Dear Dream Doctor,

The other night I woke up and it felt like I couldn’t breath. I felt really weird and it’s hard to describe how I felt. I wasn’t having a nightmare, but I woke up gasping for air. I’m wondering if your heart can actually stop while you are asleep and then when you wake up and move around it starts beating again, or if you can have a panic attack while you are sleeping? When I’m awake sometimes I do have an anxiety attack.

—Deana, Age 18, Hazleton, PA, USA

Hi Deanna—

Your description sounds as though you experienced an “apnea” during sleep—a period where your tongue rolled back and blocked your airway—thus preventing you from breathing.

When this occurs (usually when we are lying on our backs) our brain senses the decreasing oxygen level in the body and it releases a jolt of adrenalin to awaken us so we move our tongue, open our airway, and get a big breath of air.

Some people who suffer from “obstructive sleep apnea syndrome” experience these blockages of the airway hundreds of times per night. Your experience sounds more isolated, but I suggest that you read up on apnea in this section of the website. If you have sleep apnea—which can be life-threatening—you want to treat it sooner than later.

I don’t think your heart stopped during this apneic event, but it is typical for the heartrate to slow considerably when you are unable to breathe, and then to race back up when you finally get some air—which is most likely what caused you to feel it jumping around in your chest. Your description also does not sound like a panic attack. Why don’t you start your reading with Signs of Sleep Apnea and write us back with your assessment. If you do feel you have sleep apnea, you can visit the website of the American Sleep Disorders Association for the location of a sleep center near you.