Not breathing

[Entheo]

I keep getting these otherworldly nightmare things just as I'm falling asleep and I notice each time that I stop breathing before it happens. These sleep disturbances are connected to my breath.

Last night I didn't sleep until 5 in the morning because this kept happening. When I fell asleep, I noticed I couldn't breathe like there was a ball of ice in my chest.

I wonder if intensive breathwork can help heal this

 

[Friday]

What you’re describing could be tied/related to a number of things
- Hypnogogic Jerk
- Sleep Apnea
- Sleep Paralysis
- Asthma
- Pneumonia, Walking Pneumonia, &/or Pleurisy
- Panic Attack

&/or some combo of the above... or something I’m not thinking of at the moment / these are just off the top of my head.

Have you seen a doctor to rule out physiological causes, or had a sleep study, recently?

 

[Entheo]

It's all connected. I have been going into a sleep paralysis type state occasionally and this hypnagogic jerk for me often comes with sleep paralysis. I used to experience sleep paralysis and hypnagogic jerks regularly 10 years ago. It's almost like a buildup of psychic tension that appears in the hypnagogic state. I can sense it before it happens.

I only slept 3 hours last night and today I was laying in a hammock and drifted off to sleep for about 2 hours and it was peaceful sleep. It happens most at night time when it's dark. If I fall asleep at 5AM when I know the lights coming soon, it's usually much milder. Maybe it's a manifestation of fear.

I notice when it calms down, it can change into sleep anxiety where I wake up regularly with this nervous feeling.

 

[whiteraven]

Assuming you've had a complete work-up, have you tried sleeping with a light or nightlight on? Before I got a nightlight, I left a lamp on in another, close-by room so I'd have a little bit of light. The nightlight is also in another room that connects to my bedroom; it doesn't keep me from getting to sleep and provides a little bit of light so I don't feel afraid or anxious.

 

[siniang]

Second what whiteraven wrote.

I'm susceptible to hypnagogic hallucinations, which happen during/between the phase of falling asleep and the first REM cycle (while sleep paralysis usually happens during much later stages of sleep/night, when waking up from REM as opposed to going into REM) as well as night terrors (same phase of sleep/early nights). It definitely happens more when I'm sleeping in complete darkness.

I have multiple nightlights both in the bedroom and hall.

For me I also noticed it happens more when it's really warm in the bedroom.

Since you have trouble falling asleep - I also recommend some form of audiobook, music, white noise ... this is also something that tends to help with with my hallucinations/night terrors.

If you can, do get a sleep study just in case, though. While it doesn't sound like sleep apnea, better be safe than sorry. Could also be narcolepsy? Just good to rule those out :hug: I feel ya, really do. Those kind of things suck big time. I don't get the "can't breath" part, I jump right into FLIGHT! :wtf: And when I do have sleep paralysis, it's a "can't yell" problem, fortunately not a breathing problem (but equally terrifying/triggering)

(I also sleep MUCH better in the early dawn hours/morning when it starts getting light. I will wake up tons of times during the night, only to sleep 3 hrs straight after 5:30 or whenever it currently starts getting light outside -- and yes, absolutely a fear/hypervigilance thing for me)