waking up suddenly feeling like you cant breathe?

[sophie22]

i woke up last night suddenly gasping for breath, it make me cough and then i was ok. but the everytime i tried to drop back to sleep id get a milder version where i would suddenly take a gasp of breath. i was lying on my side atthe time so wasnt on my back.
it worried me as ive just started bp meds but ive had it before now, just never realised what it was before as i was half asleep! im scared ive got more of a heart problem than i thought, even though my echo, ecg, 24 hour ecg and bloods didnt show anything structurally wrong. scary!!

 

[Newt]

try propping yourself up with pillows, it could be the pressure of bubba on your lungs or your iron may be low, being upright a bit will help, see you doc by all means and tell them whats happened, they should betold

 

[sophxx]

if the echo ecg are clear then you will be fine with your heart

its really normal to feel this way how are you sleeping? if you cant get comfy on your back try and prop your self up with pillows and put a pillow under your left side so you dont suash the big artery which can cause this feeling

also try falling asleep with relaxation music which should help and will help you in labour if you do it every day x

 

[fieldmouse]

I've been getting something similar to this too. Sometimes when I'm dropping off to sleep I really feel like there is a lot of pressure on my lungs, so I have to prop myself right up. It's worse on my back. Up until a couple of weeks ago I was going through a phase of waking up in the night really suddenly feeling like I couldn't breathe - I would sit bolt upright in bed and be coughing. It's quite scary. I haven't really got to the bottom of it, but I was sleeping more on my back at that point so I was thinking it might have had something to do with that as now I'm really propped up and on my side it hasn't been happening. My other theory is that it could have been anxiety related as it did seem to be happening when I was really worrying about the baby. Have you mentioned it to your doctor or midwife?

 

[SugarFairy]

I've had it a few times. Like my lungs are being squashed. Extra pillows helped me. Also eating much earlier in the evening so my stomach wasn't adding to the pressure has definitely made a difference.
But I know its scary when it happens. I've also had this thing where it feels like I'm throwing up a little bit every time I lie down. Not nice, and I sleep sitting up when this happens, loads of pillows up against the headboard

 

[laurahilder]

I had this a few weeks ago. It was really worrying as I thought it was something to do with my asthma (I one time had such a bad attack that my heart actually stopped for several minutes :S) I told my midwife about it and I went for a scan as she thought it might be too high up. Turned out he/she was actually slightly too high and squashing everything up and squashing my lungs. What they did was somehow moved everything down a bit which helped hugely and didn't get it anywhere near as bad after that.
When baby actaully starts moving down to start getting ready for his/her grand entrance, it's amazing how much more you can breathe! Hope you get yours sorted out soon x

 

[mumtobe01]

I had this last night! It was horrible, I thought I was going to stop breathing completly!

 

[keljt1127]

It happens to me almost everynight and DURING the day when I lay down. It is very uncomfortable and I feel like I cant do anything about it!
Even if i just lay up in bed or just sit in a chair .... sometimes I just still cant breathe right! unless I am fully standing up :/
causes me to toss n turn all night , ah i never can sleep

 

[ChloeBaybee]

I had this the other night but it was accompanied by the worse ever pain I've ever had like I'd been winded and all my lungs and ribs were squashed it was absolute agony . Like my ribs were just getting crushed - gonna have to mention it to midwife it was horrible x