what is this? you start to fall asleep, and keep jerking awake

[momofpreciousboy]

Hi guys. Does anyone know what is going on with the body when you start to fall asleep, and fade away? You suddenly wake up like after a second of falling asleep, and this goes on for a bit. Then finally you go to sleep not knowing if you will ever wake up. Then you wake up like maybe you were not breathing or your chest sunk too much. I have asked the dr about this before, but -no ideas. It drives me nuts, not to mention scaring me. Thanks, JenniferTX

[Sunfish]

hi-

of course it could very well be "nothing" other than a major annoyance....

or something related to autonomic/adreneline issues...

or meds...

but...

some of your description sounds like some of what i've come across lately on sleep disorder forums where i've been trying to educate myself b/c of my recent sleep apnea forums. i can't comment much beyond that as i've been looking at the apnea info and it's other sleep disorders that seem to - sometimes - have feelings similar to what you're describing. the one part i can relate to a bit is the sudden awakening, and know that it "can" be due to apneas (aka problems breathing while sleeping that in turn can wake the body up). but not always so by no means is it for certain.

while it won't give definitive answers you may want to search around a bit in the "sleep disorders" realm.

and at some point - if it's bothering you & persistant - may want to ask your doc about a sleep study...

hope this helps...

melissa

[India]

Aloha,

Just to echo Melissa's post...

I had similar symptoms and, also having trolled the sleep disorders forum and having a husband who has major sleep issues, I insisted that my pcp doctor order me a sleep study. I don't have apnea, but I do have a form of apnea (at least according to some studies) called Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (or UARS). Luckily, my pcp, who knows nothing about POTS, agreed. It is my understanding from reading elsewhere, that POTS sufferers do tend towards apnea or other sleep related disorders. It might be worth having a study just to rule out problems.

Good luck!

India

[Guest Belinda]

I definitley reccomend you have sleep study, I had one because I kept jerking awake..and sometimes after sleeping I would wake up and feel like I couldn't move.

Anyways, no apnea here but restless leg, i see it goes along with this disorder.

Definitley has something to do with the catecholamines and epinephrine and all that.

I never had a problem til this year when I developed full blown Pots symptoms.

Good luck and I hope you start getting better sleep!!!

[Jacquie802]

Hi I had actually posted something similar to this. However, when I start to fall asleep then "jerk" awake my heart rate soars and I suffer from palps. No clue what it is though. It's almost like my heart is skipping beats or soemthing like that.

[Miriam Poorman-Knox]

Please get a sleep study I had similar symptoms to you. I didn't wake up a cuple times, luckily my husband found me. I havesleep apnea, and it is serious. Miriam

[Gena]

I do this often when I'm going through a bad potsy spell. I have theorized that my heart rate and/or BP get so low that my body kicks in high gear to get everything going again and jerks me awake. My heart will often race or have arrythmias when this happens too. Very scary feeling and very annoying, but somehow my body still keeps on truckin!

Gena

[michiganjan]

Miriam,

What kind of treatment do you have for your apena? I am aware that they can treat the "snoring" kind of apena with a C-pap machine. My husband uses one every night. But what about when sleep apena is of the central nervous kind? I did not think there was treatment for that.

[yogini]

I have this symptom and I think mine is similar to what Gena describes. This has happened to me from time to time for years, even though I have only had POTS for about 2 years. It usually happens when I am in a deep sleep. I wake up with a jerking sensation and my heart is beating fast, but it calms down after a while and I go back to sleep. When I first got POTS it wouldn't calm down, but now it's back to what it used to be. I don't think I have sleep apnea.

[Sunfish]

jan -

i know i'm not miriam, but thought i'd still chime in. i don't snore one bit and still have apnea. mine's mixed central and "obstructive"; obstructive means the brain sends the message to breathe but something further down the line keeps it from happening...not always a pure "obstruction" though as many think of it. for me CPAP is still the treatment of choice; i'm actually getting mine tomorrow. i've been reading a lot since my newly acquired diagnosis and while it's not as successful CPAPs or APAPs (similar machine but instead of continuous pressure/air flow it adjusts continuously) are still at times used and at least sometimes helpful for central apneas. also sometimes O2 (also not a fix but can be a help) if O2 stats are dropping enough, and/or certain meds that affect sleep stage cycles (helpful for a few though not many). that's what i'm recalling at the moment from my latest readings. hope it helps answer you question at least a bit...

melissa