Hello. I found this site after typing in "sleep apnea forums" on a search engine. The reason I did that is because I have been having these...how should I say, odd and terrifying episodes during the night - Had one tonight which is what prompted me to search. First off, I answered yes to about 26 of the 30 questions on a sleep apnea questionaire I took ie: daytime tiredness, never enough sleep, falling asleep in situations I shouldn't, wake up w/ heart pounding, sleep paralysis, depressed, irritable, short term memory loss, trouble concentrating, swollen legs, etc. I am a 26 yr old, overweight female. I have been diagnosed with anxiety (especially medical), and fibromyalgia - I don't know if those conditions can be related to sleep apnea or not.

Anyway, I have been waking up suddenly because of the unusual, violent, or sad dreams I have right before these episodes-which I think might really be my brain's way of kicking on my fight or flight response because it is the intense feeling in my dream that awakens me. When I wake up, my heart is pounding soo hard and fast, it feels like it will fly out of my chest. I also feel sort of dizzy or my head will hurt-I feel funny all over. And worst of all, my legs (lower) feel very hot and look reddish. Also, the areas where I have slight veins are much more pronounced. I usually stay up for a while until my heart rate settles and I am exhausted; I make sure my head & shoulders are elevated and it won't happen the rest of the night (at least to my knowledge. Oh, when it happens, it ALWAYS happens at the same time; about two hours after I've gone to bed.

Please, any advice/help offered would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Welcome to Apnea Board, LAN_Babe.

The episodes you've described could be diagnostic of obstructive sleep apnea.

Before I was diagnosed, I occasionally woke up choking and/or gasping for breath. At other times, I would wake up disoriented, with an intense feeling of unspecified dread...it just felt like something bad was happening but I didn't know exactly what. In either case, my heart would be racing and I would have to sit for a while until I was able to relax and go back to sleep.

Shortly thereafter I was diagnosed with severe OSA.

The fact that your symptoms seem to occur at the same time is not unusual. Apnea events tend to "spike" during the deepest stages of sleep, which will typically occur after a certain amount of total sleep time.

I would strongly suggest a polysomnogram, or sleep study, which any M.D. can order. If you are diagnosed with OSA, you should consider seeing a board-certified sleep specialist. Whatever you do, don't wait! Untreated OSA can be devastating to your health.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions, we'll do our best to help.

Carl

My suggestion would be for you to find a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. My Internist reccomended that I see a Pulmonary doctor, which I did.
Do a Google search on sleep disorder clinics in your area and they can reccomend a doctor