Abnormal breating, it seems?

Hi, newbi. This has been a very long and interesting year. Which started off with a bloodclot in the spine as big as my fist, and ended with a pacemaker. After many tests it was decided on the autonomic failure. I started working only 7 days ago. Hoping to stay out of hospitals for the festive season, now I am having this moments where it feels as if someone nocked my breath out of me. Is this normal? Is it something the pacemaker is doing, keeping the beat. I wake up at night sitting up straight gasping for my breath for a second or so, as if I had some kind of panic attack in my sleep. Then comes the dizzyness thereafter. The room will spin for another second or so. I just got such a fright since the last time my heart rate dropped from 42 beats to 8 beats in a few hours and the doctor nearly jumped my chest to bits..

[bluewind95]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Did your heart rate drop that much with a pacemaker? And also, does this only happen at nights? Have you been checked for things like sleep apnea?

[pepito6]

Hi , I also have been getting these episodes, for me it has happened as I am falling asleep.  It is very scary!!!! I also feel as if my breath is being knocked out,  I am not sure how to discribe it. at times I feel like my heart stops for a second or so, or that the diaphram contracts.
I do have sleep apnea and called  my sleep dr. and he checked my bi-pap machine and did  not find any episodes of apnea. I will be going to my cardiologist next week and will ask him about this.
Take care and keep us informed if you find out the cause of  this symptom. I will do the same,