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Why do I feel like I'm going to die in my sleep?

I realize this is most likely an anxiety issue rather than something physically wrong with me, but I wanted to post this question to see if any of this stuff is familiar. Lately at night when I'm very tired, around the times when I normally doze off, I stop myself when I'm about to fall asleep and I can't control it. I automatically stop myself from falling asleep because over the last week or so, the "dozing off" feeling feels more like death than sleep. It's like the normal feeling, but it's coupled with almost a gasping sensation, like large amounts of air are escaping my lungs.

There are a lot of other factors involved. I'm 24, and I've always had a very low resting heart rate (around 56-58 bpm), and I'm not an athlete or anything. In the past, this has caused me to be borderline hypochondriac, where I was mistaking gas and bowel movements for more serious chest pain. Lately though, I feel like my heart hasn't been pumping enough blood to my body- I feel more numbness in my extremities, especially when trying to sleep, and sometimes I can sort of feel it working overtime, thumping harder. I think it may be due to a change in environment for me- I have a new job away from the place I grew up, and I have been changing my sleep schedule drastically- though I'm going from a less consistent day-to-day sleep schedule to a more consistent one, which I would think would be good for me rather than bad. I also may be gaining weight somewhat rapidly now, though I haven't had a means of weighing myself since I moved.
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Avatar universal
Hi,

I get that too. Most of the time I just go from falling asleep to suddenly wide awake. Lately though, my dysautonomia has been showing symptoms and when I do wake up from "falling asleep" I'm terrified. It's exactly how you describe it, it feels like you're not going to fall asleep, you're going to lose consciousness or die.

My cause is dysautonomia, which is an imbalance of the nervous system. I didn't have any symptoms until a really stressful event in my life. It seems you may be nervous too, new job, constantly worrying about your health.... What helps me is lots of exercise. It's not related to your pulse, my resting heart beat is 82-84.
9
A little off topic...are you seeing a cardiologist about your bradycardia (slow heart rate)?
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1392179 tn?1280138062
you think about it too much
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Avatar universal
PS it could very well be what hope86 mentioned also. I would definitely get it checked out. Take care.
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Avatar universal
I've been having the same problem recently along with a lot of other health issues. Since I am new on the forum I thought I would offer some help, as another member was kind enough to do for me and pass on to you what my Dr. told me last week about this particular problem you mentioned which is very similar to mine.  I am much older than you but this problem or condition can happen to people of all ages. My doctor told me it sounds like I might have sleep apnea and added weight is a big culprit there he told me. You might want to look up the symptoms and check with your doctor as you did mention you gained some extra weight. I know it’s a terrible feeling and one can even think they are dying but most usually don’t. If left untreated it can turn into a serious problem though. Hope this helps.

Al

PS-I’ve been having bad sleeping hours as well-and that surely doesn’t help.
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
I have an episode where when I'm about to fall asleep, I'll die. ANy help? Because one time I was so scared that I stood up until 6am before I got some shut eye
This post is many years old, why don't you make a new post so you'll get more answers?  But I would ask, what are you doing to deal with your anxiety problem?  Is it chronic, or it just happened once?  If it's chronic, have you thought about seeing a therapist to see if you can figure it out?
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