Dizziness is one of my main issues… it is constant and suddenly exacerbated with neck and head movements sometimes. I also get it with lying down in one position for a long time , typically on my back
I am afraid of having vascular compression issues when I am sleeping and how dangerous it could be.
in the past, I have been woken up suddenly with rapid heart rate and feeling dread. at that time, I didn’t know it was eagles and thought it was sleep apea.
since then Ive been sleeping with a soft neck collar but I am still scared to sleep at night.
Hello, I am sorry you are scared. It’s understandable as I have felt like that in past. At my worst I used to set alarms to wake after 3/4 hours to move position to sleep. you could try a Viatom ring to use at night and set vibration alarm levels you find reassuring. I had set mine at 120 pulse rate and 90% oxy levels and outside those levels it will vibrate and alert you. It records stats on your phone app so you can see what is goi ng on. It helped me manage my symptoms better. But some people find data stressful. We are all different. I think if your body is in real trouble it will wake you up, our bodies are very determined to survive in my experience, even when I was at my very worst. We are all here to try and help you. Take care. D
I agree Rohit, the waking up in the middel off the night with altered heart rate is truly scary. For me i also woke up out off breath and felt like i had been running or something.
I found out taking some kind off sleep medication helped alot, and also talk to your GP about your sleep issues would be at help i think. I would also get in touch with a phsyiciatrist, they often have people specialized in breathing techniques, tounge position etc. That too helped me a bit!
Have you discussed vasculare issues with your GP ?
I had bilateral jugular compression, so had a constant off-balance feeling, head pressure, and some horrible dizzy spells when I was sitting or lying down. I had some horrible scary weird sort of rolling, sucking feelings in my head too…I found sleeping propped up helped me, and when I felt really bad I’d sleep in a recliner. It may not help you, but maybe worth a try?
I agree with @PatientD that I think you would wake if your body was struggling, like with sleep apnea.
I hope you can find something which works for you
These symptoms are very typical of vagus nerve irritation. I had the same symptoms except they happened when I exercised hard. My blood pressure would also drop very low and I would feel like I was going to pass out. Agreed it was scary.
I agree with both @PatientD & @Jules that our bodies are very determined to survive so you would wake up if something serious was going on.
Also, as far as the nervous system is concerned, it is constantly scanning not only outside of us for potential threats but inside as well. It appears that the internal scanning may well take up the lion share of the search for dangerous things. But that doesn’t mean everything the alarm center of the brain (the amygdalae flags potential threats and sends the signal up to the hippocampus to activate the full force of the sympathetic nervous system) is actually dangerous. We have a marvelous system that errs on the side of false positives, i.e., better to eat lunch than to be lunch. I too get a wave of anxiety when I first start to drift off to sleep at night. My best guess is that I end in a position that increases venous congestion and my brain sends out the alarm. I don’t believe it is a mortal threat but rather outside of the parameters that my nervous system feels comfortable with. I reposition myself and do some activities that I know activate the parasympathetic nervous system such as extended exhalation breathing (breath in for 4, breath out for 8, that sort of thing) and then wait for the stress hormones to work their was through the system.
I started off very fearful. I’d wake in the night with the room spinning and one side of my body numb. I still do get this sometimes, but now I’ve researched and reassured myself I will be ok, the attacks are far more manageable and less frequent.
It sounds as though lots of people have ES and compression, but as unpleasant as it can be, you’re safe. Try not to let anxiety take over.
I definitely had a phase where my compression became significantly worse during sleep.
I realized that my neck naturally went into flexion while sleeping on my side thus worsening the compression. I started to sleep with my neck in mild extension which relieved the compression at night. Combined with a bed wedge, I definitely got improved sleep.
