Wake up gasping for air

This has happened to me on and off. It happened to my friend too while she was stressed.  I do have sleep apnea but it did happen to me even with my mask on when my anxiety was at its peak. I have my anxiety under control right now so it hasn't happened as often. Ive had it a couple of times when i fell asleep without the mask.  Cant tell if its anxiety or sleep apnea cause it doesnt hapen all the tine. However i am struggling with taking deep breaths while im awake. Ive had it for about 9 weeks dr says its anxiety!. 

hi Dianne, came across this post as I have been so lost with what goes on with me at night and your post sounds so familiar. i too have had 3 sleep apnea tests with negative results..i am 36, kind of overweight but had same problem prior to weight gain. i jolt awake usually only when transioning from awake to sleep, I feel as tho I am not breathing at all and have to tell myself to breathe, I also sometimes scream when jolted awake. my heart races and I have to gather myself before trying to go back to sleep. sometimes it happens multiple times before I finally sleep for the night. its horrific and very scary..have you found any answers yet? sometimes I think it's psychological because I feel like either my brain is not telling me to breathe or I'm forgetting too not that physically i actually cant.

Hello I am 36 and last January I experienced my first panic attack. I thought I was dying. I had no idea what it was it scared me to death. I knew I had some form of anxiety but not to this level. After that experience I am more aware of my anxiety which sucks. I do get the gasping for air feeling right before I fall asleep. I don't feel it every night but I do feel it sometimes. Sometimes it happens three times before I actually fall asleep and it is pretty scary. I will tell you I have pretty much been tested for everything. I've had X-rays, blood work, lung tests, heart checked out on an EKG, you name it I've had it done. I was going to get down to the bottom of this! I also went to an ear nose and throat Dr. They did some allergy testing on me which I've always known I've had allergies. I'm pretty much allergic to every tree, cats, dogs and some other things. Well I started on my allergy shots and they've been helping a lot but I still have some sinus and post nasal drip problems. Besides that they also did the procedure where they look down your throat with the camera and noticed that I also suffer from acid reflux. He said my throat was naturally small and that the acid reflux caused my vocals to be touching my larynex which was not normal( keep in mind I have gained some weight) so that also makes you have more fat around your throat. He said that I need to take Prilosec or Nexium everyday that Zantac is not going to cut it. He told me that when the acid comes up your throat it cause vocal swelling and spams and you may be unable to breathe for a few seconds and that can cause a flight or fight method which can lead to anxiety. And also them touching can cause me to have some issues. I love to find the answers to my problems so I do a lot of research. What I have read is that some people experience their anxiety only at night and that's what I think is happening here. I also tend to stay up late and I do have problems falling asleep which I'm pretty sure I may have insomnia. But once I'm asleep I'm asleep till the morning. Before I had my panic attack last January I never had this problem so I'm pretty sure it has to do with anxiety. I definitely try and take vitamins that help with anxiety like St John's wort and I also try to use lavender essential oils. Long story short I'm pretty sure the problem has to do with acid reflux so talk to your doctor because there's also silent acid reflux where you might have it and not even know it. And I think it also has to do with some sort of sleep disorder like insomnia and it definitely has to do with stress and anxiety. I think at night you're more aware of yourself and your feelings and your thoughts and that's probably when the anxiety happens.

i just woke woke up gasping for breath and I know I won’t be able to go sleep for awhile again until the adrenaline wears off. I’ve had this happen a few times before. I work 24 hour shifts and my circadian rhythms are all messed up. It seems that it happens when I’m very tired, I fall asleep unusually quickly for me and I’m fall asleep on my back. It could be that I’m so tired that I relax too much out of massive fatigue and just allow my airway to close. I don’t remembering it happening when I was on my side. I have been tested for sleep apnea and told that I don’t have it. I can tell you that when it happens I have a sudden feeling of doom as if I am going to die and as I wake up I start to wonder if I will ever be able to breath. A bit unsettling. 

Wish I knew more. I do have some anxiety but it is much better than it was. Btw this has not happened to me when I’m taking Xanax or Ambien. Only when I don’t take anything because I’m so tired I’m sure I will sleep.

I feel your pain.

 Medicsun

Medicsun

it's a symptom of peri/menopause and it's from anxiety, It can also very well be from your sinus issues and or mixture of both.