Jolted waking up with racing hearth and tingeling

Hi Everyone
It feels great to be able to ask someone. I am 28 years old male regular weight with no health problems generally  and have had this scenario happen to me once or twice a month for some time now.
I have this strange episodes when i wake up extremley fast in the middle of the night, like  i am jolted or in danger, and start to get fast heart beeting followed by strong tingleling all over my body, a strange sensation as though i have been poisoned and the poison is moving around me. My chest hurts somewhat, but i feel a strong pressure around my arteries. I have experienced anxiety in the past so i know the symptoms and can control it for the most part, but this is different.
  After its over it takes me couple of days to fully recover. I measured my BP and HR after 10 min today and it was 128/83 with 68 heart rate which was fantastic yet i still had the poisoned feeling, tingling and pressure as though my blood isn't running or if i have received poison trough IV. One thing i want to point out is that I sleep with my arms and hands under my pillow or under my chest on my stomach, which I now cuts my circulation somewhat. There is also a heat and burning sensation in my chest which is the beggining. I feel as though my body is sleeping and then it gets shocked and tries to get in full mode in such a short time that it causes this horibble sensations. Sometimes i feel that my hearth gets going but my body is still sleeping.  Now after 5 hours i still feel some chest pressure, tingling in head and palms, and overall unwelness. Also today my body felt very achy and heavy.
P.s At this time my life is very relaxed as far as stress and have no problems. And also i would wake up after 3 hours of sleeping and needing to eat something in order to go back to bed. It used to be chocolate but i have substituted with biscuits.  If anybody has had this happen i would love to hear your experience and thoughts.

[Julie359]

could it be that your suffering from sleep apnea?  This sudden jolt experience might be your bodies alarm system kicking in when your breath holding, this would account for the other symptoms.  Your body is actually protecting you in this moment by a release of chemicals to kick start your system..... This is just one theroy, i would go have a chat with your doctor and maybe mention sleep apena as a possiblity.  

Also maybe google it an have a look.  Plus is you have a girlfriend/ partner maybe you could ask them to keep an eye out for anything that looks suspect, like maybe if your having a nightmare or are indeed stopping breathing.

Let us know what the doc says and i would strongly advise to go an see one.

[tigerlilly946]

That is an unusual occurence. Are you having nightmares? If you are able to get tested for sleep apnea, I know there are certain brain machine tests they can do that monitor your brain as your sleeping... so you can see if there's any kind of disturbance going on while your sleeping. Also, are you a heavy drinker? I've gotten the artery-flowing feeling before when I've consumed large amounts of alcohol. Or are you watching TV before you go to bed? Sometimes that over-stimulates people's minds if they watch it before they go to sleep and it can cause disruptions in sleep. It definitely sounds like there's an explanation to what your feeling because it's such specific symptoms, but I would definitely advise seeing a doctor too and describing your exact situation to him/her and see what they have to see. Maybe even consider seeing some kind of sleep specialist...

Good luck with everything and keep us posted!

[marty727]

First of all I want to thank you guys for taking the time to write i really appreciate that. You don't even know me and you are still helping me in whatever way you can. that means a lot.
As far as sleep testing there is no option to do that now unfortunately so i have to figure something else for now. As far as drinking goes i drink very seldom and dont smoke anymore. When i wake up I dont gasp for air or anything although in a diffrent set of episodes in the past i have. So i must have had some form or sleep apnea before but this is different or at least it seems like that to me.
Definitely have some nightmares although i never wake up because of them, when I have them.
The thing is that I am very unhappy sleeping like never comfortable and i have changed beds and always twisting my wrists and hands, and I definitively have some form of insomnia. Its like now i dread when i need to go to sleep because it happens with so much effort. I do stay in front of my 42" tv which is my computer screen every night until i have to go to sleep. And then i  still don't understand how and why i wake up after 2-3 hours of sleep and feel like i am perfectly rested and awake to only have to do something to go back to bed because i would be so tired later. Its a little bit frustrating.

On a similar note the same thing was happening to me when I would be very tired and take a afternoon nap out of crushing rather than choice and then be awoken or have to get up abruptly for whatever reason and like i said its like the heart is not getting up fast enough or vice verse. Burning sensation in the chest, very tired and heavy body and difficulty breathing, very dry mouth, and pressure at main arterial points. Just feeling like i have run a Marathon and my body is dead. Like i have some kind of deficiency in those situations or sugar issue although my sugar has been ok in blood tests.
Anyhow thanks again for the responses and if you think of anything else let me know.
Martin

[Julie359]

Have you been to see the doctor for a full health check up?  Had bloods done recently, Bp, thyroid checked etc..... oviously it is very difficult to say.  Also can ia ask why is it not possible to do the sleep testing option?  Has your doc said no to that?

[marty727]

Hi Julie

I had a full exam with very detailed blood test and everything was normal it's always normal with the tests which is the most difficult thing. You know something is wrong and they tell you that you are perfect. Also I would like to point out that it is definitely not in my head because i have been trough all of those panic scenarios and by now i just know. As far as the sleep test I am working in East Europe now and there is no such facility here to attend to unfortunately. I wonder if sugar has anything to do with this cause i felt little off today and after eating some chocolate i think i felt better, although the blood test showed 3 times that my sugar was fine.
Planing to get on a good juicing program and hoping it will balance my body and take care on any deficiencies.
Thanks
Martin

[kay2486]

hi marty, i can this strange feeling and everyone does, it happens when we are dreaming sometimes and we wake up in  sweat with palps, it can also be the brain just making sure everything is still ok, my partner gets this too but he has also stopped breathing and woke up panicking because he couldnt breath he said it was like he really couldnt get his breath, he didnt jolt he just jumped up making a weird noise

[giggles67]

OMG i have been having the same thing happen to me lately I thought it was anxiety I will go to sleep than I feel like someone pulled my body like a jolt than I wake up up with the feeling of my heart pundig really fast but I check it and its fine than I feel like I'm getting the chills and I have to constantly rub the back of my neck for some reason.  I also get clamy hands and tingling like you described.  I maybe sleep 2 hours when this happens and like you I sleep with my hands just as you described.  I ended up in the emergency rooma nd was told it was anxiety and that I was causing myself to hyperventilate but its gotten worse and now I have it more than once a week. Please let me know if you have more test done.  I was recently diagnosed with central and perfhial vertigo and that causes alot of aniety because you never know if you are going to faint or go into spin mode.

[Desmasis]

I get all these same symptoms. It also only happens when I am trying to fall asleep. And when it does, it jolts me out of bed gasping for air. I don't snore. But what also happens with the gasping is a pang in my chest followed by fast heart palpitations. The first time it happened I actually thought I was having a heart attack. Weird thing is that it has also happened to me while running on the treadmill. Not the gasping for air part but the pang in my chest. It's a weird feeling. Anyone know if this can be caused by stress, nervousness, mixed in with the sleep apnea. I had a EKG done about 6 months ago and there was no irregular heart beat. Any idea