Terrifying experience, has this happened to you?

[Mmike45]

Hi fellow CPAPers, I'm just after some advice.

I had a terrifying experience with my Resmed s9 auto set with full face mask early this morning. It's never happened before, I woke up at 2am and went to the bathroom feeling slightly confused. I went back to bed and experienced a weird cold chest feeling and then had racing heart - it was terrifying. It calmed down but I had slight chest pain and was burping a bit. I went straight to the ER, but before I did I checked my machine stats, it said it had a low AHI but it showed a "red frown face" on the mask fit, this is new for me. I've used my machine for one and a half years prior with no problems.

I'm being cleared at the hospital now and they are about to clear and release me. The doctor said he doesn't know what it was but it wasn't a heart attack. I'm still a bit frightened at what happened and I don't know why. Has this kind of thing happened to anyone else or does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for any help.

-a very scared Michael

[chunkyfrog]

Possible panic (anxiety) attack?
I'm not saying, but did they rule it out?
With similar effects, I thought I was having a stroke.
No ER visit is wasted, if you BELIEVE it is serious.
One day, it could be.

[Julie]

What did you have to eat or drink shortly before bed? It sounds to me like you might have been woken by reflux, GERD, which would explain the burps, but you also could have inadvertently had the CO2 vent covered by blankets and been disoriented (it happens), or even a one-off arrythmia that shouldn't be taken to mean much at all... not unless you have repeat episodes that are definitive. Your mask could have leaked just at the wrong time in conjunction with air intake or exhalation, anything... but please don't let this single event scare you or make you afraid to keep using Cpap... stuff happens and we can't always explain it, but without repeats, it may just have been some oddity that will never be explained... we're not machines after all.

[Mmike45]

Thanks chunkyfrog and Julie, chunkyfrog they diagnosed either anxiety or GERD.

Julie I had a rich chocolate brownie before I went to bed. I spoke to my CPAP provider and they're happy to see me tomorrow to sort the issue out. He thinks that because of the leaks, I wasn't getting proper treatment so I had a confusional arousal, I had those horrid things before cpap. Thanks again

[D.H.]

If I started having episodes anything like I was having B.C. (before CPAP), I would panic too.

This is even though I used to accept this as "normal."

For the record, that was over seventeen years ago.

[andycole]

most likely it was the brownie. I have GERD and cannot lay down for several hours after eating anything. I take Zantac nightly and raised my headboard with 2x4 to prevent episodes.

[Sir NoddinOff]

That rich brownie you had has plenty of sugar, fats (maybe butter) and some caffeine from the chocolate... that's a pretty heavy bedtime treat IMO. Sounds like that could have caused an anxiety attack and maybe some stomach disturbance to me. Try eating some fruit or something light if you have to have pre-bedtime treats. No eating right before bedtime is the best bet.

[Janknitz]

Sounds like my GERD attacks.

Just be careful that they may want to put you on PPI's or antacids. They are meant for SHORT TERM use (under 2 weeks) but doctors think they are safe for decades. They are not and recently they have been associated with dementia among many other things. Better to treat the cause of GERD (too little stomach acid, not too much) if you have it chronically, or just avoid rich treats within 3 or 4 hours of going to bed if it's a "one off" type of issue. .