Pietro

I've been having a very distressing new symptom. Every time I stand up or sit up I start feeling like my throat and chest muscles are getting tight and constricting. It feels like my breathing muscles are getting dysfunctional and that I'm being choked or something. Its very scary. The feeling eventually subsides when lying down, but I can't even stand up for 2 minutes without getting the tight and constricting feeling from my throat all the way down to my diaphragm. Feels like I'll literally stop breathing and that my breathing muscles might spasm or paralyze on me. It feels like I have to breathe manually and get air hunger as well. Doctors are gaslighting as usual, especially after a normal Brain MRI a few months ago. Spo2 is also in normal range during these episodes. Anyone else get this? I'm terrified of this new symptom and terrified I might go into respiratory failure or something.

I described in my previous topic how I've been suffering from some weird brain zap feelings, which are followed by an adrenaline surge in the stomach and sometimes I even lurch forward with a brief second myoclonus like spasm and brief one second tinnitus. These symptoms are always worse when I'm lying down and especially when trying to sleep. These "zaps" are the absolute worst when I'm in that transition between awake and asleep and it keeps preventing from sleeping because I'm always getting "zapped back awake" Well, I've been getting even more desperate now because I noticed that when these "zaps" happen, it's like my body freezes up for that time, including my breathing muscles, and the scariest part about the zaps is that I literally feel like my breathing muscles are paralyzed for that brief amount and I have to struggle to manually breathe and shake myself out of the "zap". I don't know if I'm describing it well, it's very hard to describe the feelings, but it's very scary. I also feel just generally terrible after these zaps, like I have a tight band around my chest, like I'm breathing against resistance and also have other weird neurological symptoms like tingling scalp, my vision feels unfocused, sometimes I get transient numbness in a limb, temperature dysregulation nausea, and crushing fatigue, especially after eating a rich meal. I had an MRI just two weeks ago because I was fearing some serious neurological issue like MS or a tumor, but the results were normal. Last year I also had a cardiac workup (EKG, Stress Test, Echo, Chest CT) and it was all normal as well. Also had a blood panel which was all normal as well except for slightly elevated CRP and Vitamin D deficiency.

@Pistolregarding your question about meds and vital signs: I'm currently on 0.5mg Klonopin before bed. My BP machine is broken like I said, but I have a pulse ox. My spo2 is always normal range (96-98%) and HR anywhere from 70-110 (my heart rate is very dynamic during the day).

@TCP and @PistolThank you both for the detailed responses! I do suspect I may have some low blood pressure problems, as about a year ago I picked up some 90/60 readings after eating and napping. Unfortunately my BP machine has broken since then, so I can't see what my readings are like with these new symptoms. In the hospital my BP is always either normal or borderline normal/high (possible White Coat Syndrome). My only question about that possibility of these symptoms being due to low BP is: wouldn't I feel better while lying down and worse on standing? Since as I understand it, those who suffer from low BP have more intense symptoms while standing due to blood flow having to fight against gravity. In my case, however, I feel worse while lying down or slouching and way better while standing. I don't recall even having any zaps/tinnitus/surge episodes while standing up. It always happens while I'm sitting or lying down. I also don't know what is the underlying cause to my dysautonomia, which is always scary. I've had symptoms since I was about 13 years old (28 years old now). I went through several years of doctors and cardiologists brushing me off as merely having anxiety or panic disorder. It wasn't until two years ago where I got a very vague "autonomic dysfunction" diagnose after several normal cardiac exams. I'm actually getting a Brain MRI in exactly a week since I've had more neurological symptoms popping up this last year (numbness, mental fatigue, dizziness, etc) and now this. Before my symptoms were almost universally related to heart rate and things like heat intolerance and occasional GI stuff. Now I'm having these really intense neurological symptoms which are really making me scared.

@Pistolwow, that sounds kind of serious. Wouldn't insufficient blood circulation to the brain be highly indicative of stroke risk? Sounds more sinister than dysautonomia. I really hope this isn't the case. Or maybe I didn't understand your post properly.

