woke up in the middle of the night and couldnt breath!

[Bass101]

Maybe you aspirated a large amount of saliva into your lungs, and the large quantity was making it seems like you couldn't breathe. Could that be the case?

[gazoono9]

Thank you for all your responses. Your're right about the acid reflux thing.. maybe its not that. I am also not sure about the sleep apnea either.. Never had that either in my life. When I awoke, it was because of not breathing though and it wasnt an obstruction like I read about from other posts. There simply was no air and it my throat was completely closed. I am 120 pounds and I dont smoke so I dont think its from that either.So I guess I will make an appointment with my doctor to see what he has to say.. He will I am sure tell me like always.. Its stress related like usual.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by gazoono9

Thank you for all your responses. Your're right about the acid reflux thing.. maybe its not that. I am also not sure about the sleep apnea either.. Never had that either in my life. When I awoke, it was because of not breathing though and it wasnt an obstruction like I read about from other posts. There simply was no air and it my throat was completely closed. I am 120 pounds and I dont smoke so I dont think its from that either.So I guess I will make an appointment with my doctor to see what he has to say.. He will I am sure tell me like always.. Its stress related like usual.

Suggestion on the doctor - see an ear, nose, throat. They can scope you right there to see if you have signs of acid reflux.

Is it possible you were having a bad nightmare?

[gazoono9]

I am not sure about a nightmare,, which I do have often. I would think though that I wouldnt have trouble breathing after I wake up. When I say closed throat, I mean it. No air, just nothing. So now , of course I am afraid to sleep as it has happened once 7 years ago while I was pregnant.So now its been twice. I really dont know what to think about it thats why I came to this site to see if anyone else has had it happen to them.I am going to call my doctor or get a throat ,nose , ear specialist like someone posted.

[AnonChick]

Definitely don't eat so close to bedtime. If you have a history of being stressed (as you indicate by telling us your doctor will just tell you it's stress, as usual)..then forcing your body to spend sleep-time digesting food (or blizzards) is going to cause stressful sleeping. And that, in turn, causes stressful waking, which, in turn, causes a stressful day.

Consider a 4-6-hour rule: no food sooner than 4 hours before bedtime, no caffeine sooner than 6 hours before bedtime.

[vrivelle]

Your description is dead-on what happened to me this morning. I was very scared; I thought I might die, but then I realized that it was not altogether zero breath, just very little and only with great force (and awful noise). After about a minute or so it passed. I do have acid reflux issues on occasion, nothing awful, and I tasted that in my throat right before it happened. I thought that was all it was, but then BAM. Wow. I did some googling and it sounds like it could be asthma. I will ask a doctor. It would be nice to have an inhaler for the next time, if it were to happen again.

[russlancea]

Sleep apnea is the first thing I thought of when I read your post. Do you snore? Has your husband ever noticed you stop breathing when you sleep? Are you tired in the morning when you wake up, like you didn't get enough sleep? Sleep apnea can be dangerous, but whatever you have sounds like it could be serious also.

[Deadbolts' Probie]

Some might believe in the soul leaving the body during the night. I know I do. When your soul comes back in, it can be a very violent shock. Its something else to search. And quite interesting I might add! Good luck tho. Hope you get feeling better!