today that I experienced a more substantial symptom and a breeze chest pain, which may very well be from my exercises. I had a party at school yesterday and drank 3 cups of soda (those large, red plastic ones that comes in a bundle of about 20) at about 10 in the morning. I would have this symptom quite some time ago due to drinking large amounts of soda, which I've completely stopped. SO, my question is, is this problem temporarily from the soda or exercises or should I see a doctor later when I grow up?

i have had all these symptoms mentioned! It could be a viral infection from having sex that has transferd into heart problems. Most people have had more than 2 partners , it could be a "moral test" that we have all failed and now we are screwed yay LOL

seriously though it sucks, i can actually activate the symptoms when at night i lay on my back and try to take in a super deep breath, its like my lungs /heart become shocked and im unable to take in a full deep breath and my heart races, very scary.

this used to happen during the day when i ate higher fat foods that contained animal fat. however this doesnt happen when i consume plenty of unprocess fats like nut, walnuts, pecans,....i miss my butter but that activates it

i drink tons of fruitjuices, this helps with energy and doesnt activate symptoms

hey... i am also suffering from something which sounds similar to your problem.... i am also having a problem of shortness of breath and my hearts suddenly starts beating faster and it happens almost whole of the day...i feels like i am scared and weak and i feel low in front of everyone....i am getting thin day by day....my mind remains blank and i never relax , feeling less, i try to think but i can't....i don't know what i am going through for years but it is the most worst feeling anyone could ever feel.....i feel like i am not in me anymore...always feel lazy and inactive and never found any energy level in me...i reported to doctor...she said this is psycho schematic disease and it is curable but i didn't get back to her....please if anyone following the same problems then report me..

I have a similar problem.It happened 3 to 4 times so far.It is a new problem for me ,I have never had this problem before. Only when I am sleeping, when i am waking up, I feel I am dying of shortness of breath,like you are a room and there is no more Oxygen.My wife sleeps the same room but no problem for her in term of no more air or oxygen in the room.

The difference is I have no heart problem , no palpitation.After I go out from the room and have some deep breath, I will be alright again.
It might be anxiety problem ,but I am not a doctor and I can't tell for sure.

Seeing many people with the same problem is relieving. My girlfriend is 16 years old and has been expeirencing heart palpitations for years but just recently has here problem progressed to what seems to be very similar to many of the other posts. She now expeirences both the heart palpitations and the extreame shortness of breath. These problems are very frustrating to me becuase i can not seem to find an answer, and i hate to see or hear her suffering. It is nice to see that this problem is not uncommon and is not as serious as i have previously thought. But, after reading through all of these multiple similar problems and not finding a straight forward answer only amplifys my aggrevation. If anyone out there is reading this and does have a solution or even just some more suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Any steps that could be taken to elievate her suffering would be most helpful.
Please and Thank you!
I hope this post helps her and everyone else as well.
Good look everyone, I hope for the best for all of you!

Ive been dealing with the exact same issues. Spent the day at the hospital trying to figure out what is wrong with me. They ruled out life threatening problems like a blood clot. I am 24 yrs old, had my first baby 4 months ago, and since then I've had a pinching in my heart, palpitation's and the awful feeling of not being able to take in a deep breath. Its terrifying, wakes me outta a sound sleep ,