Question
I have many sleep issues which I hope you could give me some advice about. Let me start off by saying I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea 7 AHI, only hypopneas oxygen went to 90 for a couple of minutes during the study.I was told to lose weight and I should be O.K. But I am having some issues. The issue most troubling one is that when I wake up in the morning my heart is racing, I almost feel like I am shaking inside and I feel like I am holding my breath, along with chest tightness. This feeling lasts for hours after I wake up. It usually goes away within 4-6 hours. It is very scary. I was tested for asthma-negative and had a stress test last year which was fine. What could this be? I also have some dreaming issues, I dream the moment I start to drift off to sleep, and have very vivid dreams which I remember. And when I snooze in the morning in a kind of half awake/half asleep phase I dream. It is very weird. Phew..............it's a lot but I am really suffering. Any advice, or any doctors to see would be appreciated. My sleep doctor is no help at all.
Answer
Understand im no md but a respiratory therapist with narcolepsy, 2 things come to mind. One is that you need a cpap machine, for the sleep apnea as its undoubtedly gotten worse. The cpap machine is a mask you wear over your nose which forces air into your nose up into your airway and keeps the airway open. The second thing is that you may have the sleepiness from narcolepsy which happens you can have both sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is the uncontrollable urge to fall asleep at inappropiate times, Now the dreaming that I have a definite answer for. Its natural phenomenon called sleep paralysis and hypnangogic hallucinations, now understand if they happen all the time every night then they are or could be a symptom of narcolepsy, what happens is that the body and brain are wired to fall asleep together and awaken but once in awhile research doesnt no why there is a nano second lag so you are dreaming with your eyes open unable to move, dreams are so vivid and fearful that even after its over narcoleptics like myself are petrified to go back asleep and still think someone is in the room. If you can when it happens try to move your eyes from right to left it breaks it but when it happens i could never do it, however perhaps now that you know whats happening you will come out of it easier. My guess from what you state is that your sleep apnea has worsened which makes your sleep so disrupted that you are not only losing oxygen when you sleep due to the airway closing but your oxygen saturation is dropping so you are very sleepy. You might need cpap plus oxygen. I suggest you go to a sleep center, your local hospital can refer you, change sleep doctors. Now you might also go to a pulmonary doctor in the sleep center so that allyour issues can be addressed. Go to sleepnet.com click on disorders narcolepsy and sleep apnea, some sleep centers are listed there. Also try sleeping on 2 pillows and until you get to a center over the counter in your local drugstore they sell breathe right snore strips they are buy the cold medicines try them some say it helps. feel free to email again karel