For the past week or so I've been having episodes of very brief, but repetitive dizziness/zap feeling when I lie down and especially when I close my eyes. It feels like a sudden and brief (few seconds at most) feeling of sudden dizziness/vertigo/brain zap followed by a rush of adrenaline and tinnitus on one ear. Sometimes it even feels like pre-syncope. When the zap is strong, my muscles involuntarily twitch like a hypnic jerk. I immediatly feel anxious afterwards. It's a very hard feeling to describe, sometimes it feels like electric shocks through my body, along with adrenaline. The dizziness/adrenaline feeling itself only lasts a second or two. It's very brief, but it keeps happening and since it always happens when I'm lying down it prevents me from sleeping and even awakens me from sleep, which is making me suffer from insomnia as well. Lately I've been awakening every 2-4 hours while sleeping because of this. Important to point out that I never feel this dizzy/zap feeling while standing. It only happens when I'm lying down with my eyes closed. Also, I don't know if related, but there are also occasional episodes of tinnitus out of nowhere. I'll get sudden episodes of brief one sided tinnitus, which usually comes on right before a strong surge/zap. This has been very distressing to me, as it has severely messed with my sleep. Last night I literally spent 4 or 5 hours trying to drift off to sleep, but being awakened every time by this scary zap/surge feeling every single time. The brain zap/adrenaline surge type feeling is kind of similar to SSRI withdrawal, but I haven't taken these meds in years, so it's not that. I'm actually really hoping it's just yet another manifestation of my autonomic dysfunction and not something more serious like a tumor or MS. Anyone here with this symptom?

I've noticed that my automatic respiration doesn't seem to be working that well. When I'm not aware of my breathing it seems like I get less than the normal 12-16 respirations per minute. It feels like I get incomplete, slow, and shallow breaths. When I put on the pulse oximeter during these times my spo2 is between 95-96% and it goes up to 97% if I switch to manual breathing and start "breathing right". As I'm drifting off to sleep it's even worse. I can get down to 93-94% spo2 as I'm in that transition between awake and asleep. I've woken up several times feeling suffocated and sometimes outright in the middle of an adrenaline rush, so I'm almost certain I'm having apnea episodes during sleep, but I'm also certain this isn't just normal sleep apnea because I have near apnea like breathing while awake as well. Anyone else have this? Just last year I had a full workup with EKG, Echocardiogram, Stress Test, Chest CT, and blood work. Nothing anormal with my heart or lungs, so I'm guessing this is autonomic dysfunction. Other symptoms I have: tachycardia upon minimal exertion, ectopic heartbeats, migraines, heat intolerance, dizziness, brain fog, occasional constipation.

I've noticed for some time now that I have some significant symptoms in regard to breathing and shortness of breath. I've noticed that I get winded doing minimal exertion, like changing sheets or going to the kitchen or bathroom. When I stand up to do something light, as soon as I lay back down I feel a heaviness in the chest and "air hunger", feeling like I need to take deeper, fuller breaths. I have a pulse ox here at home, and I notice that my oxygen levels range on average from 96-97% and it goes to 98% when I start doing deep breathing. However, I've seen it several times at 95%, especially when checking after a long period of automatic breathing. It seems like I have some dysfunctional breathing while on automatic or something. I've also checked how many breaths I take within 1 minute, and I've had 10-11 breaths per minute sometimes (normal average is 12-18). But I don't know how or if that also explains me getting winded with minimal exertion. Lately, even walking down to the grocery store down the corner from my house feels like a marathon and I feel suffocated, and wearing a mask makes that sensation even more exarcebated. I've gotten several exams to check for other serious causes. I've had EKG's, Echo, Stress Trest, and even a Chest CT with contrast because there was a period I thought I had a blood clot or something, but it all came back normal. The only abnormality during these exams was sinus tachycardia, which I also get from minimal exertion, and it has been that way for years, and I've gotten diagnosed as having a "hyperactive sympathetic nervous system" on the Stress Test. I also doubt that it's an infection or Covid related because it has been a chronic issue and that predates the pandemic itself. I'm getting concerned that I'm spending the day with periods of low oxygen levels and if something funky is going on with the respiratory drive center in my brain or something. Or maybe this is due to deconditioning? I have been extremely sedentary since the pandemic started (got laid off from work) and am mostly bed bound. And yet another theory is that maybe this is a side effect from my meds. I take 1mg Clonazeoam daily before bed for insomnia since february of this year. I know that benzos have depressant effects on the nervous system so maybe that is contributing? Other symptoms related to dysautonomia I constantly have: high resting heart rate and even higher with minimal exertion, palpitations (especially after carb heavy meals and exercise), heat intolerance, dizziness and lightheaded with exertion, migraines, diffuse muscle pains, temperature dysregulation (slightly higher than average), episodes of constipation and bloating, episodes of increased urinary frequency, Anyone else have similar issues in regards to the breathing?

