Feels like someone punching or poking me in my sleep

[MattyT123]

Have you ever experienced being punched in the stomach? Well, sometimes I get that feeling in my sleep and unsure if it's just a dream or something else.

It feels as if someone is punching me on my sides of around the abdominal areas, sometimes under the rib, sometimes it feels like a poking sensation other times i feel tickled.

And in my dream of someone actually doing it.

While it happens I can't breathe, this then wakes me up.

It doesn't happen all the time.

I notice it after feeling stressed out about something.
I was being so sad and crying alone about a death of a friend last year, and that's when I first noticed it.


There are occasions when I was not sad or anything,  like last night, and dreamt I was being tickled and couldn't breathe, then I woke up and felt fine.

The feeling can be quite frightening.

[morpheus1514]

See a doc to ensure no underlying med issues like sleep apnea.  The "not breathing" is a red flag.

[AnxiousNoMore]

If you are asleep you are groggy so it is unlikely that this punching feeling is anything other than a dream or nightmare. Dreams are sort of meaningless, so try not to worry about them because you dream every night, but just remember a few so there are lots of others that you have had over the last year but don't even realize it.