Racing heart wakes me up

SnoreNoMore2005 · Post by **SnoreNoMore2005** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:26 pm

Hi Everyone,

It's been a long time since I visited this forum. I hope all my old friends are doing well. The people in this forum were unbelievably helpful to me.

After using CPAP successfully for a few years, I've got a new sleep problem which I'm not sure is related to CPAP use.

Nearly every night around the wee morning hours I wake up with my heart pounding. It's hard for me to get back to sleep and sometimes I have to get up and read for an hour.

My doc says I'm having panic attacks although I have no other symptoms of panic attacks other than the racing heart. I never have a racing heart during the day. However, I am an anxious person and take anti-anxiety meds as needed.

I use a nasal mask with a XPAP 8 - 12 cpm range. My AHI is @ 1.0 or less.

I use encore pro and see no correlation on my charts to apnea episodes on or about the times of my pounding heart episodes.

Does anyone know what might be causing this? Could I really be having panic attacks?

SnoreNoMore2005

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Encore Pro, CPAP

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:42 pm

SnoreNoMore,

Guess I'm better at questions than answers, but has your doc ordered a Holter Monitor to try to capture the episodes?

The other question is for whoever might know the answer, but aren't the AIs and HIs reported by an autopap only the ones that weren't resolved by within a certain amount of time, and that the ones the pressure corrected aren't on the report? If that is so, one could have an event, heartbeat increase, event resolved, and it not be in the reported data? Data would show a pressure increase at that time just not count the event, right?

Where does your pressure usually fall in that 8-12 range?

Kathy

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:55 pm

Sounds exactly like what happens to me when I fall asleep without my equipment. Are you sure you're not having apneas?

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:43 pm

NoMore.........

You might run some tests on yourself......in effect, put some gauges on the problem.

Purchase a battery powered blood pressure checker......and check your blood pressure immediately when you wake up with your heart pounding.

Also, you might consider a recording pulse oximeter to check your O2 saturation levels.......especially at the exact time you wake up with a racing heart.

Clues from the readouts on these machines might give you the answer.

Gerald

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:58 am

I think I would try increasing the Max pressure from 12 to 16 first.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:30 am

Have you given any thought to addressing this problem with a cardiologist? I'd be inclined to ask your doctor for a Holter monitor for 24 hours and go from there as the easiest and quickest way to start getting an answer. But what do I know? I'm just a patient. And an impatient patient at that.

Dgrendahl · Post by **Dgrendahl** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:52 am

SleepGuy wrote:Sounds exactly like what happens to me when I fall asleep without my equipment. Are you sure you're not having apneas?

Before I got my equipment, that was one of the symptoms I complained about to my doctor. He said that was happening because I wasn't breathing, etc. When I got the equipment, that all stopped.

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:25 am

NoMore.........

The February/March issue of "Scientific American" has a short article on "Panic Attacks" caused by an increase of CO2. The article is on page #11 and it's worth taking a look at.

Gerald

Dgrendahl · Post by **Dgrendahl** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:33 am

Gerald wrote:NoMore.........

The February/March issue of "Scientific American" has a short article on "Panic Attacks" caused by an increase of CO2. The article is on page #11 and it's worth taking a look at.

Gerald

Is this article on-line and if so, would you post here the link? Thanks!

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:33 am

Gerald wrote:The February/March issue of "Scientific American" has a short article on "Panic Attacks" caused by an increase of CO2. The article is on page #11 and it's worth taking a look at.

This is a classic apnea response. There is no stronger signal to the brain than oxygen desaturation because you're literally going to die. This results in the release of panic hormones, resulting in a panic attack that wakes you up in order to save your life.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:44 am

Hi therer, SNM2005!

Do you know if you might be mouthbreathing? If treatment air is going out of you mouth and into to room instead of fighting obstructions, your AHI will be low, but just because the machine doens't know of the apneas.

Your BP may be high during a panice attack, because of the adrenalin flood. A pulse ox measurement is a good idea.

So is a holter.

O.

SnoreNoMore2005 · Post by **SnoreNoMore2005** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:41 pm

I had a 24 hr holter monitor test. It came back negatory.

I think I do breath some through my mouth, but I've been using CPAP for a few years and it never caused me to have this waking up with a racing heart. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the racing heart is CPAP related or anxiety related as my doc assumes.

From my understanding of panic attacks, they are accompanied by feeling of dread or terror or that you're going to die, etc. I have none of those feeling, just a racing heart.

My XPAP Encore pro readout shows pressure flutuates between 8 and 9 cpi throughout the night.

What will a pulse ox do considering you have to already be awakened before you can take a measurement?

Thanks again.

SNM

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

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

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:36 pm

NoMore........

If you purchase a SPO 7500 Oximeter, it'll record your O2 levels for the entire night...while you're asleep. You'll print out a report the next day showing the fluctuations in your O2 levels....including what was going on if you have one of your "racing heart events".

Gerald

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:27 pm

Sleep is the most deeply relaxed a person gets. I think any doctor that suggest that you are having panic attacks while sleeping should be fired! What you are describing is an apnea. I accidentally fell asleep recently without my machine and woke up exactly as you describe. Your therapy is not up to snuff in some way. Probably leaks, mouth leaks specifically. A pulse oximeter will prove you are having desat's and you can go from there to address this.

Jen

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