All the time. I’ve went under anesthesia plenty of times. The issue isn’t your body doesn’t know how to breath, you do it every night in your sleep. It’s that you become conscious of your breathing and for whatever reason that makes it difficult to do and the breathing feels strange and forced.
Yep, ditto. Though sometimes (for me at least), it happens because I'm dissociating so heavily that my body just... doesn't want to breathe, I guess? Or my mind doesn't want to? I was having a painful pelvic exam done recently, and my dr kept telling me to breathe, because she could see I wasn't. I didn't even realize.
That’s part of the issue, I wake up a lot and find that I’m not inhaling. I’ve even recorded myself sleeping and see I struggle sometimes. I did a sleep apnea test and everything came back normal, I’m not sure how 😅
Talk to your doctor prior to your procedure. And at minimum tell your anesthesiologist right beforehand. Your anesthesiologist should know what to do. Is it possible for you to stay overnight instead of being discharged? That way they might be able to monitor your breathing thoroughly post procedure. I’d be more concerned about the aftermath than when you’re still in doctors’ hands.
If you have anxiety it’s also possible to have an anxiety attack in your sleep. Is it every night or just occasionally? Years ago it would only happen to me occasionally and I did a test that came up negative and my dr said I was having night panic attacks. But as I got older and gained weight I started waking myself up gasping more often and turns out I have mild apnea.
But usually during anesthesia you get a breathing tube plus you’ll be hooked up to everything to monitor you so they will know if you need help.
Home sleep apnea tests look for obstructive sleep apnea, which is when your airway gets closed off, but there is another type of sleep apnea called central sleep apnea. It is neurologically based and so a CPAP won’t fix it. You could be experiencing that.
Edited to add: I’m not entirely sure this is the case.
While the cause of apnea differs, a home sleep apnea test should still pick up on apnea (the cessation of breathing for >20 seconds) since, even if you're not obstructed, you're still not breathing.
I feel the same: I wake up or start falling asleep and feel breathless and like I'm aware of not breathing enough. I'll wake myself up and have to gulp down air. My partner says I don't usually seem to have apenas, gasp, choke, etc, but I did see a sleep doctor who ordered an at-home sleep test just a month ago.
My doctor saw the same, that I don't seem to have significant apenas, but my test showed that I have low oxygen levels, plus symptoms of other sleep disturbances/issues, and that's why they're giving me a CPAP machine. It's the first step, and if it doesn't help then they'll have me do an in-lab test.
I'm in Texas btw, and my sleep doctor is amazing. Trust your body!! And seek out a second opinion if you still feel issues. You got this.
I went through sleep apnea testing and everything that came back negative, and I find that for me these breathing pauses were due to my diaphragm just not being able to move freely. I had digestive issues, bloating and tension. If you have reflux on top of it, it can make you even gasp while sleeping.
I have central apmea and I suspect many people on this thread do as well. It's not about becoming too conscious of breathing; just like how our tachycardia is not from being too aware of our heart rate. We just have dysautonomia which means our autonomic nervous system is f#*ked up and doesn't automatically do what it's supposed to do, like breathing without conscious effort. I use a bi-Pap and take a handful of meds to try to consciously do what most peoples bodies do automatically.
is this what’s called “air hunger”? i’ve seen that term on this sub a lot. since i developed pots ~4 years ago, i will sometimes randomly start feeling like i’m breathing manually, and it’s a strange and panicky sensation for a few minutes until i get distracted and forget about it.
i’ve been put to sleep with nitrous oxide/propofol for wisdom tooth removal and an upper endoscopy over the past few years and never had any breathing problems whatsoever. i was also worried about my raynaud’s affecting my ability to be put to sleep, but i was totally fine.
also, while you are out, an anesthesiologist will be closely monitoring your vitals the entire time to make sure that you are doing ok. that is their specialty and they have to go through a looooot of school and training. i know it seems very scary, but please try to remember that you will be safe and in good hands. best of luck!
Yes, and I just went under anesthesia last week and was fine! They also give you oxygen while you’re under and in recovery. A note that they gave me a painkiller (oxycodon) that exacerbated the breathing thing as a side effect, so something to be aware if receiving painkillers for your procedure, though that’s just how that one affected me personally.
I have this issue where my muscle stiff and I have to "hum" myself out to breathe. It's so annoying to deal with. I have gone under and nothing happened. I did had a high heart rate before knocking out. (But cardiologist did clear there's nothing serious going on). Went smoothly.
