Throat squeezed shut while sleeping

I just had the weirdest thing happen. I woke up not being able to breath. I was gasping in panic but could only make this weird sound and not get any air. I sipped a little water and then I could breath.

I have on numerous occasions in the past felt a sudden tightness in my throat just as I was about to fall asleep accompanied with a strange sudden dryness at the same time. A sip of water always made the sensation vanish immediately. This time I was asleep and awoke in terror.

I have had GERD for years and I am not sure if this is related. I occasionally get esophageal spasms at night if not on Nexium or over stressed about something or having eaten to much to late at night, but this is very different as they never caused me to have difficulty breathing.

Another possibly related thing is a few years ago I attempted to contain a cough one time and swear I felt a hole blow in the front of my throat. It hurt but nothing ever seemed to develop from it so figured the sensation must not have really meant I had hurt something.

Any ideas what this could be would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Wayne

[Ratnakar Kini, MD]

Hi,
The possibilities are GERD, obstructive sleep apnea and heart disease.
Consult you doctor for evaluation.