I was dying in my sleep but something saved me?

[UberScout]

I just now woke up, but before then, I was having a particularly normal dream I would have in any other case. Strange colors and characters etc. But for some reason, I found that towards me waking up, I wasn't able to breathe at all. I could see myself with my jaw wide open desperately fighting for air, but no matter what I did I couldn't move! I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest, and finally when I did wake up I had to do three double takes before I could get up!

Was it sleep paralysis? Was I actually dying? Was I already dead? I need answers!

 

[Rabscuttle]

Well, if you were already dead, it didn't last... I hope. 'Cause man, if this the afterlife, I for one am going to be very surprised. Has this sort of thing happened before? Also, do you have any history of sleep apnea? I've read that obstructive episodes can do that.

Note: if you haven't read up on sleep apnea and don't know what it is... don't. Just take a recorder (with a good length capacity) and place it, recording, next to your head while you sleep. See if your breath pattern is consistent or if there are notable interruptions. If so, note what you can about frequency and length, and drop a line to your doctor.

 

[UberScout]

No, this has never happened to me before at all. The only one in my family that I know of that has a history of sleep apnea is my uncle Winslow. He's even slept without a machine a couple times. This is the first time it's happened to me, ever. I guess if I WAS dead, and what I saw was some form of consciousness (well if you count a very distorted Minecraft world with nearly every fictional character you've ever seen in front of you), I guess I don't have to be afraid of dying....

....because now that I think about it...I can't help but think that in that brief moment, I really WAS dead.

So this is the first time I've died.

Looks like I've finally joined the undead club here at Autism Forums.

 

[VAW]

I just now woke up, but before then, I was having a particularly normal dream I would have in any other case. Strange colors and characters etc. But for some reason, I found that towards me waking up, I wasn't able to breathe at all. I could see myself with my jaw wide open desperately fighting for air, but no matter what I did I couldn't move! I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest, and finally when I did wake up I had to do three double takes before I could get up!

Was it sleep paralysis? Was I actually dying? Was I already dead? I need answers!

This has happened to me before, fighting to catch a breath right before waking up. I don't know what happens when you do something like that but I do know it is scary! Did you wake up on your stomach or back?

 

[Judge]

Sounds like a common case of a hynopompic hallucination. Where you are experiencing both a dream state and recovery back to consciousness at the same time. More intense in the event you are also dealing with sleep paralysis as well.

Where it all seems very real because a portion of such an experience actually is.

Something I've experienced a number of times over the years.

 

[Progster]

Something like this happened to me once. I was having a dream, a nightmare, where I was on another planet without a spacesuit and I couldn't breathe the air. I started panicking and that woke me up - except that when I did wake up, I found it was real and I really couldn't breathe well and was short of breath! No paralysis but a very unpleasant experience, scary.

I told my partner about it and he said that this sometimes happens when you are lying on your left side, it can put pressure on your heart and cause breathlessness. My partner is not a doctor, but it does seem plausible as possible explanation.

 

[SusanLR]

I have had that waking up not able to catch my breath.
I think I'm going to die, because I can't get air.
Doctor's told me it is a very slow breathing in the sleep that can have a sudden stop then restart.
Kind of like a skipped heartbeat. If you do quite a bit of hyperventilating through the day, that
seems to make these eipisodes happen more.

You said you saw yourself gasping for air. That raises a question in my mind about being out of body.
HOW were you able to see yourself? In the dream? Or like looking down at yourself from outside your
body?

 

[Jenisautistic]

Something like this also happened to me I would wake up be awake with my eyes closed still in a dream state but not be able to get myself up not even to open my eyes Then I would fall back asleep