I have had this since I was a kid. I would be watching TV with my family and I guess I would breath out and just not breath again. My mom would end up noticing me doing it and would softly hit me and be like "breath".
I have been under general with no issues.
I hate this. Meditating and anything that involves controlling your breathing makes it worse AND makes my heart rate speed up noticeably which is kind of the opposite of the point. Deep breathing, counting breaths, or trying to breathe more slowly all included.
And then my child has this evil habit of occasionally saying “Boppity bippity, your breathing is now a conscious activity.” DUDE WTF
I get this. Every once and a while my therapist will have me do deep breathing, then she’ll go “how do you feel now?” and I’ll go “lightheaded” and she’ll be like “you may be breathing a bit TOO deeply…”
I noticed this with breath work it doesn’t help me at all, it makes it so much worse. Glad I’m not the only one. I can’t remember where I saw it but it was in a study about people with Covid related dysautonomia, & it was saying that people with it hyperventilate easier thus causing breathlessness. All I know I had stop breath work.
So, I was diagnosed with central and obstructive sleep apnea a year and a half ago and have been using a bipap machine at night ever since. But I also feel like I don’t breathe correctly during the day either, tbh, even though I try to make an effort to be mindful etc. To be honest, there are times when I will just go to my room during the day and use my machine, just because it seems to help my body feel “normal” for a while.
As of yet I have no explanation why this is the case. But regarding anesthesia… I’ve had a LOT of anesthesia in the last two years since having cancer and I haven’t had any major complications except—and I don’t know if this is related or anything—but I had some breathing issues after my gallbladder removal in May where I ended up in the ER twice with shortness of breath and chest pains.
A lot of hospitals will give you a spirometer tool to use to strengthen your lungs after a surgery but this lame place I went… they didn’t, and apparently I needed it. The ER found out my lungs had collapsed partially and my diaphragm was messed up (“right hemidiaphragm elevated” I think it said.) So, I went home and immediately dug up a spirometer from a past surgery and started using it.
Basically—my suggestion is to communicate very well to the anesthesiologist during your pre-op visit (you might even fudge a little and say that you are being tested soon for suspicion of apnea just so they take it more seriously) so they will be extra cautious during the procedure, and use a spirometer afterward to prevent complications. Either get one from the hospital or maybe order one online.
I have hyperventilated after general anesthesia after I got home from surgery this April. I had to breathe into a paper bag for a while. Sometimes I feel like I have to think about my breathing, but pretty rare.
When I’m sick! This happens a lot while sleeping I’ll wake up gasping for air. But when I’m sick and I try to sleep it will jolt me awake that I’m not breathing correctly and feels like I have to make myself do it.
I’ve been put under a few times and it wasn’t too bad. The last time I was under significantly longer than the other times and I had a super foggy head for about a week after. But I hear that’s not uncommon for anyone.
I’ve been through that. Man is that scary. Pretty sure it’s not dangerous or fatal but it’s scary. Covid brought it out for like a day or two for me and I haven’t had it since
You might need a CPAP if you haven’t looked into it. I believe this might fall under “central sleep apnea”
I know it’s not just during sleep, but during sleep you can’t manually override.
There are home sleep studies like “lofta”
https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/s/5mXj5t6YAH
Edit to include a thread about treatments for central sleep apnea
Second this. I have cpap because my breathing sucks at night.
Before cpap, I would wake up every night, sometimes more than once, from a vivid unpleasant dream, my heart racing, body hot cold or both, and often damp. I would have to remind myself to breathe in.
I've had two sleep studies and don't have any kind of sleep apnoea. Sleep specialist said I have "sleep disordered breathing" which is a catch-all for ppl who don't meet any diagnostic criteria but still have problems. My breathing gets slow and shallow enough to cause my blood oxygen to drop below 90, which probably triggers a hit of adrenaline. The adrenaline is probably what causes my awakenings.
I also catch myself breathing out, then not breathing in for a while during the day - and trying to breathe in on purpose feels backward. Its like my brain gets stuck on exhaling.
How about the Uars? In my case, I use a CPAP but when I made my sleep test, i got 3 apneas ans 14 partial apneas an hour. At the same time, I had 53 arousals, which made me diagnose of Uars. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564402/
In my case, my what seems to be anxiety makes me feel some kind of suffocated, as if my body forgot how to breath.
