rapid heartbeat upon waking and can't speak or move

[llindall15]

my husband woke me up at 4 am last night tapping me on the shoulder. when i asked him what he wanted he did not respond, so i turned over and asked him again. he still did not respond, but then a few seconds later tried to talk but it was just mumbling. i asked him if he was ok, and finally he started to talk really slow saying that he woke up to feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest and he couldn't move his legs or speak at all and he thinks he might have blacked out for a few seconds. he had tapped me on my shoulder, but couldn't say my name or nudge me with his foot to wake me up. he said he was terrified. after he could move and speak he said he felt like he was about to go into a deep sleep like a reset mode or something, sort of like what a person does after having a seizure. he made himself stay awake because he was scared that he wouldn't wake up again. he has been fine all day and hasn't felt any rapid heartbeats or anything and he remembers it all. he said he wasn't have a nightmare or anything before it happened to cause the rapid heartbeat. this was very scary, and i told him he needs to go to the doctor about it because it was definitely not normal, but i don't think he thinks he should go. what in the world could this have been?

[LukeL]

Sounds like sleep paralysis with a panic attack.

[Cleveland Clinic]

Depending on his age, he most likely had some type of heart arrhythmia, an abnormal rhythm of the heart.  The fact that it woke him up at night is suggestive of atrial fibrillaiton.  He should see a physician to have further workup.  he may beed to wear an event monitor and have a stress test as well as an echocardiogram.

[Satinka27]

My experience is extremely limited, but this sounds like cardiomyopathy and he needs to be seen asap.  This happened to my husband 2 weeks ago and he was in the hospital for a week.  Good luck!

[SilverLining00]

He should be seen, no arguments.  If he couldn't move or speak, it could have been a transient ischemic attack (TIA).  He shouldn't wait and see.  At least call your doctor and speak with him/her.  

[llindall15]

it was very scary. i would've called an ambulance but it only lasted about a minute, and i had no idea what was going on almost the whole time, and when he could talk to me he said he was fine and didn't need to go to the hospital. i'm definitely going to try to make him go see a doctor, though.

[crystalhanzelka]

That sounds really scary to me.  He should go to the doctor.  I would have called for paramedics.  But now, he should atleast be checked out by a doctor.