Heart beats after deep sleep

[Hammer76]

Hello, i am a 28 years old male smoker. Its been two times in a row that i go into deep sleep phase then i wakes up suddenly either because of a dream or an alarm ring with a sudden increase of heart beats that causes me dizziness and hand shakes. It lasts for two to three minutes, then i go back to a different stage, which is bit of physical weekness and paranoya that is probably caused by fear and panic from the fast heart beats accident.

Is it a normal thing to have those heart beats, what shall i do to beat them easily and recover faster cause i think bring me mood swings fear and anxiety?

Noting that those two times happened one time after a lunch (barbecue meat and chicken), that was followed by disflatyl and gaviscon (being a lactose tolerant with reflux case), and the other time was after alcohol and during a nightmare.
Am getting lost now. i did several tests basically related to my stomach, and i discovered that i am lactose tolerant and i have a reflux problem. i took some medications and they helped for a while..but from my point of view i think what is happening to me is related to panic attacks that i started having 6 months ago;
(it was one night after three to four days of intense working, lack of sleep and food, that i went out on a big dinner, went back home afterwards very exhausted, my head on the pillow, then suddenly all i felt is a very fast heart beats sweating and fear, went to an ER,. They released me after 3 hours full of test saying that it was over stress, anxiety in addition to stomach disorder and heart burns......)

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hi Hammer76,

It sounds like you are waking up with panic attacks.  This typically happens to males in the mid 20's and the symtoms are consistent. It may be worth using a holter monitor to try and capture the event, but it really sounds like a panic attack.  happening after a nightmare would suppport this...

ok, just read the last paragraph.  This is a text book panic attack (lack of sleep, stress, etc.)

Typically things that help are avoidance of coffee, tea, chocalate.  There are some medications that help if it comes to that.  Try to stay away from medications like xanax -- that help in the short term but can be addicting.  Tricyclic antidepressants may help as do SSRIs like paxil.

I hope this helps and thanks for posting.

[Richard_W]

First of all, don't neglect the reflux problem.  It has gotten me into a good bit of problem and I have gone through all of the heart beat problems you have mentioned but otherwise my heart is normal.

For what it is worth, if you are overweight, lose weight. That will help with the reflux problem and consider raising the head of your bed off the floor about four inches. If you drink much alcohol, cut it down to only a drink or two a night and if you smoke, stop now.  Don't even think about continuing to smoke.  Smoking is a sure ticket to a heart attack (probably sudden cardiac death) or other cardiovascular problems like clogged leg veins (possibly leading to amputation), strokes, and ultimately lung cancer or emphysema.  Then you can wheel your oxygen tank around with you when you are in your 50's or 60's. Not something you want to do. I quit cold turkey when I was 29 years old.  I'm now 62.

And exercise regularly. I have found the exercise bicycle to be about perfect. And consider getting a top quality treadmill.  And keep track of your blood pressure readings and weight. If it is not within the recommended guidelines get it down.  Insist that your doctor or specialist do what is required.  Shoot for about 110/70.  My $0.02.

[madgeOwens]

Hammer smoking will cause a plethera of symptoms also, especially with digestive tract.  Do yourself a huge favor and quit smoking.  I have pvc's and recently went on Inderol for the chest pain, light headed and sob I experienced.  It has helped me, but anxiety and caffeine still bring on problems.  My point is you can change alot of life style habits and make some of your symptoms better. Good luck to you, I hope this may help some.

[Hammer76]

Thanks to everybody that have posted a comment and for the doctor especially.
What am facing these days is probably panic attacks as the doc said. I am getting used to them, and am not taking any medications like xanax or else cause i think they have depressive side effects and usually am a social person.
i am skinny and tall, so i dont have an overwieght problem.
i only eat healthy food,
as for the smoking, i used to smoke more then a pack a day and now i went down to half pack maximum.
on weekdays, i drink everyday like one to two glasses of wine or vodka and on weekends i drink more then 6 glasses per night.
i will work on decreasing those glasses cause i think they might be playing a role in weekening my daily tolerance.
i am doing my best to get rid of those panic attacks mentaly by controling them, and by thinking always positive..
I did a heart check up, it turned good, with no history of heart problems in my family, i think i have no reason why to worry about my heart.
What assures this to me, is that it has been a long time that i am sexually active and i have never faced any problems during, after and before sex.

i will be always posting and contributing, cause i think reading from this website everyday for a while give me a lot of answers to a lot of problems that i face.

[fearfactor]

Hi!  Just want you to know I'm another person who has suffered nocturnal panic attacks just like you describe.  They are terrifying, but won't hurt you.  Mine caused me to have really intense anxiety problems that manifest themselves all day long, not just at night now.  This is a result of me starting to worry I had some serious heart disorder. Don't let this happen to you.  If you have been checked out and told you're OK, accept what the doctor says and go on and have a happy life.  I've been told by so many doctors I can't count them that I am OK, to go and enjoy life, but I can't do it now because I've just been anxious about this for so long that it is hard to get it through my head that I'm really OK.  Don't let this happen to you!