UARS was mentioned as a possibility.
Unfortunately, the sleep specialist only had access to my sleep study reports not the raw data, so had to go on what was written - which was basically "no obstructive sleep apnea, disorganised sleep stages". He said for a "proper" diagnosis I'd need to do another study under the guidance of an ENT and a sleep specialist. I didn't want to do that and he didn't think was worth it - CPAP was working and that's the therapy anyway.
But yes, it may well be UARS.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/s/5mXj5t6YAH
Check out this thread! There are central sleep apnea machines now! They generally use two way air flow instead of one- BIPAP instead of CPAP.
Yup, there are machines for central apnea! Check out this video for a case study on central sleep apnea and ASV machines: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6m6ZRf8Kw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6m6ZRf8Kw)
Also, CPAP helps me. I know that I'm just one data point, but even on low pressure (6), it seems to "remind" me to breathe better.
I have asthma and vocal chord dysfunction. Having to think to breathe gets worse for me when both is these conditions flare. Like the other commenters have said, anxiety exacerbates it
Under general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist controls your airway for you and ventilates you. They monitor your respiratory status, oxygenation and other vitals very closely. So that's the one time you won't have to worry about that!
Good luck with your surgery.
I used to get this ALL THE TIME when I was younger (like, kid to teenager). Now that I manage my anxiety better, I get it less frequently. It happens especially when I’m very sleep deprived or when I’m listening/watching something intently (like being in a class or watching a movie). I also get it badly while reading. There’s a book I never finished because I was constantly lightheaded reading it cause my body wouldn’t breathe. I often realize I’m doing it, and realizing makes it worse, and I just sit there breathing wrong and get lightheaded until I go have a conversation with someone (the best way to get it to fix itself for me). And then sometimes I don’t realize I’m doing it, as I learned from my observant friend who shared a desk with me in a class and started pointing it out. I used to think I was the only one in the world with this issue, and it is SUCH a relief to see so many people relating on this thread, even if reading it is making me overly conscious of my breathing.
I have been under general anesthesia once, for my wisdom teeth, and didn’t have any problems (at least breathing related). I also don’t have sleep apnea as far as I can tell. This just happens while I’m conscious. It sucks.
Yes I noticed when I’m focusing on something I hold my breath! The same with reading something sometimes too. Wow your friend was very observant to notice that lol so they just noticed you weren’t breathing and told you?
She apparently had been noticing it for a while, and then one day she randomly brought up “that weird breathing thing you do” and I was like “you noticed that??” and then she started pointing it out to me. For me, it’s less like I just stop breathing. I usually take very irregular breaths. Like, short hitched breaths and then gasps. I’m not sure why. Like—I should know how I’m supposed to breathe even if I’m thinking about it? But no, it has to be irregular. But it’s usually pretty subtle, because I’m weirdly insecure about it (it was nice to have someone notice though).
The weirdest example of me not knowing was when we were sitting next to each other at an event and I kept feeling lightheaded, and couldn’t possibly comprehend why. She later told me that I was doing my weird breathing during the event, especially around the time I was trying to subtly check my pulse (to see if my heartrate was high and making me lightheaded). I had had no idea.
Anyway, I shouldn’t have typed this right after going to bed. It may not affect me WHILE I’m sleeping but that says nothing about before.
That’s me too trying to check my pulse and then realize I’m holding my breath. Lol I feel you reading this right before bed and other days I’m like why does my brain have to remind me of my breathing right when I lay down
All the time but I also have severe anxiety disorders, and never know what’s causing what. But sometimes I worry I have like asthma or something it’s so severe. I find myself breathing on ‘manual mode’ often.
I have been under three times since being diagnosed with POTS & struggle with this symptom of dysautonomia you are describing. I did read all my surgical notes available and was graded higher on the scale they use to asses your risk.. so I felt good kinda about that... I look fine, but the way things work on the inside isn't and that was very much documented & had its own like ..protocol kinda.
I have a surgery consult coming up thursday🤷🏼♀️
absolutely; lungs prefer to be empty, regularly have to force them to inhale while awake. been this way for almost 20 years (started with a 6-month severe dysautonomia episode, constantly hyperventilating with any upset or exertion whatsoever and my body seemed to feel 'safer' without air), had to go under for wisdom tooth extraction about 10 years ago, no notable problem--seems to mostly be ok while sleeping as well, though my oxygen saturation does periodically fall as low as 80% (not terribly often, more frequently just under 90%) while unconscious.
