Feels Like My Heart Stops, I Jolt Awake. Extremely Terrifying

[Tracy alexander]

Over the past few years, this weird occurrence has happened to me occasionally.

When I am laying in...

I just had the same thing happen to me.

I went to the hospital and they told me it was too much caffeine

 

[Ozvet]

I get this a lot and it's very scary, sometimes I'm afraid I won't wake from it. It happens most when I'm relaxed and about to fall asleep. My heart rate slows and feels like my heart stops then I gasp and immediately take fast deep breath and my adrenaline kicks in and my heart rate then jumps up. I don't believe it's a direct result from PTSD due to I don't have PTSD and I get this too. However, have your blood pressure checked. May be too high. Also do you notice it more often if you've been drinking alcohol the day before?

 

[Telly Nyxsson]

Hi to all of you!


Seems that we're quite a wretched bunch... Similar story here without any solution or explanation about the origin and nature of this issue.


My sleep problems started after age 20, back in early 2000s. Now I'm 33 and I've been living with this problem for about 12 years now. It tends to happen right after I fall asleep, but sometimes I violently awake after 4 or 5 hours of normal sleep. (It doesn't happen every night but 3 to 4 times a week.)


Same scenario:


I'm jolted off the bed by the shocking feel that my heart stopped and I can't breathe. I desperately gasp for air, trying to fill my lungs with as much oxygen as possible. My legs and hands are visibly shaking and it feels like imminent death to me. I also feel my upper stomach get really tight, like someone is tightening a nasty corset under my skin. Drinking water helps, but the effect is not immediate - it takes a couple of minutes to regain my breath and calm myself down. The intensity of these attacks varies. Sometimes it's just annoying, like a sudden anxiety attack feeling. I empty a glass of water and I'm cool in less than 1 minute. But other times (although not that often), my heart pumps like it's going to stop any moment and my attempts to breathe are becoming extremely difficult. Those are bloodcurdling moments and life seems more fragile than ever.


The odd thing is that it never happens if I'm going to sleep after a booze-filled party where I drank more than usual (about, let's say, 1 vodka bottle over the course of three hours). Of course, I will not try to get rid of the problem by indulging in excessive amounts of alcohol.


The cardiologist said I'm healthy like the proverbial horse.


I am prone to anxiety episodes, however I have been able to get ahold of them without benzodiazepines.


What doctors are saying:


i. It's a stress-related thing and can be brought on by - guess what! - stressful situations.

ii. Sleep apnea (btw - I have never done a polysomnography, and I intend to visit a lab to take a sleep test; however it is well known that heavy drinking can cause episodes of sleep apnea. For me, heavy drinking keeps the attacks away.)


Any comments or suggestions?

 

[Air]

Over the past few years, this weird occurrence has happened to me occasionally.

When I am laying in...

I've had something like this before, I think it's a well documented phenomenon that comes in a few forms but I can't remember what it's called. It's all based on that period between sleeping and waking, same place that things like sleep paralysis occur. I had it in the form of this recurring dream, but it was very short and simple. I'd be running across grass looking down at my feet, and then all of the sudden I'd be running in mid air and the Earth had dropped off. I'd then jolt up with a start before lying back down, though this usually only happened a couple of times before I managed to get into a more restful sleep (though still not perfectly restful by any means). This is very much correlated with anxiety and going to bed while extremely tired. It might seem like the way to solve this is to make yourself more tired so you sleep deeper, but this is the exact opposite of what you want to do. Of course it might be almost impossible to sleep while not extremely tired, but it is preferable if you can.

 

[ithappens]

It's happening to me right now. God it's the worst thing in the world. Especially happens when you stay up late ( like I just did) usually doesn't happen if I go bed around 11 at the lastest. But my jerks or whatever happen multiple times and it feels like I'm dying. I don't know what's wrong with me. Only when I'm extremely exhausted and passing out can I sleep when it's to late

 

[Air]

It's happening to me right now. God it's the worst thing in the world. Especially happens when you stay up late ( li...

From what I've read it's basically when certain parts of your brain fall asleep too quickly, and there's a sort of shock when things aren't working correctly. It's called a "hypnic jerk" actually, if you want to look it up.

 

[No worries]

I too had same experience chest to brain jolt over a week. once wave is over. Im feeling better than ever. Smile was back. I think becos of lucid dream and day anxiety brain cant take the load so body send signal to brain stop it. I dont want doctor smile is back .thanks

 

[Bobbin]

Yes I have same thing, and I never go to the doctors, but it got so bad that one day I felt like jumping off a bridge then enough was enough I went to the docs. Nothing visibly wrong? My partner says I sometimes stop breathing, thus the jolty thing, but lately I even notice during the day a wierd heart flutter, twinges etc. Lately things have got stranger, I have this dull sound constantly there in my ears, sounds a bit like when you squeeze your eyes shut and you hear what sounds like a small earthquake, but this permanent sound is not so loud but now always there.

If I drink till I pass out then I don't notice it. I don't yet have a cure, but from feeling a few strange pains where my heart is, and feeling tender in parts of my chest I took some Ibuprofen, which actually does help, so I take them every night just to get some decent sleep. The frustration is that I used to love a lay in in the mornings where now I sleep for 6 hours max, never any longer and I just cant go back to sleep. I definitely have PTSD and anxiety, but I cope with stress well, so it annoys me when I awake and cant get back to sleep. Under a really stressful thought I can feel it coming back, and it definitely feels more physical than psychological as it can wake me up even if im in a nice sleep, so I dont understand how it can be completely psychological?

If I thought I would have this for life, I'll be quite happy for the heart to stop sooner so that I can get some real rest lol

 

[Aria maria14]

Over the past few years, this weird occurrence has happened to me occasionally...

When I am laying in bed I feel hot and clammy sometimes I hear noises and it scares me and feel like I am gonna be scared to death what does that mean?

 

[OutThere]

Just wanted to pass along another level of awareness to the jolting awake while falling asleep -- many people believe that we have many bodies:

The physical body
The astral body
The mental body
The spiritual body

When you jolt awake like that, it is because your astral body was just about to be released into the freedom of the dream world and was suddenly brought back to unite with the physical body before having it's natural adventure, hence the jolt.

I have had this kind of thing all my life. It's interesting because I always saw it as a sign of health, that hypnotic jerk, like, wow, I AM alive! lol...

However, I am dealing, AGAIN this year, with the reality of my PTSD and all my anxiety issues and adreanal issues. I see the connections now with the anxiety and trauma. I have had more episodes similar to what some have described here, feeling that TERROR and DREAD upon waking suddenly like that in the middle of the night with intense panic and intrusive nasty thoughts and racing mind.

Besides therapy, I have been meditating, taking occassional baths in strong, pleasant smelling epson salts, gardening, playing piano, relaxing with friends, staying off of Internet, and just trying to accept reality and help turn my mind into an ally -- an ally like a spiritual ninja. This is all helping.

Last night was intense thunder and lightning. As I am writing this, I remember this is a trigger for me. This forum is very helpful--will check into sleep apnea, though -- I never explored that part...

Thanks everyone -- be kind to yourselves today!

 

[Tinyflame]

Was thinking, maybe it's caused from nightmares?

 

[Tishamarie]

Over the past few years, this weird occurrence has happened to me occasionally.

When I am laying in...

So, i've had this problem for years! At least 10. It comes and goes as it pleases. Right when I am about to fall asleep, I get this horrible feeling that i'm not breathing and I get like a burst of adrenaline through my body that jolts me awake. It started happening around the time I started having panic attacks. I have just learned to live with it.