im finding a lot of my symptoms here. i'm 20 years old and i've been dealing with anxiety/depression for awhile now. i was taking prozac at one point but stopped, everything seemed to be going fine, i thought i had my panic disoder in control. then a few nights ago, this started happening... i'd find myself just about to drift off to sleep when all of a sudden im gasping for air, as if something struck me in the chest from within - something to that extent. im afraid to attempt sleep again, the feeling happens almost everytime i lay down, i've never had this problem before. i'm going to call the doctor today and scheduel an appointment, i have a feeling what he might already say. i also have acid reflux, quite bad at the moment too... any other specific suggestions friends? im happy to find im not the only one experiencing these problems... it's unfortunate, but let us all be hopeful.

When you see your doctor today, I expect that he will check your heart. One possible connection to your symptom is that you may have developed a heart murmur. Which would explain your sudden gasping for air just as sleep begins or even during sleep. One of the symptoms of Valve Disease/ Heart Murmur is shortness of breath and/or difficulty catching your breath. You may notice this most when you are active or when you lie down flat in bed. You may need to sleep propped up on a few pillows to breathe easier. Another probable medical concern may be that you (like my daughter who is near your age) have developed a condition known as sleep apnea. It can occur at any age and is usually is passed on from parents to children. The good news is that it can be treated the serious news is that it needs to be treated since it can lead to heart disease. A sleep study test will need to be done in order for your doctor to make the diagnosis. I would recommend that you use diligence and urge him to refer you for testing. And if that is the problem, a current treatment is the "continuous positive airway pressure" (CPAP) device, which functions as a kind of oxygen mask worn over the nose to help force air into nasal passageways and prevent airways from collapsing. This devise has had life changing results on my daughter who like I mentioned is in her 20's. I hope this advise may be helpful .. good luck today with your doctor appointment .... and best wishes to you!

It has been really neat reading this discussion. I'm at the beginning of my road of trying to figure out what is wrong with me. I too wake up gasping for air. However, it's not every night. Maybe twice a week. Some episodes are small and some are big and very frightening. I feel like my heart has stopped and I sit up in bed gasping for air.
I've had an event monitor on my heart for a month. It showed that I had sinus arythmia (irregular heartbeats) and they found I have mitral valve prolapse. Both of which are very common and wouldn't cause my symptoms. At first the Dr game me some medication for my heart that only made things worse. So he told me to stop taking them. That's when he told me my problem was anxiety and prescribed me some Lorazepam. That was one week ago. I haven't started taking it though b/c I didn't want to accept that as a diagnosis without further testing. So he did a pulse ox test on me. My oxygen levels were 98 the whole night with the exception of a 8 minute period where it went down to 90. (Which surprised me b/c I didn't have an episode that night that I knew of.) He said that was enough to warrant having a sleep test done even though I don't exibit any of the sterotypical symptoms that most sleep apnea people have as far as being overweight, small necks, snoring, etc.
I received the call from the clinic yesterday wanting to schedule my test for October 27. My jaw about hit the floor though when they told me how much it was going to cost. We have a VERY high deductable so I'm going to have to pay for the full test! I'm really struggling with wondering whether or not I should have the test done or just accept that it could be anxiety. Even though that really makes no sense to me b/c I've never had problems with anxiety in the past and don't have any idea what could be causing it now.
The Dr did say if the sleep test comes back normal then they would do an echo and sono on my heart.

It sounds like most of ya'll had all the tests done.

So do you think I should go through all the testing too or just accept that it could be anxiety and let it go? I hate to spend all this money and time on this.

its been two years ; where i been having breathinq problems ; its like my head hurts; my eyes are heavy ; my back and ribs are always hurting and when i tried to go to sleep on my stomach i wake up gasping for air ;
like i qet real scared and dont even wanna qo to sleep until i fall alsleep on my own but if anybody experience this write back to my messaqe

Rockville,connecticut

Sometimes this gasping for breath when asleep can be due to acid reflux. I have found relief by not eating before bed, or using antacids before bed. Just something else to consider.

What you are describing is typical of sleep apnea. THIS IS NOT PSYCHOLOGICAL. It is a matter of anatomy. If you have a large uvula or soft palate in a certain position, that can fall back and block your breathing.
Problem is, that most persons have episodes of apnea - apnea means on air to the brain- that does NOT wake them up.
Sleep apnea can be extremely bad for your health, but it is readily treatable.
In the mentime, sleeping on your left side can help.
Check out doctors/clinics that specialize in sleep apnea in your town.

I to have been suffering from this. my first attack was the other night I woke up and I has just about falling asleep and sat up and gasped for air and then paniced even more. I hate the feeling so now I'm scared to go to sleep. I went to the ER that night and everything was fine my blood work, EKG and BP everything looks great I have a few short attacks that made me feel like I couldnt breath and my Respers went down to 7-8 which made a bell go of which in return made it worse. How do you deal with something like this?

I had the exact same symt. They did a sleep study, and aid what I had was sleep starts. Hope it helps.

To all of you sufferers of this falling asleep and waking up gasping for breath, I too have had it and I go to a wonderful naturopath and she has discovered it is low blood sugar.
When we go to sleep, sometimes our blood sugar levels drop dramatically, sometimes too much and this causes the gasping etc. I find it usually happens when I have had a day that I eat a biscuit or something I shouldn't because I have low blood sugar levels on the best of days, so I have to watch my diet.
I think stress and all that comes into it as well. I used to have it happen quite regularly but now I know how to prevent the problem, I experience it maybe once a year or something. Thank goodness, because one does feel that they are dying.
Laine

I have this gasping problem occasionally when I am sleeping but I do not snore and have low BP, no health issues except I am being treated for anxiety and panic attacks during the day. Since I don't snore and my husband has been awake during the episode and said I seemed fine right beforehand, I believe it is a panic attack. I am actually afraid to look into sleep apnea since the thought of not breathing is terrifying. The other thing is the more I worry about it the more it happens, That doesn't sound like sleep apnea since it is out of your control. When this happened a few years ago my doc thought it was anxiety. She said people don't usually know when they are having apnea.