I don't know what is happening. Startled awake...

Okay since you are already doing all the Doctor things... In my experience you don't have to be suffocating to get in a panic about it. Your brain has triggers that it has learned over many years and has associated common interpretations for those things that made sense at the time.

Personally I could lie in bed breathing deeply and still feel the panic rising and my brain screaming at me that I as not breathing. I bought an oximeter and it said I was above 90% all night. Humidity adjustment helped a little and then I found EPR and that seems to have been it. My brain was misinterpreting exhaling into pressure as "your not breathing". I have no idea why. For me this has happened several times, with different things. Sometimes I needed to readjust something that had been fine. I guess I "shift" over time in what bothers me.

WHile you are working with your Doctor, if all the tests so far are saying your oxygen and breathing are fine, look for a misinterpreted comfort thing. The feelings are quite real, what you think it is, coming out of a sound sleep, in a panic, may need adjustment

Good luck

My wife and I have been up there several times and we believe we are still alive because of them. We both had cancers treated there and are cancer free years later.

Do you have a copy of your sleep studies? Any mention of spontaneous arousals in the reports? That could be related to your current symptoms. I got bradycardia symptoms when I tried an alpha blocker as an experiment with my docs a couple of months ago - heart rate go down to the low 30s. Any chance yours are med related?

With a heart rate in the low 40's you may have a heart condition such as sick Sinus Syndrome or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree heart block in it's early stage.
Please seek a cardiologist.

JDS74 wrote:My wife and I have been up there several times and we believe we are still alive because of them. We both had cancers treated there and are cancer free years later.

Do you have a copy of your sleep studies? Any mention of spontaneous arousals in the reports? That could be related to your current symptoms. I got bradycardia symptoms when I tried an alpha blocker as an experiment with my docs a couple of months ago - heart rate go down to the low 30s. Any chance yours are med related?

I don't have my sleep study documents handy, but there was no mention of spontaneous arousal's that I remember. I slept pretty poorly that night.

I am not on any meds.

minutia wrote:With a heart rate in the low 40's you may have a heart condition such as sick Sinus Syndrome or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree heart block in it's early stage.
Please seek a cardiologist.

My heart dips into the low 40's only at night while sleeping, which I believe, is pretty normal..... and the doctors didn't seem at all concerned with it.

During the day, while sitting quietly at my desk, it's usually mid 50's.

Mid 50's is considered bradecardia.....I experienced low 40's to middle 30's off and on for a few weeks and then blacked out, fell and fractured my
neck. received a pace maker in 2013.

minutia wrote:Mid 50's is considered bradecardia.....I experienced low 40's to middle 30's off and on for a few weeks and then blacked out, fell and fractured my
neck. received a pace maker in 2013.

Do you feel a lot better after the pacemaker?

One of the "issues" with data is determining what is "normal" and what is outside the norm.

Since everyone is a little different, we end up with a "range" of what is considered "normal. I don't know for sure but believe startling awake is outside the range of normal for everyone.

You have done a lot of tests and monitoring, yet the problem doesn't seem to show up during those tests and monitoring.

One thing to consider is to wear your oximeter every night. Look at reports that you would consider normal for you, and compare them to what you see on reports from nights where you startle awake.

If you see no difference, you can rule out O2 saturation, heart rate, and since you have already checked air flow data you can rule that out as well. I am not sure where you go from here, but monitoring brain activity comes to mind.

On the other hand if you can see a difference in your oximetry reports, you can bring them to your doctor. Add notes so there is no confusion and add arrows pointing to changes and the time the changes occurred. When the doctor has data in hand it is a little harder to generally dismiss what is going on.

HoseCrusher wrote:One of the "issues" with data is determining what is "normal" and what is outside the norm.

Since everyone is a little different, we end up with a "range" of what is considered "normal. I don't know for sure but believe startling awake is outside the range of normal for everyone.

You have done a lot of tests and monitoring, yet the problem doesn't seem to show up during those tests and monitoring.

One thing to consider is to wear your oximeter every night. Look at reports that you would consider normal for you, and compare them to what you see on reports from nights where you startle awake.

If you see no difference, you can rule out O2 saturation, heart rate, and since you have already checked air flow data you can rule that out as well. I am not sure where you go from here, but monitoring brain activity comes to mind.

On the other hand if you can see a difference in your oximetry reports, you can bring them to your doctor. Add notes so there is no confusion and add arrows pointing to changes and the time the changes occurred. When the doctor has data in hand it is a little harder to generally dismiss what is going on.

Thanks hosecrusher. I will try using my pulse oximeter for a few nights in a row to compare. Hopefully I can keep the thing on my finger.

And yes, I agree that my awakenings are outside of what should be considered normal.

I feel very well...pacemaker works wonders on my heart rate. it controls the rate and insures proper conduction

The only thing I can think of that wasn't touched on here that could be a possibility (but I'm not a doctor and don't even play one on TV) is Diabetes, or something along those lines. I'm a T2D. Sometimes, I get a liver dump around 3am, and I have woken up in a panic, sweating, and scared with heart pounding because it dumps adrenaline. It also screws with my blood sugar. That happens when my blood sugar is not controlled, or if I eat carbs late, or eat a lot of carbs for supper.

Again, just something that happens to me. Not saying you have Diabetes.