Originally Posted by Friedbrain

I started having nocturnal seizures about 8 ys ago, so when I started having numerous little nighttime episodes that were waking me up, I initially ignored them. However, they're getting worse and more common.....majorly unhappy!

Here's what happens: I wake up not breathing then start breathing, with my heart racing and I feel like I can't get enough oxygen. One time, I took my blood pressure right after this happened, and my blood pressure was low, with a vvv narrow pulse pressure, and my heartrate was around 100 (this was about a minute after waking up). More often, these happen just after I fall asleep. I read that the transition to sleep is a vulnerable time for a certain kind of sleep apnea.

So, here's some of my risk factors that I wonder/worry about: I have low blood pressure that drops to values like 81/54 at night (higher when I wake up; normally 90/60 or more during day). I worry that it drops even lower when I'm asleep and that my body goes into fight-or-flight to push blood through, waking me up (the shock-like bp response) or even initiating a seizure. Or something to do with cerebral pressure, tho I don't understand it completely, but sleeping upright is okay; it's MUCH worse if I'm laying down on the bed.

Any thoughts? I went to a cardiologist who specializes in dysautonomia and he explained my daytime episodes in line with dysautonomia and said my nighttime episodes are probably from anxiety. That makes NO sense to me, as I'm not conscious or reacting to anything. It's gotta be physiological, but why?

Thanks so much for thoughts!!!