Throat feels like closing up, can't sleep. What should I do?

Posted , 2 users are following.

I haven't been able to sleep at night for the past couple of weeks. I just lay in bed until around sunrise then fall asleep. Same thing happened tonight however a few hours ago a had a panic attack and now I can't go to sleep cause I feel like my throat is closing up and there is a large lump in my throat. I can breathe and swallow perfectly fine so I know it's all in my head. Whenever I have panic attacks I usually go to sleep and I'm fine afterwards but I can't even do that today. I have a class in a couple of hours and I'm not sure what to do. I'm very tired, been up almost 24 hours now but every time I lay down, I feel like my throat is gonna close up and I'll die.

0 likes, 1 reply

1 Reply

  • Posted

    I'm sorry you are experiencing this. I have a LOT of health anxiety and have experienced many things because of it- muscle twitches, dizziness, racing heart, chest tightening, and the feeling that my throat is closing. This has happened to me a few times while I was asleep. I would wake up gasping for air and completely terrified. I also began to fear going to sleep. It does pass. It will stop happening. For me, reminding myself that I was going to be ok and that I wasn't really in any true danger helped a lot. It is totally related to anxiety.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.