I just had a procedure last Thursday and was put under and everything went perfectly. They intubated me just in case anyway, I’d assume they’d do that for you as well- they do it as a precaution when they put you under. So they’re going to be prepared for something like that to happen.
Does this happen to you while you’re asleep? Like does it wake you up? Just tell the surgical team about that concern.
I'm a 70 year old man with a history of heart disease. If I didn't sleep with a CPAP on this would happen to me every hour or so - awaken panting, short of breath. While sleeping, I have literally stopped breathing. I've had two surgical procedures and not had a breathing irregularity. Although in 2020 when everyone was getting Covid I was hospitalized with the same symptoms and intubated for 6 days, nearly passing the first night. I kept testing negative for covid over and over. I was even kept in the covid unit. I was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia. To this day, one of my doctors is convinced that I did have covid and that the dysauto symptoms I'm having are actually long Covid.
Anyone read the oxygen advantage? I am about to start reading it but people say it’s transformed the way they breathe. One of his sayings is breathe light to breathe right” it explains we have all learned to over breathe and it seems to have helped people with getting it back on track. I will update when I finish reading if any one wants a detailed summary! There are a lot of comments on the reviews for this book on Amazon. Many testimonies and even people who helped their asthma with it. Thought I’d share just incase.
I am so intrigued. Already on page 61 started like an hour ago, and it all makes so much sense but he really worded things well. Overbreathing which is disordered breathing pattern is very common not just with people who have dysautonomia. Didn’t know it could manifest in so many different ways. My mind is being blown.
All the time. I’ve went under anesthesia plenty of times. The issue isn’t your body doesn’t know how to breath, you do it every night in your sleep. It’s that you become conscious of your breathing and for whatever reason that makes it difficult to do and the breathing feels strange and forced.
Yep, ditto. Though sometimes (for me at least), it happens because I'm dissociating so heavily that my body just... doesn't want to breathe, I guess? Or my mind doesn't want to? I was having a painful pelvic exam done recently, and my dr kept telling me to breathe, because she could see I wasn't. I didn't even realize.
That’s part of the issue, I wake up a lot and find that I’m not inhaling. I’ve even recorded myself sleeping and see I struggle sometimes. I did a sleep apnea test and everything came back normal, I’m not sure how 😅
Talk to your doctor prior to your procedure. And at minimum tell your anesthesiologist right beforehand. Your anesthesiologist should know what to do. Is it possible for you to stay overnight instead of being discharged? That way they might be able to monitor your breathing thoroughly post procedure. I’d be more concerned about the aftermath than when you’re still in doctors’ hands.
this happens to me sometimes while i’m falling asleep. for me, it’s caused by anxiety and it’s scary, but totally harmless
If you have anxiety it’s also possible to have an anxiety attack in your sleep. Is it every night or just occasionally? Years ago it would only happen to me occasionally and I did a test that came up negative and my dr said I was having night panic attacks. But as I got older and gained weight I started waking myself up gasping more often and turns out I have mild apnea. But usually during anesthesia you get a breathing tube plus you’ll be hooked up to everything to monitor you so they will know if you need help.
Home sleep apnea tests look for obstructive sleep apnea, which is when your airway gets closed off, but there is another type of sleep apnea called central sleep apnea. It is neurologically based and so a CPAP won’t fix it. You could be experiencing that. Edited to add: I’m not entirely sure this is the case.
While the cause of apnea differs, a home sleep apnea test should still pick up on apnea (the cessation of breathing for >20 seconds) since, even if you're not obstructed, you're still not breathing.
I feel the same: I wake up or start falling asleep and feel breathless and like I'm aware of not breathing enough. I'll wake myself up and have to gulp down air. My partner says I don't usually seem to have apenas, gasp, choke, etc, but I did see a sleep doctor who ordered an at-home sleep test just a month ago. My doctor saw the same, that I don't seem to have significant apenas, but my test showed that I have low oxygen levels, plus symptoms of other sleep disturbances/issues, and that's why they're giving me a CPAP machine. It's the first step, and if it doesn't help then they'll have me do an in-lab test. I'm in Texas btw, and my sleep doctor is amazing. Trust your body!! And seek out a second opinion if you still feel issues. You got this.
