Waking up with rapidly beating/pounding Heart Beat--Scary!!!

Hello Everyone,

I have been on CPAP pressure 8 with C-flex for 3 months and I though this symptom would get better, but it is a wierd symptom.
CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): C-FLEX, Titration, CPAP

Could it be an apnea event? A titration would be a Good Thing to do.

Yep, I've been through that. I've even correlated the rapid pulse rate with apnea events recorded in Encore Pro at the same times. It was clear from the data that the apnea events preceded the rapid pulse rate.

What kind of machine are you using, Kent? Are you using software so that you can see if apnea events are prompting the cardiac events? If not, upgrading your gear might be something to consider. Might even save you time and frustration in the long run.

Like you, I never had the problem during daytime either. I had numerous cardiac tests; multiple stress tests, Holter monitor, dye tests, sonograms, etc. All were negative. Nights were like a war-zone for me though. Under xPAP therapy, things have been improving.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Bill

when i experience that - hardly at all now thankgoodness as it is scary - but that exact description is if I wake up from a nap I didn't mean to take w/ out my cpap - for me it is an apnea event so sounds like you are on the right road to find out why you might be having apneas even with treatment - good luck

Maybe you could wear a monitor at night for a day. Jim

Kent......I have experienced the same symptoms.......and this pushed me to have a sleep test. I then quickly began CPAP treatment.

I strongly urge you to do what I did......log your blood pressure readings about 5-times a day for about a week. When I'd wake up in the middle of the night, I'd check my BP with a battery-powered, digital monitor. What I discovered was very disturbing.

My systolic BP was spiking over 200 in the middle of the night. I never would have known it if I hadn't kept a log.......and made the effort to check it in the middle of the night....no matter what time it was when I woke up.

My BP was high in the morning....and tapered off to "not bad" in the evening. When I was awakened at night with the high heart rate, I was also flooded with adrenaline and "flight-or-flight" chemicals. The high BP was also causing me to have to get up once or twice at night to urinate.

In effect, the "arousal" from a deep sleep (because of apnea) was causing incredible stress on my heart.....and could have led to a stroke if I had not taken action to solve the problem. CPAP has probably saved my life.

I also strongly urge you to get software for your CPAP machine that will allow you to "see" what is happening during the night.......your own "self-titration" system. If your CPAP machine has no ability to generate detailed reports, I suggest that you dump the unit....and get one that will allow you to monitor yourself with good software.

If you want to know more.....and read an article describing your difficulty, send me a personal message and I'll share it with you.

Gerald

schaefage,

Did you have any centrals in your sleep study?
If you didn't, I would be suspicious that your pressure of 8 cm isn't high enough to keep your airway open and consequently you're still having apnea events.

Best wishes,

Den

This is what caused me to seek help and led me to a sleep apnea diagnosis. I woke up during the night with a sense of foreboding and checked my blood pressure. It was around 200 over some other large number and so I checked in to the nearest emergency room of the hospital.

My blood pressure eventually came down, but the doctor on duty suggested I check into sleep apnea as a possible cause of my problem. She really saved me from further trouble and I owe her a huge debt of gratitude. I'm sure my father's death from heart failure was a result of apnea. He snored like a freight train and had what I now recognize as precursors to apnea. We are all very lucky to have the advanced diagnostic techniques available to us today.

Before I was diagnosed with OSA I had those kind of awakenings every now and then - heart racing and breathing hard. Only had 1 episode in recent months, and it was one of those times I had fallen asleep without my mask.
Kathy

Sounds to me like you need to get another sleep study and/or start using an APAP (that automatically adjusts the pressure). What you describe does not sound like the kind of thing caused by your CPAP but by apnea events.

Apnea not only disrupts normal sleep cycles, which is bad enough, but it also puts your body in an oxygen-deprived state. When that happens, all heck breaks loose--your sympathetic nervous system starts to go crazy, your brain gets first dibs on all oxygen, the other organs do not get enough oxygen, etc. for hours and hours..... What you're describing sounds just like the panic response triggered by apnea events--of course your body panics because you're starting to die--like someone is smothering you in your sleep.

I'd definitely talk with your doctor!

your story is the perfect example why a autopap makes better sense. I would consult with your diagnostic sleep study report and if no CA or MA events were noted increase the current pressure from 8.0cm to 9.0cm.

what you describe sounds like the recovery from a obstructive apnea event. If it is causing an arousal then pressure may not be high enough to clear it. You are more likely to experience the apnea event during the latter part of the morning hours because you spend more time in REM there just before you get up in the morning. It is actually the best part of sleep in my opinion.