Hi everybody! First time poster here after finding this forum. I would like to share my story so that I can get some opinions and hopefully some support. So I've been suffering from what doctors just dismiss as panic disorder and anxiety for several years now. It all started about 8 years ago when I started having a very fast heart rate out of nowhere while watching a movie. The sensation was unlike anything I've felt before. I stood up and felt very dizzy, my heart raced even more. I thought I was about to pass out at any moment. I ended up going to the hospital where I had an EKG and it was normal, besides the fact that my heart rate was like 130bmp. Ever since that day, I've never felt "normal" again. I feel like I'm hyper sensitive to adrenaline or something. Every single thing that's supposed to slightly raise your heart rate, sends mine into waaay too high levels. Mild exertion, strong emotions, hot weather, meals, and merely even standing up senda my heart rate easily into 120bmp or above. I've stopped running, which has always been a passion of mine, because every time I do even a little bit of exercise, I feel like I'm gonna pass out. From 2012 to now, I've had countless hospital trips and countless more tests. I've had numerous complete blood exams, EKGs, Echos, 24h Holter, Stress Test, chest x-ray, abdomen ultrasound, thyroid ultrasound etc. Nothing abnormal seems to pop up aside from the constant fast heart. All cardiologists I've seen in these past few years are completely unconcerned about my symptoms and attributed them to anxiety. The thing is, I don't think it's just anxiety. Rather, I think my anxious feelings are a symptom and not the problem itself. As I said, my symptoms have especific triggers that have nothing to do with stressfull situations (meals, hot weather, mild exertion, standing, etc). I also feel other non-cardiac symptoms like headaches/migraines, fatigue, diffuse muscle aches, mildly dilated pupils, frequent urination, occasional constipation, mild temperatute dysregulation, and others. This year I started reading into Dysautonomia disorders and it seems to fit soooo much more into my symptoms rather than an anxiety disorder. I've specifically read into POTS and Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia as the two that most seem to fit my symptoms. My only doubt about POTS is that my heart rate is high even when I'm lying down and not only when I stand up. My heart while calmly lying down can range between 85-100, where most normal people are between 60-70. And like I said, every single thing raíses my heart rate, even just shifting positions in my bed. Needless to say, all these symptoms have taken a big toll on my well being. I don't feel healthy at all. I feel very frail, besides being relatively young (27y). I feel like these daily symptoms have been robbing me of my life and the various doctors I've seen during these years just blush me off as an anxious individual and prescribe me benzos and SSRI's, which don't help my symptoms much. I've recently went to a neurologist and got a Tilt Table Test and Brain MRI, in hopes of finding some answers. In the meanwhile, I live my life being scared of my symptoms. The cardiac symptoms in particular are very distressing and always gets me worried about having some cardiovascular events because of the constant high heart rate and palpitations. So that's pretty much my story. Anyone on a similar boat and with some insight that could be offered?