Gasping for Breath in Sleep

[ShellyLA]

There is a post on this website by a woman named Mary on January 13, 2006.  Mary describes exactly what my problem is.  I tried to post to the thread but it says that it is not accepting any other posts.  

I have been experiencing an involuntary gasping of breath in my sleep -- sometimes just as I am drifting off but sometimes while I am asleep.  It wakes me up constantly.  I had a sleep study.  I do not have apnea since it sometimes happens when I am awake, and the doctor confirmed that it is not apnea.  The sleep doctor then sent me to an ENT specialist.  They did a breathing test to test for scary respiratory problems but this came back normal with no problems.   He said he thought it might be acid reflux that was causing this involuntary gasp so he prescribed prevacid.  This has not really helped.  

Does anyone else have any insight to this problem?  I'm really at my wit's end as this is highly disruptive to my sleep.  Help!  Thanks.  

And, Mary, if you are still on this forum, please let me know if you ever solved your problem. I hope so....

[Angela12au]

I know exactly what you mean, I started having the exact same experiences a few years ago, not every night but every now & then.  Finally I went to a doctor because I thought I was going to die from suffocation & he checked my breathing & everything was normal.  He diagnosed it as an anxiety attack.  At the time I was having family problems and it made a lot of sense.  He also gave me book on panic attacks / anxiety disorders which helped a lot.  It's all in your breathing. If you notice right now you're probably breathing high up in your chest??  Ever since this was pointed out I've changed my breathing & the attacks have stopped.  Not sure if yours is the same thing but sounds very similar.  Hope this helps.

[Jordy]

Sometimes that happens to me a bit, but it usually is simply the result of a stuffy nose, and having my mouth closed and therefore not breathing full for a few breaths.  In fact, I had nose surgery for a deviated septum, and during the healing process with the packs in place, while laying in the hospital bed, I suddenly gasped badly and told the nurse I felt like I couldn't breathe at all, expecting some kind of emergency code to be announced and having a staff of medics rush in, and she said simply "your mouth was closed, you have to remember to keep your mouth open to breathe."

That may not be your problem, but I mention it because, considering you had all the tests and doctors have said it's all normal, it is very possible that the cause is something as simplistic as nasal congestion or something like that.  A habit of very shallow breathing will also exasterbate a breathless feeling as well.