Does Anyone Else Have This?

[nikigrl8883]

does anyone else in here feel like there is tightning in there throat alot almost like theres a lump there or its just tight....and does anyone else have a low heartrate especially when trying to sleep like to the point you feel like your heart is stopping has anyon ever gasped for breath because they felt like they had no air and there heart stopped for a sec until they gasped for breath? also has anyone woken up in the middle of the night with there heart racing thats happens alot i dont know if i have sleep apnea but i know i dont snore at all,,, i may stop breathing in sleep i dont know somtimes it feels like im not gonna wake up im afraid my heart will stop and ill die its very scary is this normal for pots? also i am extremly lightheaded when this happens when the heart slows down and almost stops! one time i felt it happening i couldnt see for a sec until i gasped for air then i saw double for a sec scary! i have seen neuroligists heart doctor endocrine doctor no one knows what that is

[Tanzanite]

Yes on both counts. Mostly when I was at my worst. For some reason upping potassium helped the breathing thing a lot. Florinef helped and of course upping salt too.

[meandean]

Yes, on all of your symptoms. With me it feels like someone has a slight choke hold on me and I'm constanly swollowing, I've also had a hoarse voice since June.

I can't sleep laying down, because you know how when you are crying very hard and you do that hyperventalting thing like you are trying to gasp for air, I'll wake up in the middle of the night doing that if I'm sleeping laying flat in a bed, laying flat causes my heart to race which between the two causes me to wake up, and on bad nights when I struggle to get a breath, I actually get on my knees to feel like I can breath again.

I sleep in a recliner, with my head elevated which seems to help, sure would be nice to sleep by my husband again! I try, but always wind up back in the recliner.

It is scary at times because we all know these things that happen are not normal.

Hang in there, this site has really helped me deal with all the strange symptoms that POTS brings into our lives.

This whole thing is crazy, but helps to know other people deal with it daily too.

Take care of yourself,

Dean

[kmpower]

Hi friends,

This is what can happen when the esophagus goes into spasm: often it will feel just like a lump in the throat because of the way the esophageal fibers are lined up (longitudinal). It used to be called "globus hystericus" but we don't like terms which blame the patient, do we? A spasm in the esophagus may be caused by diaphragm spasm which may be caused by things like gastritis, hiatal hernia, eating too much too late, lower thoracic/rib problems, shallow breathing, etc.

I think that the apnea can be a cause or a result of problems in this area.

Check out Baroody's book on hiatal hernia syndrome. I know for me, if I eat too much too late, or gassy or heavy foods at night, my pulse will race for a long time until the food has moved away from my heart. I just wait it out before trying to lie down.

I hope you get better.

OLL

[India]

I can totally relate to all of your symptoms. And they seem to come and go for me. I agree with others that florinef has seemed to make the symptoms less common. But I still go through patches when these symptoms flare up again--had several episodes like this over the past few nights, in fact. It seems to be sometimes linked to my menstrual cylce, and sometimes linked to periods when I am under a lot of stress. Other times it just seems to come on out of the blue when I am feeling generally ok.

I had a sleep study and no apnea was found, although I do have something called upper airway resistance syndrome which I guess is in the apnea family. Not much you can do about it save nose strips--which don't work--or more drastically surgery which I have been told is probably not appopriate in my case. It may be worth while getting a sleep study done.

I know I tell myself this all the time and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but stressing about the symptoms will inevitably make them worse. I have found in the past that exercises that require breathing control like yoga (which I am not flexible enough to do) or pilates (which is much more manageable for me) help a bit.

Other than that, I can only offer the comfort that I have had the same symptoms for years and they wax and wane and I sympathize with what you are going through. It can be very scary.

India