Waking up from sleep gasping for breath

Hi Recently I have been waking up in nighttime asking for breath like i cant breate and theres something stuck in my throat. It is really scary :( Anyone ever suffered from this before or know what it could be

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Considering your symptoms of wakefulness with gasping for breath after sleeping, it is most likely that you may be having Obstructive Sleep Apnea. When a person sleeps the airways are usually patent allowing normal passage for air entry. The upper airway that is at the region of the tongue and the soft palate is the most compliant (soft) part. So, this is liable to collapse and cause airway obstruction.

As the air way collapses the lungs do not have air entry leading to deoxygenation (decreased oxygen) of blood and the person wakes up. This period of non entry of air is called ‘Apnea’ and the waking up is called an ‘Arousal’. This keeps alternating and the person may not actually wake up all the time, but these repeated arousals can disturb the sleep architecture and cause fatigue, headaches and daytime sleepiness. These people are also more prone for Hypertension. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is more common in people who snore. I would advise you to consult a sleep specialist who would assess with first a sleep questionnaire, and then he may ask for a polysomnogram, which is an overnight sleep study as this helps to detect the apneas. Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea is by CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) where air under gentle pressure is passed into the airways keeping it patent.

this helped and do keep us posted.

[ellebi]

Thank you, I shall look into this more. I wonder would a difficulty swallowing sometimes be apart of this or is it just anxiety

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

As you may be breathing through the mouth, there could be some dryness of the throat and this might cause difficulty in swallowing.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.