[lisapep]

Hey everyone...

I feel like a thread vulture... totally taking advantage of someones thread.. however I have a ?? and figured you all are so informed maybe someone can help...

Well i have posted in the past that i have had some heart palpitations and flutters in the past.  the dr. found some premature beats but nothhing of concern (24 hour monitor) I cut back on the caffiene and chocolate. and am exercising more. So they are not as frequent.  However last night I was laying down getting ready to sleep and then my heart LITTERALLY pounded quickly for 2-3 seconds.  it must have beet 7 or 8 times in this short time span.  then i sat up caughed and my heart rate back to normal (a little higher then average .. 82 bpm.. normally i am at 70-76 bpm) But i figured it was scared so that must have increased it a bit.  I hardly slept in anticipatoin of it happining again. :-( ... can anyone tell me if this has happened to them and what did they do to control it.  I feel this overwhelming sense of anxiety butterfly in the stomach feeling.  I hate it.  If the holter came back negative could this be something new that needs to be evaluated??? or is it "just one of those things?" Any insight would be WONDERFUL!! thanks so very much & God Bless you all

Lisa

[upbeat63]

I guess I'll give the standard answer first, and that is if you feel something has changed you should get it evaluated because otherwise there is no way to tell for sure. That's safe, cautious and wise.

But those of us, yourself included, who suffer from PVCs or PACs will tell you, the variation in rhythm can be scary. Once you think you've got the timing or number figured out, ie, I get about 15 to 20pvcs/minute then bam something happens to change it all. Sometimes I get 5/minute and sometimes I get 30. Some feel like my heart is going to pop through my chest or like a train is coming down the tracks getting louder and louder and I might feel some lightheadedness and there are some days (thank goodness) I don't feel them at all. They are still there, but I don't notice them. I've had just about all the sensations you can think of. But I've read so many different posts here on this forum, that I know palpitations can be described a hundred different ways.

There are a few folks here who wake from sleep with the same sensations you've described, some because of free-floating panic attacks--yes right smack in the middle of an otherwise good night sleep. Geez.

None of us wants to be chicken little and think the sky is falling, even though that's how it really feels.Go with your gut instinct, if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. But also listen to your doctors if they tell you it's ok.....otherwise you could spend a lot of time and money just to chase butterflies. Let us know how it goes.

[milty456]

Wow.  I have just started experiencing the same thing.  Im a 28 year old male who is overweight.  Blood pressure is always good and cholesterol is always borderline(i get the speech "be careful you dont want this to go any higher)  Other than that i have chronic acid reflux that i treat with protonix(works great)

I go to sleep.  A few hours later i wake up.  My heart is beating fast.  I sweat.  I feel dizzy and i shake.  I start panicing.  I have been to a doctor.  He did an EKG.  Said there was one tick on the graph but didn't think it was a heart attack.  Probably the way the machine read it in comparison to where my heart sits(at an angle maybe).

I am going to have some blood tests done.

This scares the **** out of me.  I also get these during the day.  I sit in front of my computer and all of a sudden boom...lightheadedness, palpatations and a feeling of weakness.  It has beeen happening on and off for 3 weeks now.

[upbeat63]

I believe it is very common for people to experience digestive related problems (GERD, bloating etc), in conjunction with their arrythmia. For some people avoiding the triggers for GERD and arrythmias might help, you know the standard ones--alcohol, caffiene, stress, dehydration, fatigue.

It sounds like you are having more episodes than what was caught on EKG in your doctor's office. You might want to request a 24 hour holter monitor so that they can capture any events over a longer period of time. Good luck.

[BOSLAYDE]

HI ,ALL I ALSO HAVE AWAKEN FROM DEEP SLEEP WITH A HEART BEAT THAT ACTUALLY WOKE ME IT WAS SO LOUD IN MY HEAD . I WOULD CHECK MY BLOOD PRESSURE AND PULSE AND FIND THAT IT WAS 187 OVER 99 AND PULSE WAS 97.YES IM OVERWEIGHT , HAD GERD NOT ANYMORE , FIXED IT MYSELF NOT MEDS. WITH IN 3 MINUTES I HAD CALMED DOWN TO MY PRESSURE BEING 128 OVER 69 ,AND PULSE WAS DOWN TO 72.
AND MY STRESS LEVEL IS LOW,LOW ,LOW

MY QUESTION IS WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN ONLY AT NIGHT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY ASLEEP AND IN OUR MOST RELAXED STATE.

ANY INFO WOULD BE GREAT.
BOSLAYDE

[Hammer76]

A related discussion, Panic Attacks was started.