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Fainting In Sleep


atomic811

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I do have a question that I don't see addressed here and I have been unable to find online. This does not happen to me often, but sometimes when I am sleeping I wake up out of a dead sleep because I feel like I am fainting. I can roll over on my side during it and feel like sweat is starting to come out of me with a general very unwell feeling. Then I just go back on my stomach and fall asleep again. I have spoke to one other person who has many of the same issues I have and he too gets this sometimes. If there is a name for it what is it called?

I have told a doctor about it and they just said it was a sleep panic attack, but I am not panicking. I go right back to bed, it just feels awful though like you do before you faint.

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if you'd asked me a month ago I would have said no, but last night I had this constantly. As soon as I stopped moving id fall asleep then feel like I was fainting so wake up in a start.

there was a sleep study done on POTS patients that said they had microbursts of arousal all through their sleep (hence waking up feeling like ...)

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Wow, funny you bring this up! I just had something like this happen a couple of weeks ago for the first time(and, I hope only time!). I already have an issue with lying flat on my back, as it feels like something is sitting on my aorta or something and the blood doesn't feel like it's flowing properly. I know, sounds weird. That's all that I can come up with for an explanation.

Well, that night I woke up suddenly and was on my back. Then, I felt like I was going under anesthesia. I panicked and quick rolled onto my side, and the feeling went away. I have never had that feeling before, except when going under for surgery! I honestly thought I was dying, quietly, in a matter of a few seconds. I hope that never happens again.

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This has happened to me before, a few times and happened again just last night. It's ridiculous. It's like my body is waking me up to faint. I also feel short of breath when this happens. It makes me think of some type of sleep apnea.

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felt like I was going under anesthesia.

Yes, it does sort of feel like that mixed with fainting feeling. Yeah see for me I can't sleep well on my back either because I just feel my heart rocking my body, so I tend to sleep on my stomach. During that event I will roll on my side and that is when I sort of start to bust into a slight cold sweat and then roll back to my stomach and fall back to sleep. That is in part why I know its not a "sleep panic attack" because who has a panic attack and thinks..oh this again and goes back to sleep within a min or 2. :D You would assume I would be anxious during it, but I don't. Then again while I have a fear of fainting, when I actually do faint it is sort of relaxing mixed with a sick feeling anyway..then I am out. Only to return and have anxiety about fainting again later hehe.

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This has happened to me before, a few times and happened again just last night. It's ridiculous. It's like my body is waking me up to faint. I also feel short of breath when this happens. It makes me think of some type of sleep apnea.

I am trying to think if I am short of breath during it. I do know I feel hot and the air seems stuffy. Yes exactly it is like I am fainting and my brain says "Wake him up...we must faint now." hehe

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This has happened to me too. I get that really sick awful pre-syncope feeling. Usually it goes away after a minute or two and I go right back to sleep. I know blood pressure normally lowers when people sleep, so maybe for those of us with POTS and/or normally low blood pressure it's more extreme.

I was wondering that too because when I was in the hospital the night after my appendix was removed the nurse took my bp when I was sleeping.. it stirred me a bit, but she got a low reading and was like "I have to take this again" and I said it will be higher when you do and it was. I think she got 85/50 (maybe it was 80/50 but between that) and second test when I was awake (cause she woke me up playing with my arm lol) was 107/75

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Yeah, mine is usually around 70/40 when I first wake up (when I feel the most awful), but it goes up a bit gradually the longer I'm awake. I just got a blood pressure cuff, so I'm using it way too much! Ha ha.

Hehe I use to use mine a lot too. Now rarely, but I got one of those finger clip things that tell heart rate and oxygen saturation. I don't care about the oxygen part, but its easier to check the heart rate with. My blood pressure is all over the place anyway. I can go from low to high so fast. I can stand and it can drop or I can stand and its too high. Don't worry the novelty

of your new BP machine will wear off eventually you will think "I bet its low...let me check...oh who cares." :)

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I've had something kind of like this before. It was when I was having pretty low bp while laying down (70/45) most of the time. Instead of waking up though, it was like I would wake up, but I couldn't move or open my eyes. I could kind of moan though, to try to get someone's attention and eventually I could open my eyes and sit up. I never would go back to sleep after those episodes because it scared me so bad! I'm not sure if it was a like a sleep faint, or that sleep paralysis stuff.

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I have this ALLLLLL the time. It is better if I raise my upper body up on pillows. What I figured out with me is my blood pressure drops too low and you wake up to bring it up. Also, there is an oxygen component to it - we aren't getting enough of it. One of my problems is sleep apnea and I do have to use a CPAP sometimes with oxygen. If it continues when you raise your head up - go get a sleep study. I still do it even with the CPAP and being more upright, but not as bad.

