sleep trouble

[heidimargaret]

I am 40 year old female. For about three years now I wake up at night feeling like my body has forgotten how to function. This only seems to happen right when I fall into the deep sleep or right after I have fallen asleep. Sometimes I feel like I forgot to breath, sometimes my whole head and chest feel numb, sometimes I feel like I'm going to die. I am to the point where I am sometimes scared to go to sleep. My Dr. thinks it's from sleep panic attacks and has put me on a low dose of xanax prior to bed. I have had to get up and take another dose many times. I feel like it is something else but it is really hard to describe the feeling I have when I wake. And, it isn't always the same. I have had lots of blood work, stress test, and sleep study. Of course my symptoms didn't show up with the sleep study and I didn't feel the symptoms that night. My Dr. told me to keep track of when the symptoms are more frequent as they don't happen all the time. It does seem to be worse when I get closer to my menstrual cycle. Does anyone have any suggestions. I am so tired during the day because I don't think I ever get the deep sleep.

[heidimargaret]

Thank you so much for your response. Yes sometimes I do feel like what you described. It's a very hard sensation to describe to someone. Especially since it isn't always the same. I never used to have a problems sleeping and this just started happening out of the blue. I believe my Dr. only ordered the sleep study to put my mind at ease. She is still pushing me to take some anti-depressants which I don't want to take. I never suffered from anxiety or panic disorder and I just feel deep down there is something else going on. I kinda gave up talking to my Dr. because she just wants to put me on the meds.

Thank you again. I will do some research about sleep paralyzes and maybe try to talk to a sleep Dr. rather than my GP.

[ColleenToQuit]

When you wake up like this, does it feel like you can't move?  Also, does it feel like your chest is extremely heavy like someone is on top of you?  If so, this could be a parasomnia called sleep paralysis brought on by REM sleep.  I have found that when doctors don't know what is happening, they blame it on stress, anxiety, or panic attacks especially in women.

During REM sleep the body paralyzes itself so as you can't physically act out your dreams because this can be very harmful.  When sleep paralysis occurs the brain is still paralyzing your body because there is a disconnect between REM sleep and being fully awake.  You may hallucinate during this time or have a panic attack as well especially if you don't know what is happening to you.  I have experienced this many times, and each time it scares me because I have hallucinations of all senses, but not in each instance.  In some instances I have tactile hallucinations along with visual hallucinations.  Other times I have auditory hallucinations with olfactory (sense of smell) hallucinations.  

What you describe as your head and chest feeling numb and feeling like you forgot to breathe sound like it could be sleep paralysis.  It could also be sleep apnea.  This occurs when you fall asleep and stop breathing causing you to wake up feeling like your choking or gasping for breath.  I would suggest you see a sleep doctor if you haven't already seeing as you have had a sleep study done, and if you don't get any answers from the first doctor you see I would suggest a second opinion.  Two sets of eyes are better than one.  I hope this helps some.