shortness of breath and squeezing chest pain when falling asleep

on and off for almost the last year ive been having severe squeezing chest pains in the center of my chest, i feel very unpleasant pressure in the center of my chest throughout the day that starts off mild when i wake up, but then the pressure gradually increases to the point where im pacing around the house struggleing to breath. I dont get any racing thoughts or heavy heartbeat sensations like panic attack sufferers. When i start drifting off to sleep at night, my breathing gets really shallow and im suddenly awakened with an intense squeezing pain in the center of my chest that scares the life outta me and causes me to jump out of bed, the very second i feel this intense pain, im forced to immediately take a deep breathe of air and the pain instantly goes away. The second i start falling asleep again, this problem repeats itself and will continue through out the night, it makes me scared to even try to sleep, i sometimes end up falling asleep at 8 or 9 in the morning from extreme exhaustion and end up sleeping most of the day, there was even a couple times where i stayed awake for over 48 hours without even a short nap. i get a very small amount of relief from the pressure sometimes if i hold my arms over my head and move my shoulders back. The squeezing pain in the center of my chest isnt a sharp pain and i only feel it in the center, the pain only occurs when the chest pressure gets to severe and when i experience this pain when falling asleep it sends very horrifying sensations rushing through my body, feels like my heart is seezing up and it goes away as soon as i wake up and take one breath. Ive seen a cardiologist once so far and had a stress test and EKG, everything came back fine. I have also been to the ER twice and had x-rays and blood work done and all was fine. My doctor prescribed zoloft 100mg once a day and xanax 0.5 twice a day, the xanax helps with the chest pressure for the most part during the day, but i still get the horrifying sqeezing pains when falling asleep. Does anyone else have these symptoms and if so do you know what it could be. I am scared for my life and litteraly can not function like this for much longer. someone please help

[StephenK1]

Aside from these symptoms, which would upset anyone, are you anxious? If so, the symptoms can be consistent with anxiety. However, if you only get anxious when you get the pain and feel calm otherwise, find a doctor who takes you seriously and get off of the xanax.

Make sure you've done the following to minimize the problem: no alcohol, no smoking, minimal caffeine, no eating 2 hours before bedtime. Eat a healthy diet. Exercise 3x per week. If you work at a computer, move regularly or take a few days off of the computer and see if it helps. You can get a lot of muscle pain in your chest from any repetitive activity like computer work. Make sure your mattress and pillow are supporting you properly. Consider trying memory foam (let it air out first). It's amazing how much you can affect your health with lifestyle.

Have you been checked for costochondritis or pulmonary issues? Have you been checked for fibromyalgia? GERD?

Consider finding a well-trained, licensed acupuncturist. Acupuncture can be extremely helpful with cases like this.