Heart Palpitations, shortness of breath while sleeping

I have the same problem as youse guys I've had it every day for the last 2 years and it's getting worse wen I am just about to doze off the left side of my chest goes weird and it's like my heart is struggling to work I have to jump up and gasp for breath it's really bad and scary it don't just happen once sometimes I get it all night till the next day and it's started happening now wen I'm awake and it's badly gettin me down can eny one help

I applaud all of you for going to your cardiologist and pursuing medical help. I just want to say some advice. First stop all caffeine. Second stop all Gatorade type drinks. Third stop all energy drinks or pills. Forth stop all vitamin D or calcium supplements. Ask your MD about any supplements you are taking. Your heart is effected by electrolyte balance. Please make sure you are hydrated. Drinking water is so important. Also consider taking magnesium. Magnesium helps muscles to relax and helps with leg cramps. Lastly, pray. Talking to our Creator an asking for wisdom and guidance can only help.

It is sleep apnea. I went through the same thing. Heart was jumping me awake. Life saving but annoying... people die in their sleep n don't know it's sleep apnea, not getting enough oxygen in your body. Muscles, tissues, heart etc needs oxygen.

Hi Guys,

I seemed to have find comfort in myself knowing that I am not the only one who experiences this kind of condition. In my case, I have had trouble sleeping at night because of a sudden jolt of heart palpitations and difficulty of breathing. I felt this sudden dizziness and chest pain that occurs unpredictably but rampantly at night when I am sleeping. I consulted a cardio in our place and she diagnosed my condition under "mitral valve prolapse" She prescribed me Orphenadrine Norgesic Forte to help ease the chest pain. After continuous intake, the symptoms actually stopped probably for 2 months but after then, it suddenly came back and started disturbing my sleep at night. It's as if a feeling of dying while being awake. I can't help but to be scared of this situation.

Oh my gosh, this is what I'm experiencing these past few days. I feel so worried because my sleep is affected. I sometimes feel scared of going to sleep because what if I'll die. I have cut off on coffee for like 3 weeks already but it's still the same. This freaks me out. How do you deal with it?

Oh, I feel the same. I'm 35 years old, single. I cut off drinking coffee, avoided meat and oily foods, and eats veggies more. This makes me go crazy. Many would say I'm just experiencing anxiety but it's not. Well, not being able to have a good long sleep and feeling these crazy palpitations freaks me out. So how are ypu right now? How did you deal with it?

All of you are experiencing the same symptoms as me, I am 29. My mother has had symptoms like these since her early 30s with no diagnosis. She's 52 now. She's been through all the tests multiple EKGs, echo, holter monitors and all to no avail. She was adopted so has been very curious about her family history. She has slowly began to make contact. A lot of searching and dna testing helped her locate some relatives. Her biological sister has ehlers danlos syndrome hypermobility type which is a issue with collagen production that affects many of our connective tissues. Common associated problems are mitral valve regurgitation, paroxysmal orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and dysautonomia. From what I have gathered this syndrome is more common that previously thought because it's not well recognized so goes under diagnosed. It has to be diagnosed by a geneticist.

I've gone through exactly what many of these, and hundreds more all over the internet, have described. Let me tell you what I've found. I'll try to be direct and brief but I tend not to succeed...

First off I worked a very physical job for twenty years, until I was 38. I was 220 lb of muscle and other than occasional muscle soreness had no medical issues. At that time a desk job opened up and I took it. Ten years later and I'd put on 30 lbs, lost a lot of muscle tone, but otherwise felt fine.

Then I experienced what many here have described. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating, heart pounding and arms tingling. I got out of bed and was lightheaded to the point where I dropped to my knees and violently threw up. Everything went away at that point, so I cleaned up and went back to bed. Nothing like that happened for six months when it happened again. Then again three months later but much much milder. At this point my male anti-doctor stubbornness gave in... my doctor told me I had acid reflux and prescribed Pepcid, which I took for almost three months with no further attacks. (And no, I don't do spicy foods. I'm a spice wimp.)

Then, three Sunday afternoons in a row, the symptoms hit me in mid day. Heart palpitations, sweating, lightheaded, tingly arms, weakness, with no apparent cause and while I was taking my Pepcid. My sister was over the third time and said I went white as a sheet, so she took me to Urgent Care, which hooked me up to a heart monitor, gave me an aspirin, started a saline IV, and shipped me down to the Heart center in town.

I had XRays, ultrasound, they drew blood and I laid there for hours. Finally Doogie Howser came in and gave me a Prilosec prescription, telling me to have my Doctor set up further tests. After that I had an endoscopy, and a nuclear stress test.

IT'S VERY IMPORTANT with any of these symptoms to have everything checked out. Do so immediately, don't wait like I did. You have to rule out the serious issues.

That being said, they found nothing. The stress test doctor looked at me like I was crazy and said it'd been years since he'd seen such a strong and healthy heart, and that he didn't expect to ever see me in there again. The endoscope showed no signs of Barretts or any sort of reflux, The XRays and ultrasound showed nothing.

And yet I was still having the issue, which was worsening. I could feel it coming on and would make sure I was on the couch when it did. I started documenting what I'd been eating and doing beforehand, how long it lasted, how intense it was, thinking I could figure out what was going on since medical science seemed to be stumped.

Here's the good part... my solution.

I had the symptoms one time AND the flu and flu medicine made them go away. I found that it was the HUGE dose of aspirin (1500mg) that wiped out the symptoms within 20 minutes. Several times I used aspirin to stop the onset as I could feel them starting.

I found out that something in my back, between my shoulder blades, could 'pop' and the symptoms would start immediately. I reached down for a gas can I was filling at the gas station, felt the pop, and within three heartbeats it was just pounding in my chest and I was on my knees, sweating and shaking. I made it home, downed four 325mg bayer aspirins and laid down. 20 minutes later I was back on my feet.

I went to a friend's Chiropractor and, while it didn't seem like he did much he managed to get a few pops out of my spine between my shoulder blades. Seeing how he did it I found I could stand in a doorway and press against one side while pushing against the other to duplicate the effect. Further experimentation led me to how I've had NO symptoms for several years now.

I sit at the edge of a solid chair, clasp my hands together, place my elbows against my knees, and basically try to push my upper spine out of my body by squeezing my knees inward, flexing my shoulders outward. Start gently and try to keep from building pressure in your head. It takes a little practice but I can pop three or four vertebrae this way. You can also "try to touch your toes" while flexing your upper back but be careful balance-wise.

It's 100% effective for me, requires no drugs, and I have to say leaves me feeling more energetic and breathing more freely. I think, as the symptoms come on, they drag you down slowly before you even know it's happening.

Try it, or see a Chiropractor, but only AFTER you've made sure it's not something serious and identifiable.

I hope your wife is feeling better. Did you get to the bottom of it? We did the same checks... and nothing. Very confusing.