Waking up Choking?

[ellie1]

I have been having episodes of waking up choking.  They happened sporatically in the past but seem to be more frequent lately. It's like I have had something to drink and it went down the wrong way and can't catch my breath. My history is mild generalized mg, and another autoimmune process that cannot be distinguished at this time with rashes and I have had a low grade fever for almost a year.  A month ago my knees started hurting and I developed fluid on the right knee.  Prior to the fluid on that knee I had swelling below it.  I have also developed night sweats the past 1.5 weeks just the back of my head, neck and upper shoulders. My shirt and hair are damp when I wake up.  Is this a sign of cancer or something?  It is really upsetting to wake up like that.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Allison

[Victoryia]

Myesthenia Gravis commonly is a cause of waking up with the inability to breath. I have heard that propping up your pillows so your head is not flat when you sleep can help those with Myesthenia Gravis.

I think one place I read that info was at http://www.MyestheniaGravis.org

There is also http://www.braintalk.org and there is an MG area there. You can post to others with MG.

[starion]

Dear Allison,
I'm sorry to hear that you're having these health problems.  What is mg, which you mentioned in your post?  What has your doctor said might be the cause & what have you been evaluated for?  Has p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e sleep apnea been discussed?  Do you have asthma or other lung condition(s)?  Are they under good control?  Work with your doc(s), and please, please don't a-s-s-u-m-e that cancer is involved.  Whatever is causing you to wake choking needs to be thoroughly investigated & controlled, so you can sleep as soundly as possible & wake rested.  Good luck & please get help.
Aloha,
Starion--thriving in HI

[National Jewish]

The "waking up choking" sounds very much like gastroesophageal reflux -- the backflow of stomach contents into the esophagus that can come all the way up to the mouth and nose. When this happens, the material can be aspirated - dribble into the windpipe.
Night sweats can be a sign of a number of diseases including tuberculosis, diabetes and Hodgkins but most commonly occur for unknown reasons, with no obvious associated disease.
The fevers should be documented and if truly recurrent, a diagnostic workup should be done in an attempt to determine the cause, although it, along with the other symptoms and signs described, could be secondary to an autoimmune process.