Help/Opinions/Advice/Support
About 9 days ago I went to bed and every time I started to dose off I'd lose my breath and wake up with a burst of adrenaline, almost like my brain was afraid to let me go to sleep. This repeated through the night until the sun came up. Zero sleep. Each time it happened I became more anxious and panicked. The next night, same thing. Not one minute of sleep. As I'd dose off I would instantly get this adrenaline rush saying don't go to sleep. I was a walking zombie the next day, 48 hours without sleep. Finally on the third night I decided to get out of bed at 1am and go into the ER and they basically said here's a few ambien you have anxiety (we were actually on vacation this entire time so the ER I went to was horrible). They just wanted me out of there. My blood pressure normally 120/75 was 160/100, which didn't help with calming me down. So they kicked me out and back to bed I went at 6 am after leaving the hospital. The ambien seemed to knock me out for 4hours or so. The next day I was a wreck, crying and felt like I couldn't breath, heart pounding. Basically all day I was scared to go to bed and not get sleep. I took an ambien and after fighting it for a few hours (same adrenaline rush as I'd dose off, I finally did dose off for 5 hours). My first day back at home started the same way, I was a wreck all day, scared and anxious, heart pounding and I could not calm down. Thought my heart would explode. That night I went to bed with my remaining ambien and again, my brain fought me sleeping, to the point where if the adrenaline didn't wake me up I would wake up with my throat feeling so closed that I couldn't get air. I have sleep apnea but use a machine. I actually cranked that baby up and still could not get to sleep. The throat closing feeling wasn't there but the adrenaline rush when I started to dose off woke me up every time. I was to the point where I slept about 10 hours in almost a week's time. Back the the ER I went the next morning. They ran me through a million tests on my lungs, heart, blood work. Everything was OK. The only thing they noticed was my throat was a little swollen (uvula). Gave me a steroid shot in case I was having a reaction to something and some follow up pills, etc. I called my pulmonary doc (sleep apnea doc) to get me in for a sleep test right away. I had that the day before yesterday. The technical said I fell asleep within an hour or so but only slept for 1.5 hours then laid there for 6 (having my adrenaline/panic wake up calls), never went back to sleep. My machine was determined to be set on the correct pressure, tech said I slept well for that short time and he felt confident my machine pressure was perfect so I know this isn't an apnea thing. Now I am totally afraid to sleep. Can anxiety/panic, if bad enough physically close your throat? What would explain the adrenaline rushes as I fall asleep, waking my over and over before I actually get to sleep? I have even tried to pump up my cpap pressure just to keep my throat open and I still seem to get the adrenaline rush or if I do dose off I get the (I can't breath in there's a golf ball in my throat feeling). Can anxiety/panic do all of this, do I need to see an ear nose throat person to see if anything is down there? I have a constant tickle in my throat, but honestly I'm starting to think this is all panic/anxiety problems. I just want to sleep normal. Up until 9 days ago I would sleep all night like a baby. I do have a lot of recent stress and the depression is something I've been putting off for years. But don't know what the next step is if this continues to happen. I have a follow up with my general practitioner in a few days. She has me on some anxiety meds that seem to be helping. But should I insist on seeing ENT...allergist (in case I have an alergy), to make sure something isn't swelling my throat, or just go with anxiety/panic diagnosis? I'm sorry this is so long, been scaring me to death for over a week.
Can anxiety do all of this, the adrenaline rushes, the blocking of my airway when falling asleep even with an over pressured cpap machine?
