nightmares, racing heart and hyperventilation

[beachinmama]

About five years ago, I started getting bouts of tachycardia during the middle of the night. Once I would wake up my hands would start to tingle and I would feel breathless. I suddenly would have the urge to go pee and when I would try I couldn't.  It was like my body froze up. My ears would start ringing a bit and I would feel fuzzy headed.  I got to where I was afraid to sleep.  It never happens during the day only when I sleep. Something else I noticed is that I'm usually awakened with a nightmare. The only way I can stop these fast is to do vagal pressure on my neck.  If I don't do this, it continues to race until I feel like I might pass out. My EKG is always normal and I've worn heart monitor for a month, but they can't seem to "catch it" It's so annoying! I've had two ablations in the past and am taking atenolol. I'm just wondering why it only happens during my sleep? Would a sleep study help? A pacemaker?  Is it panic attacks???  I'm totally stumped. My doctors just seem to write it off as menopause or stress. It seems a bit drastic to me just for stress and anxiety.  HELP!!!

Thanks!

[beachinmama]

Wow! BobRBob, your heart rate does slow down, you're almost in hibernation mode! LOL . . .  actually I love it when my heart is on the slow side. In the AM I usually stay in the low sixties or even in the high fifties. I'd much rather be there than having my heart do the giddyup! I guess I like turtle speed rather than rabbit speed when it comes to my heart.
Just an interesting little tid bit~ My electrophysiologist told me that indians would make tea out of foxglove to slow down their heart. I wonder what smart little indian momma thought of that? She must have been the tribal pharmacist.  :)

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks, I consider my dreaming problems to be "trouble-mares" not nightmares.  The dreams are generally exaggerations of problems from my past working life...but the dreams have started before I fully retired a couple of years ago.  I have been on one form or another of BB (some anti-arrhythmic) for at least 10 years.  I wake  up ofter, but I attribute that mostly to prostate enlargement, I do have to pee. I don't have much trouble going back to sleep.

I am in permanent AFib, and have a resting HR in the upper 60s.. Just getting up to set on the toilet gets me up to the low 70s, with some irregularity in the beats.  My BP is normal, but then I am on a BB.  I think the Calcium Channel Blocker may be my way forward to further reduce the BB, or better eliminate it.

[BobRBob]

Forgot to mention - my resting heart rate when asleep is in the high 40s or low 50s so a jump to 85 bpm is significant. Thought I'd mention that because some people idle in the high '70s to low '80s and might not think anything of waking up with their heart beating at 85bpm.

[BobRBob]

Interesting. I suffer from multiple awakenings every night with my heart beating hard and fast - not too fast (85 bpm or so) and not fast enough to do any damage (according to my cardiologist) but annoying nonetheless. I'm usually dreaming when this happens but not a nightmare; I don't have any anxiety or fear and tingling or panic along with this and I usually go back to sleep after 10 minutes or so (good thing because it happens several times a night). I have been attributing this to withdrawal symptoms after stopping benzo sleep meds which I took for a month or so earlier this year but now I'm wondering if it could be caused by my Sotalol which I take for my a-fib. The Sotalol has reliably held me in NSR since last September but it does have "sleep disturbances" listed as a side effect. I wonder if this is what is causing my night time mini-panics.  Sleep is such a mysterious thing.

[Jerry_NJ]

Just pick-up on this one and I think I am a candidate for some "Nightrest" myself.  Have your tired it yet (beachinmama)?  I continue to think the, now reduced to "only" 50mg of Metoprolol is driving my dreaming problem (another BB).  My Cardiologist's PA has suggested I take the BB just before bed time, I've moved that back to dinner time (6 pm) as the med should be taken with food.  I'm still working on getting my BB dose down or eliminated.  I also take a high dose calcium channel blocker- does this also cause dreaming?... I have had the dreaming problem for years.   I think I had the dreaming problem even when I was not taking a "simple" BB, there were several years that I took 225 mg of Propafanone every 8 hours to hold me in NSR (that finally failed and I am now just trying "rate control" with BB and CCB).  Anyway, if I can't find something to cut-out, maybe something can be added:  Nightrest, gota love the name.

[beachinmama]

Thank you for the comments!!!  I've been gone so I wasn't able to respond right away.
Bigkev414~ I think you are right on spot with the foods.  I know that eating sugar, chocolate, or highly processed foods are a real trigger for me. Thank you for your input! It's comforting knowing that I'm not alone in this plight.
Cindy707~ I'm going to go to Whole Foods today and look for the 'Nightrest' you mentioned. We have another store called Mother's Market that it might be at also. You are a jewell for recommending it. Maybe I can get a hold on these panic attacks I'm having.  I do believe 100% that's what they are.
Again, thanks to you all for replying.  I appreciate it so very much!!!

[cindy707]

One of the side effects of antenolol is vivid dreams....who knew that dreams came in color huh?  The tingling hands are one of the indicators for anxiety and even if you are asleep anxiety happens because you are reactive to the dreams.....i agree with your docs on this one...you have to remember when we have nitemares when we are asleep our bodies react to them physically so i am not surprised altho the buzzing in your ears and the dizziness sounds a little different to me unless you are taking motrin or aspirin before you go to bed and that could cause the buzzing. The only thing i found that worked for me with the dream and nitemare thing was a went to a Whole Foods store after talking w. my doc and he told me to buy a natural vitamin called Nightrest made by Source Natural and i take one every nite an hour before i go to bed and it worked for me...no more nitemares or bad dreams and i wake up feeling brand new with no "hangover" from the aid.  I hope its okay to post that here...it is just a vitamin and my doc said its safe for everyone....i hope you get some relief from this because nitemares are a pain and i was sick of the big purple rabbit chasing me all over the place LOL..................................

[bigkev414]

I have similar episodes. Tenormin (atenalol) does give me nightmares and very vivid dreams.I take it for SVT's.
I've experimented to prove it. I have panic attacks too and sometimes they wake me in the night. I have started taking a small dose of tenormin ( 1/4 tablet) morning and night instead of a half one in the morning and it seems to help me keep calmer in bed at night. I also take Valium often at bedtime, again only 1/4 of a 5mg tablet (doctors say it's all not enough but I'm very drug sensitive) and that helps with the panis. I have noticed that if i eat certain foods for dinner I sometimes wake up with all these symptoms at about 3 am. I have narrowed that down to additives and the way the food is 'fed' when it's grown with chemical growth enhancers. Vegetables as well as meat and fish. All our good quality produce is exported (mainly to USA, so it's your fault!. Joking!) We are left with the overpriced second rate garbage and chinese imports which I WILL NOT BUY. Think about these things and maybe try acouple - might help. Doctors an only go so far and we really have to manage things ourselves to some extent. good luck - sweet dreams!

[beachinmama]

Thank you, rilesnic.  My nightmares are VERY vivid also.  I have often wondered if the Atenolol is a contributing factor to them. I just need to keep investigating and hope I can come to some sort of answer or solution.  Again, thanks so much for contributing your thoughts.
Take Care!  

[rilesnic]

It sounds like you could be having nocturnal panic attacks.  I do have PAC's and tachy and they have caught my racing at night..over 160BPM.  I have very vivid nightmares that my husband usually has to wake me from...I have hyperventilated several times upon waking like that...I take atenolol which I believe may add to the dreams.  I do feel hormones play a big part and daily stress that I can't seem to get rid of, I believe,builds up and releases during my sleep.  I have asked for a sleep study, but been refused.  It certainly can't hurt to ask.  As always, if you have any new symptoms, let your doctor know.  Best to you!