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Sleep And Sweat Or Toss And Turn Breathless


Machair

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I have two sorts of nights and I was wondering if anyone else has these.

On a really bad POTS night I can't seem to regulate my breathing pattern and I hyperventilate all night, have restless legs and hardly sleep, but I feel full of adrenaline and worn out in the morning. On a better night, when I do sleep, I will wake up with night sweats or all clammy, and sometimes if I sleep all night, which is rare, the mornings are very difficult as I almost have a panic attack on waking where my heart races, and sometimes I have to run too the bathroom, like I am a wash with adrenaline. Anyone see this pattern - either way I dread the nights almost as much as the days, but the mornings are the worst however I sleep.

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I used to have the night sweats every night which woke me at 1, 2 or 3 am every morning, then I couldn't get back to sleep for hours. Ever since I have been taking my salt tablets (5 a day) plus increased salty food and water I have not had this problem, although I still overheat sometimes, but not as badly as pre-salt tablets. In fact the salt tablets have impeded my ability to sweat, which is not always a good thing in summer when your body needs to cool down.

with regard to the difficulty breathing, I can really relate, except that my breathing problems are often more problematic during the day. I find that my breathing might not be too bad at first, but as soon as the anxiety kicks in it is much worse. So while the physical problem precedes the emotional one, the emotional one amplifies and makes the physical so much worse, to the point of panic sometimes.

The one thing I have found that relaxes me before sleep, and helps me sleep better, is a herbal tea called "RElaxing Tea" by Red Seal. It contains Chamomile, Passion Flower, Valerian, Catnip, Scullcap, Strawberry leaves and peppermint, some of these ingredients being well known by herbalists as 'nervines'. It just seems to take the edge off the sleeping problems for me and I take it when I know I'm going to have a bad night. The nervines are meant to calm the nervous system.

A family member who is a naturopath gave me a potent herbal formula of the nervines - passionflower, melissa, scullcap, and valerian - which I took during the day. It made a big difference for the first week, but after the first week it started doing the opposite. I've read that valerian can have the exact opposite of the intended effect if taken for too long or at too high a does.

I can also relate to the increased heart rate upon waking. Sometimes just before waking I can sense my heart is finally 'settled', but the moment I open my eyes and become fully away, it takes off.

I am sorry to hear you are having a hard time and I can also relate to the fear of going to bed. I used to fear it too because when I first got sick my heart would start to gallop the moment my head hit the pillow. Very strange in a condition where being supine is meant to be better for us!

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My nights are terrible too. Pain in my legs, buirning in my feet, start out cold- end up hot, sometimes sweaty during the night and definitely wake up to my heart beating really HARD and feeling drunk. Then get up and go through the tachycardia. Not fun.

Lotusflower- what are the salt tablets you take? The only thing I have been able to find are Sodium Chloride (1 gm?) pills. Is this what you take?

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My nights are terrible too. Pain in my legs, buirning in my feet, start out cold- end up hot, sometimes sweaty during the night and definitely wake up to my heart beating really HARD and feeling drunk. Then get up and go through the tachycardia. Not fun.

Lotusflower- what are the salt tablets you take? The only thing I have been able to find are Sodium Chloride (1 gm?) pills. Is this what you take?

Hi Naomi, I also take pure Sodium Chloride 600mg at least 5 times a day. I was told by my doctor not to try any of the other types of salt formulas as they can cause even more gastric upset than the plain sodium chloride tablets.

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