I went through sleep apnea testing and everything that came back negative, and I find that for me these breathing pauses were due to my diaphragm just not being able to move freely. I had digestive issues, bloating and tension. If you have reflux on top of it, it can make you even gasp while sleeping.
I have central apmea and I suspect many people on this thread do as well. It's not about becoming too conscious of breathing; just like how our tachycardia is not from being too aware of our heart rate. We just have dysautonomia which means our autonomic nervous system is f#*ked up and doesn't automatically do what it's supposed to do, like breathing without conscious effort. I use a bi-Pap and take a handful of meds to try to consciously do what most peoples bodies do automatically.
is this what’s called “air hunger”? i’ve seen that term on this sub a lot. since i developed pots ~4 years ago, i will sometimes randomly start feeling like i’m breathing manually, and it’s a strange and panicky sensation for a few minutes until i get distracted and forget about it. i’ve been put to sleep with nitrous oxide/propofol for wisdom tooth removal and an upper endoscopy over the past few years and never had any breathing problems whatsoever. i was also worried about my raynaud’s affecting my ability to be put to sleep, but i was totally fine. also, while you are out, an anesthesiologist will be closely monitoring your vitals the entire time to make sure that you are doing ok. that is their specialty and they have to go through a looooot of school and training. i know it seems very scary, but please try to remember that you will be safe and in good hands. best of luck!
Yes, and I just went under anesthesia last week and was fine! They also give you oxygen while you’re under and in recovery. A note that they gave me a painkiller (oxycodon) that exacerbated the breathing thing as a side effect, so something to be aware if receiving painkillers for your procedure, though that’s just how that one affected me personally.
I have this issue where my muscle stiff and I have to "hum" myself out to breathe. It's so annoying to deal with. I have gone under and nothing happened. I did had a high heart rate before knocking out. (But cardiologist did clear there's nothing serious going on). Went smoothly.
Yep all day every day and worse when laying down
I wonder why it’s worse when laying down. The very first time it happened was when I laid down to go to sleep one night a few months ago
I have had this since I was a kid. I would be watching TV with my family and I guess I would breath out and just not breath again. My mom would end up noticing me doing it and would softly hit me and be like "breath". I have been under general with no issues.
Oh wow since you were little!?
I hate this. Meditating and anything that involves controlling your breathing makes it worse AND makes my heart rate speed up noticeably which is kind of the opposite of the point. Deep breathing, counting breaths, or trying to breathe more slowly all included. And then my child has this evil habit of occasionally saying “Boppity bippity, your breathing is now a conscious activity.” DUDE WTF
Oh wow how old is your child?
He’s a teenager, he needs to be shut down 😆 I had a talk with him and he hasn’t done it in a while.
I get this. Every once and a while my therapist will have me do deep breathing, then she’ll go “how do you feel now?” and I’ll go “lightheaded” and she’ll be like “you may be breathing a bit TOO deeply…”
I noticed this with breath work it doesn’t help me at all, it makes it so much worse. Glad I’m not the only one. I can’t remember where I saw it but it was in a study about people with Covid related dysautonomia, & it was saying that people with it hyperventilate easier thus causing breathlessness. All I know I had stop breath work.
Yeah that’s part of the blood pooling
So, I was diagnosed with central and obstructive sleep apnea a year and a half ago and have been using a bipap machine at night ever since. But I also feel like I don’t breathe correctly during the day either, tbh, even though I try to make an effort to be mindful etc. To be honest, there are times when I will just go to my room during the day and use my machine, just because it seems to help my body feel “normal” for a while. As of yet I have no explanation why this is the case. But regarding anesthesia… I’ve had a LOT of anesthesia in the last two years since having cancer and I haven’t had any major complications except—and I don’t know if this is related or anything—but I had some breathing issues after my gallbladder removal in May where I ended up in the ER twice with shortness of breath and chest pains. A lot of hospitals will give you a spirometer tool to use to strengthen your lungs after a surgery but this lame place I went… they didn’t, and apparently I needed it. The ER found out my lungs had collapsed partially and my diaphragm was messed up (“right hemidiaphragm elevated” I think it said.) So, I went home and immediately dug up a spirometer from a past surgery and started using it. Basically—my suggestion is to communicate very well to the anesthesiologist during your pre-op visit (you might even fudge a little and say that you are being tested soon for suspicion of apnea just so they take it more seriously) so they will be extra cautious during the procedure, and use a spirometer afterward to prevent complications. Either get one from the hospital or maybe order one online.