Issie

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have had the same exact symptoms and feelings as everyone here has described. (dizziness, fainting, and like a jolt of electricity in my chest which jerks me awake/kicks my legs, back or even makes me sit up.) I've had this sleep issue at least 3 times / week (and it can happen all night long sometimes) since POTS started for me in May 2009, so I'm really tired! lol I've been to Dr. Grubb (awesome man), as well as my regular ElectroPhysiologist, and some other cardiologists who told me: Take melatonin and/or magnesium to help with sleeping. Some doctors have just dismissed the entire complaint not knowing what to say and making me feel like I'm crazy. One doctor said I should do a sleep study (which was what I was hoping he'd say), but sadly, my COBRA ran out and now I have only emergency medical insurance, so that is on hold. One doctor friend suggested taking benedryl, which has helped on occasion, but I don't want to keep taking meds for it. I used to be a serious ballet dancer, so I've been incredibly aware of what my body feels. It can get frustrating when I definitely know what my body is telling me, yet the doctors dismiss or don't believe what I'm saying. To help with this fainting/jumping issue while sleeping, I try to be loaded up on G2 before bed, always have a bottle nearby, and generally will drink a cup of buillon before bed when I feel it's going to be a rough night. I have also slept with my head raised up since the start of POTS when I told a doctor this, he scoffed and said: Raising the head of the bed is just for adjusting Potsies to being upright already when they wake up before getting out of bed. I decided to sleep elevated because of precisely the sleep issues listed in this thread. After charting everything from diet to BP and HR daily for 9 mos, I came to the conclusion that sitting up while sleeping was better than laying flat for me because my BP would drop way too low. Then my heart kicks in and will go 150 bpm to get the blood flowing (which may explain the reason some of you feel out of breath). I would sleep with a heart wrist monitor on, as well as keep my BP cuff on while sleeping. As soon as I'd get the jolt awakening me, I'd hit the buttons to see where BP and HR were. Sure enough, low BP and high HR. Caught red-handed! lol

I am currently off all medications for just over one year now. Aside from this sleep issue, I now only feel symptoms when it rains/weather systems move through. And now, I'm going to knock on wood! lol I have to say thank you to Atomic811 for starting this thread, because I've been dealing with this issue for 2 1/2 years now, and feel like I'm the only person on the planet like this. I'm really sorry you're all experiencing it too, but it is a relief to know that I'm not crazy...entirely...lol. Good luck to everyone! Will post if I find anything else that helps!

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Another answer of yes (unfortunately) to this post...my daughter has had this a few times, next time I should check her BP when it happens--to see if it is low at the time.

She hardly ever wakes me up in the middle of the night, but she did about a week ago when this happened to her. She even wears CPAP when she sleeps.

It really freaks her out, too to feel like she is going to pass out while she is sleeping or awake but laying down.

She has also had a ton of sweating again in the middle of a Wisconsin winter--lovely issie for a teen girl to have on top of everything else going whacko in her body with POTS and fibromyalgia!

Sorry, I am a nurse, but I don't have any answers to this one--except that it must be part of having dysautonomia.

Dawn

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llcsmom, Didn't know if you were referring to your daughter as being a teen or me. If it was me . . . I love you to death. I'm an old gal, in my 50's. LOL But, that is a current picture of me and if I look like a teen - I'll take that. Yes, having apnea at any age isn't fun and as for fibro - have that too - But, think allot of it is more related to EDS (Ehlers Danlos). Hey, I'm gonna be 18 forever . . . my body just doesn't know it.

Issie

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I agree with Issie...it could be sleep apnea. I have it, too, and it is more common than one would think with patients with dysautonomia. My autonomic disorder's doctor told me that 30% of us have it. I also have a Cpap machine, and it helps so much with this problem. Getting a good nights sleep improves your quality of life. Getting a sleep study is important, if you have these symptoms, so you will get better sleep, and feel better during the day, too. :)

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  • 1 year later...

I'm not sure if I've ever felt exactly what you're describing but definitely similar. There have been several times I've woken up extremely dizzy/woozy with hot, red, flushed skin (not sweaty though). When that happens I am just too dizzy/woozy to fall back to sleep, so I started checking my blood pressure and it's always extremely low during these episodes- 80's /40's even 70's /30's.

I was told the P in Pots stood for postural so I shouldn't have any symptoms when lying down... but looks like there are quite a few of us with issues while lying down at night. :D

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  • 4 years later...

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