“I’m finding it difficult to breathe”
I’m a 36-year-old female, around 5’6” and between 9-10 stone. Otherwise in good health.
For around a month now, I’ve been struggling to take in enough air when laying in bed at night. It’s not really been that bad, just a bit of tossing and turning and extending my lower jaw to open the airway more and it’s been fine. But last night was the worst it’s been, I literally had to keep extending my jaw, moving around my windpipe, and taking in sudden deep breaths regularly, literally all night long. I didn’t end up falling asleep until around 5am out of pure exhaustion. I then woke around 7.30, and it has been the same all day since, which is unusual as I normally only really get this at night.
I messaged my GP surgery at 8am when the online form opened, and explained my symptoms. The doctor then called me back around 11:30 and said on the phone she thought it was acid reflux and prescribed me omeprazole and told me to come back in a month if it doesn’t get any better.
But can it really be just acid reflux if I literally can’t breathe unless I’m making an absolutely concentrated effort to do so? I took 2x omeprazole around midday and 2x omeprazole around 8pm, yet they haven’t made any improvement at all.
It’s now 23:48 on my second night and it’s not getting any better. It’s really quite bad, so much so that I can’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep again because I can’t breathe properly, but I’m also afraid to sleep in case I suffocate and die during my sleep! I also now am feeling quite lightheaded, and my feet are starting to tingle.
Please help me! I don’t want to go to A&E if it is just acid reflux, but I don’t want to die either.
It may help to let you know that I was a smoker for around 21 years! I quit smoking 7 months ago now, but I am using a vape.
For around a month now, I’ve been struggling to take in enough air when laying in bed at night. It’s not really been that bad, just a bit of tossing and turning and extending my lower jaw to open the airway more and it’s been fine. But last night was the worst it’s been, I literally had to keep extending my jaw, moving around my windpipe, and taking in sudden deep breaths regularly, literally all night long. I didn’t end up falling asleep until around 5am out of pure exhaustion. I then woke around 7.30, and it has been the same all day since, which is unusual as I normally only really get this at night.
I messaged my GP surgery at 8am when the online form opened, and explained my symptoms. The doctor then called me back around 11:30 and said on the phone she thought it was acid reflux and prescribed me omeprazole and told me to come back in a month if it doesn’t get any better.
But can it really be just acid reflux if I literally can’t breathe unless I’m making an absolutely concentrated effort to do so? I took 2x omeprazole around midday and 2x omeprazole around 8pm, yet they haven’t made any improvement at all.
It’s now 23:48 on my second night and it’s not getting any better. It’s really quite bad, so much so that I can’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep again because I can’t breathe properly, but I’m also afraid to sleep in case I suffocate and die during my sleep! I also now am feeling quite lightheaded, and my feet are starting to tingle.
Please help me! I don’t want to go to A&E if it is just acid reflux, but I don’t want to die either.
It may help to let you know that I was a smoker for around 21 years! I quit smoking 7 months ago now, but I am using a vape.
Female | 36 years old
Complaint duration: 1 month
Medications: Omeprazole
Conditions: N/A
1 Answer
You're not going to die in your sleep. Sounds like you have sleep apnea. Go get a sleep study