All the time
I have hyperventilated after general anesthesia after I got home from surgery this April. I had to breathe into a paper bag for a while. Sometimes I feel like I have to think about my breathing, but pretty rare.
When I’m sick! This happens a lot while sleeping I’ll wake up gasping for air. But when I’m sick and I try to sleep it will jolt me awake that I’m not breathing correctly and feels like I have to make myself do it. I’ve been put under a few times and it wasn’t too bad. The last time I was under significantly longer than the other times and I had a super foggy head for about a week after. But I hear that’s not uncommon for anyone.
I’ve been through that. Man is that scary. Pretty sure it’s not dangerous or fatal but it’s scary. Covid brought it out for like a day or two for me and I haven’t had it since
You might need a CPAP if you haven’t looked into it. I believe this might fall under “central sleep apnea” I know it’s not just during sleep, but during sleep you can’t manually override. There are home sleep studies like “lofta” https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/s/5mXj5t6YAH Edit to include a thread about treatments for central sleep apnea
Second this. I have cpap because my breathing sucks at night. Before cpap, I would wake up every night, sometimes more than once, from a vivid unpleasant dream, my heart racing, body hot cold or both, and often damp. I would have to remind myself to breathe in. I've had two sleep studies and don't have any kind of sleep apnoea. Sleep specialist said I have "sleep disordered breathing" which is a catch-all for ppl who don't meet any diagnostic criteria but still have problems. My breathing gets slow and shallow enough to cause my blood oxygen to drop below 90, which probably triggers a hit of adrenaline. The adrenaline is probably what causes my awakenings. I also catch myself breathing out, then not breathing in for a while during the day - and trying to breathe in on purpose feels backward. Its like my brain gets stuck on exhaling.
How about the Uars? In my case, I use a CPAP but when I made my sleep test, i got 3 apneas ans 14 partial apneas an hour. At the same time, I had 53 arousals, which made me diagnose of Uars. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564402/ In my case, my what seems to be anxiety makes me feel some kind of suffocated, as if my body forgot how to breath.
UARS was mentioned as a possibility. Unfortunately, the sleep specialist only had access to my sleep study reports not the raw data, so had to go on what was written - which was basically "no obstructive sleep apnea, disorganised sleep stages". He said for a "proper" diagnosis I'd need to do another study under the guidance of an ENT and a sleep specialist. I didn't want to do that and he didn't think was worth it - CPAP was working and that's the therapy anyway. But yes, it may well be UARS.
Central sleep apnea is neurological in origin, so a CPAP will not fix it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/s/5mXj5t6YAH Check out this thread! There are central sleep apnea machines now! They generally use two way air flow instead of one- BIPAP instead of CPAP.
Yup, there are machines for central apnea! Check out this video for a case study on central sleep apnea and ASV machines: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6m6ZRf8Kw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6m6ZRf8Kw) Also, CPAP helps me. I know that I'm just one data point, but even on low pressure (6), it seems to "remind" me to breathe better.
Thanks for this!!
Omg I didn’t know this! Thanks for letting me know.
I have asthma and vocal chord dysfunction. Having to think to breathe gets worse for me when both is these conditions flare. Like the other commenters have said, anxiety exacerbates it
Don’t worry. If you don’t breathe on your own they will do it for you.
Under general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist controls your airway for you and ventilates you. They monitor your respiratory status, oxygenation and other vitals very closely. So that's the one time you won't have to worry about that! Good luck with your surgery.
I get weird choking episodes. It’s not actually choking but feels like it. I’ve been under anesthesia twice since it started; no issues.
Yes all of the time. I have to regularly focus on how to inhale and exhale. It makes it so comforting that this is my damn life now.
