Thinking I’m choking in sleep

Hi this is my first time posting. In this forum so hope I’m doing it right! One of the most weird symptoms of my anxiety (well hoping it’s a cause of my anxiety and that’s it) is I wake up pretty much every night running round the house thinking I’m choking and something is stuck in my throat, my girlfriend said it is random like I’m choking on chewing gum or a usb stick one of the new ones lol but I’m waking up so tired and I feel I could sleep during the day. Is this becuase of my heightened anxiety and stress and will it pass when my stress and anxiety come down? It’s one of the hardest symptoms to get my head round! Hope to hear a reply thanks guys

I get this quite often. For me it’s choking on a needle or glass. Sometfing sharp. It’s so scary, feels like it’s really happening til I snap out of it.

I had this twice. After the second time I was scared enough to see my Doctor who referred me for a sleep study. The study showed I had like 1-2 apnea episodes at night but not enough to be diagnosed (I guess
People with sleep apnea have a lot more). Anyway... have you checked that out first? Any way... it doesn’t happen to me anymore.

Hi. I know this is a really old thread but this happens to me. It has been happing to me for a number of years. I have just been wakened from an episode running from my room. I am due to have a sleep study but I am very scared I have REM sleep disorder, a precursor of Parkinson’s or even worse Lewy Body Dementia. I am also very scared of the sleep study. My health anxiety is high again, I have been posting in various sections!

I've been through this circus a few years ago when I was convinced I had sleep apnoea. One symptom was choking in my sleep. I would dream that I was being sick and I would wake up actually retching, or coughing. That happened today actually. In my dream a bloke was standing next to me and I was coughing into a box, next thing I woke up and was actually coughing...

Anyhoo, there was no sleep apnoea so it was deemed to be down to reflux or/and anxiety..

As an anxiety symptom, this is part of the stress response which involves tightening of the muscles in our bodies - including our throat. If you think of it, this is a very common anxiety symptom that people experience during the day without too much of a problem. Thing is, HA likes to play at night when it's quiet and dark..:scared15:

If you're having an anxiety dream (my kind of anxiety dreams include headless horses and people trying to kill me) this can trigger the stress response - especially if you've been anxious for a long time and your body is hyperstimulated. This basically means that your body is swilling with stress hormones because your fight or flight is on more than it's off. There isn't time for the body to recover before it has to fire out the adrenalin etc because you're thoughts are alerting your brain to 'danger'.

I'd see a doctor to check for reflux etc but as an anxiety symptom the best thing is not to focus on it, and don't fear going to sleep because that's a one way ticket to insomnia right there!

You won't choke. Whether this is an anxiety symptom or not, your body will alert you because it's an awesome machine! What you have to do, is not to react with fear.

Hi thanks for replying. I do have reflux mainly the silent one. Could this be the cause of this weird dream stuff?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by minion

Hi thanks for replying. I do have reflux mainly the silent one. Could this be the cause of this weird dream stuff?

---

Absolutely.

Since I commented on this thread, I can't get Crystal Gayle's 'You've Been Talking in Your Sleep' song out of my head, only I keep hearing choking instead of talking...

Welcome to my mind. :scared15:

😂😂