Tachycardia When Falling Asleep?

[pielady42]

Something strange happens to me now and then. I will be falling asleep or asleep for no more than an hour when something sends my body bolting upright. I awaken as I am forced upwards, gasping for breath with the whole bed shaking from tachycardia - it is beating that fast and hard. Once I almost fainted within the first thirty seconds. When I wore the holter the cardiologist said I was having a tachycardia but didn't know what triggered it. Has anyone experienced this during that early phase of sleep (REM?) I wake up disoriented and sure I am dying and eventually I realize "oh, it's just that thing happening again". It's very terrifying when it happens though, especially when I am so out of it and can't think straight. By the way, I have never had tachycardia when I am awake (knock on wood).

[Canadianpride69]

I  agree, I have moderate sleep apnea. One night I was also drinking (niged) and my friend found me and called an ambulance. I was semi unconscious and all of a sudden stopped breathing. I rose up, gasped and opened and closed my eyes quickly then dropped back down. My freind almost had a heart attack and thought maybe that was my last breath. I could hear things but could not respond. He was scared. Yes i agree, I have started falling alseep then all of a sudden gasped and even at times rose my body.

[Ccfl]

I have anxiety panic on meds. I had a 24 heart monitor for precaution which showed 150 bpm times while I slept. Doctor put me on metropolol 50 mg. This is scary!!! I am afraid I am going to die in my sleep.

[Anthony232]

I know your post is old, but it helped me a lot, so I was wondering if you have been diagnosed with anything yet? My symptoms are almost IDENTICAL, and it's very strange...with one exception...I am typically very dizzy when this happens, and like you very very disoriented. Last night when this happened, it felt like the room was moving closer to me, and then further away from me...REALLY fast, and lasted probably 20 seconds? Then, the hart palpitations started. I typically also wake up soaking wet...sweat literally dripping off my face/hair. So, I wake up 30-45 mins into sleep with Tremors, Sweats, Disorientation, Heart Racing with Palpitations. Sometimes I wake up right as it starts, and I can get it under control...like I can stop it if I wake up soon enough. I lay in bed at nights sometimes and watch YouTube with headphones on...via my cell phone. I wonder if this has anything to do with it. It was REALLY REALLY bad last night, and I fell asleep with my headphones on...but nothing was playing...the video I was watching had ended a long time ago.

I feel like I am dying when it occurs, and I have a phobia of dying from a heart attack, so this makes things 100 times more scary for me.

I will end it here...I appreciate your write-up and was just curious as to your progression over the last couple years since this post?

Thanks!

[chemicalmike]

Hi guys this happened to me for the 1st time last night...I was asleep for one hour when I woke up in a shock and my heart was beating crazy fast, my whole body felt numb and I thought I was dying of a heart attack but there was no actual pain in my heart....I walked around for a while and then I Googled and found this site...my experience was so similar to the very first post on this subject which made me feel a little bit better....I am suffering from an erratic heart beat which I thought had caused the panic attack last night.....I have been taking nexium for about 10 years now for a hernia which used to cause me to choke when sleeping...I have been through the sleep apnea issue and this is most certainly something different....do any of you guys take nexium? I am led to believe it reduces the calcium and magnesium in our bodies and this affects the heart.

[tacolino]

Hey there, lay off College Girl. Go look up SVT and you will find out that it can be caused by a type of panic attack while sleeping, you wake up with the pounding heart etc. So just chill, maybe you need to. . . .

[JRH5605]

It does happen in my sleep and its not that rare, I have a been on a monitor 24/7 several times which proves it. Collegegirl your post and the comment about getting all worked up into a panic is an ignorant comment, maybe you need to go back to college for about 15 years. Sleep causes my SVT attacks all the time.