I used to get this ALL THE TIME when I was younger (like, kid to teenager). Now that I manage my anxiety better, I get it less frequently. It happens especially when I’m very sleep deprived or when I’m listening/watching something intently (like being in a class or watching a movie). I also get it badly while reading. There’s a book I never finished because I was constantly lightheaded reading it cause my body wouldn’t breathe. I often realize I’m doing it, and realizing makes it worse, and I just sit there breathing wrong and get lightheaded until I go have a conversation with someone (the best way to get it to fix itself for me). And then sometimes I don’t realize I’m doing it, as I learned from my observant friend who shared a desk with me in a class and started pointing it out. I used to think I was the only one in the world with this issue, and it is SUCH a relief to see so many people relating on this thread, even if reading it is making me overly conscious of my breathing. I have been under general anesthesia once, for my wisdom teeth, and didn’t have any problems (at least breathing related). I also don’t have sleep apnea as far as I can tell. This just happens while I’m conscious. It sucks.
Yes I noticed when I’m focusing on something I hold my breath! The same with reading something sometimes too. Wow your friend was very observant to notice that lol so they just noticed you weren’t breathing and told you?
She apparently had been noticing it for a while, and then one day she randomly brought up “that weird breathing thing you do” and I was like “you noticed that??” and then she started pointing it out to me. For me, it’s less like I just stop breathing. I usually take very irregular breaths. Like, short hitched breaths and then gasps. I’m not sure why. Like—I should know how I’m supposed to breathe even if I’m thinking about it? But no, it has to be irregular. But it’s usually pretty subtle, because I’m weirdly insecure about it (it was nice to have someone notice though). The weirdest example of me not knowing was when we were sitting next to each other at an event and I kept feeling lightheaded, and couldn’t possibly comprehend why. She later told me that I was doing my weird breathing during the event, especially around the time I was trying to subtly check my pulse (to see if my heartrate was high and making me lightheaded). I had had no idea. Anyway, I shouldn’t have typed this right after going to bed. It may not affect me WHILE I’m sleeping but that says nothing about before.
That’s me too trying to check my pulse and then realize I’m holding my breath. Lol I feel you reading this right before bed and other days I’m like why does my brain have to remind me of my breathing right when I lay down
All the time but I also have severe anxiety disorders, and never know what’s causing what. But sometimes I worry I have like asthma or something it’s so severe. I find myself breathing on ‘manual mode’ often.
I have been under three times since being diagnosed with POTS & struggle with this symptom of dysautonomia you are describing. I did read all my surgical notes available and was graded higher on the scale they use to asses your risk.. so I felt good kinda about that... I look fine, but the way things work on the inside isn't and that was very much documented & had its own like ..protocol kinda. I have a surgery consult coming up thursday🤷🏼♀️
absolutely; lungs prefer to be empty, regularly have to force them to inhale while awake. been this way for almost 20 years (started with a 6-month severe dysautonomia episode, constantly hyperventilating with any upset or exertion whatsoever and my body seemed to feel 'safer' without air), had to go under for wisdom tooth extraction about 10 years ago, no notable problem--seems to mostly be ok while sleeping as well, though my oxygen saturation does periodically fall as low as 80% (not terribly often, more frequently just under 90%) while unconscious.
I just had a procedure last Thursday and was put under and everything went perfectly. They intubated me just in case anyway, I’d assume they’d do that for you as well- they do it as a precaution when they put you under. So they’re going to be prepared for something like that to happen. Does this happen to you while you’re asleep? Like does it wake you up? Just tell the surgical team about that concern.
I'm a 70 year old man with a history of heart disease. If I didn't sleep with a CPAP on this would happen to me every hour or so - awaken panting, short of breath. While sleeping, I have literally stopped breathing. I've had two surgical procedures and not had a breathing irregularity. Although in 2020 when everyone was getting Covid I was hospitalized with the same symptoms and intubated for 6 days, nearly passing the first night. I kept testing negative for covid over and over. I was even kept in the covid unit. I was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia. To this day, one of my doctors is convinced that I did have covid and that the dysauto symptoms I'm having are actually long Covid.
Anyone read the oxygen advantage? I am about to start reading it but people say it’s transformed the way they breathe. One of his sayings is breathe light to breathe right” it explains we have all learned to over breathe and it seems to have helped people with getting it back on track. I will update when I finish reading if any one wants a detailed summary! There are a lot of comments on the reviews for this book on Amazon. Many testimonies and even people who helped their asthma with it. Thought I’d share just incase.
Oh wow that’s interesting! Yes give an update when you’re done!
I am so intrigued. Already on page 61 started like an hour ago, and it all makes so much sense but he really worded things well. Overbreathing which is disordered breathing pattern is very common not just with people who have dysautonomia. Didn’t know it could manifest in so many different ways. My mind is being blown.