I would try increasing the pressure by 1cm.

Bearded one, Nighthawkeye, Woozle, Goofproof, Gerald, Wulfman, Paul B, Kteague, Sleepguy, and Snoredog,


You all are great!!! Actually I think some of the most compassionate people out there are CPAP users because they understand the struggle.

I guess I didn't mention I am on Remstar plus pressure 8 with cflex 3, humidified, swift nasal pillows

Actually the first sleep study in September showed:

AHI of 14 with reduced sleep efficiency--total sleep time 238 min

during this time a total of

3 Central
19 Obstructive
1 Mixed
31 Hypopneas
Lowest O2 saturation of 81% but the Doc thought this was artifact, because all of the other O2 numbers were at or above 90% SaO2 for 99% of the study. And that 81% was just for a couple of seconds.

I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but from what I understand "the severity of the apnea doesn't necessarily correlate to your pressure requirements, etc. and I had been feeling really bad during the day. Plus I had been breaking out in sweats at night, and being very, very fatigued. Plus with this chest pressure/heart punding--it is serious stuff I think.

Anyway during the titration, which was another night I just could not get to sleep, I probably slept a total of 120 minutes and never made it to REM,
but the doctor's report says "Patient underwent a sleep study and was found to do fairly well on CPAP of 8 with the limitation that no REM was achieved. But she said that I had no apneas, hyponeas--NONE...on a pressure of eight...but with never getting to REM let alone Supine REM.

So I tried to advocate for myself and tell her that I wanted another sleep study, she just said that "we could adjust empirically" and that she "thought it would be impossible to get insurance to pay for another sleep study". So she said "let's try this setting of 8". And we have tried it for 3 months. I guess I am obviously undertitrated, unless by some chance I need less pressure in supine REM....is that possible?

Anyway that is my sleep study and my titration. With both of them I had trouble getting to sleep...not necessarily staying asleep.

For what it is worth another sleep study and lunesta (if I want to take it, maybe I will stay up 24 hours before the sleep study instead) awaits me on February 26th. But you know I would like to have the software to see how many events I am having, just so that I can be more involved in knowing what amount of air is blowing into me and what it is doing to me. Do they have this monitoring software that works with Remstar plus?


Anyway this note is too long,

Let me know what you think everyone.
Thanks !!!

You know...It looks like most of you have auto CPAP machines....is this just a coincidence, or is auto cpap the machine of choice for the more discerning cpap user. It looks like it is!!!
_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): auto cpap, CPAP, auto

schaefage wrote:You know...It looks like most of you have auto CPAP machines....is this just a coincidence, or is auto cpap the machine of choice for the more discerning cpap user. It looks like it is!!! Did any of you start with a regular CPAP them move to Auto?

Kent

I started with a straight cpap then went to the autopap. With the autopap you are never left guessing for very long. Even with 3 Centrals shown on your PSG, I think you will be fine increasing to 9.0cm, just don't go above that without caution. If you end up triggering centrals they will leave you feeling like the dead the next day. For me 9.5cm is the magic number I need to avoid or stay below or it will trigger a cluster of central and mixed apnea. When I experience Central apnea, it just jolts me awake, there may be a moment of rapid heart beat associated but no sweats like I used to experience. My experience is that is the thing with the Centrals, they take you all the way to the wake state. I take a nap on the couch at times without cpap, I'll wake up a dozen times gasping for air and rapid heart beat, those I associate to be obstructive but I have no way of knowing for sure.

If you wake up as you did before cpap treatment, then that usually means your pressure requirement has changed.

Please don't get too 'hung up with the xPAP". See a cardiologist ASAP.
Why? You may have apnea induced A-Fib. Furthermore, mechanical stress tests, chemical stress tests, nuclear x-rays, or sonograms, probably will not detect the cause of this condition, because it is an electrical problem.

If a night-time A-fib event does not subside, you are taken to a cardiac
facility and put on an IV drip. If the chemicals, they may try two or three,
either do not stop the event, or if it causes your blood pressure to drop
to an unsafe level, then the best alternative is electric shock. The danger
from the "paddle treatment" is "dislodged blood clots". To minimize that
possibility, they may have to 'scope" your airway and lungs, before the
shock treatment. None of this is fun, except for the "recreational" drug you
are given just before the shock treatment. Oh, of course you may receive
periodic heparin belly-shots during most of this.

My A-fib is, finally under control with both xPAP and drugs.....