Not sure if heart related - breathing issue

[CRM-Mom]

I am not sure if this is heart related at all, but maybe someone has heard of this or experienced something like it. I am 11 weeks post AVR surgery doing well. I have awakened from sleep at night a couple of times feeling like I can't breath and I am coughing. As soon as I wake up and cough some more and sit up I can breath fine. Now, I also tend to have weird vivid dreams at times and I am actually dreaming that I am coughing and having trouble breathing too when I wake up. My thought on this is maybe it's more sleep apnea related. I have been told to get a consult or sleep study done when in the hospital for OHS. I wanted to wait to be feeling better before scheduling a sleep study.

 

[hall]

Hi Barb. There is a thread on post surgery where they are talking about coughing issues. You may want to check that thread out. I did not have that problem. May not be a bad idea to get tested for sleep apnea. Good luck to you.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

The vivid dreams are a common "complaint" among the members here.

Do you notice when you wake up if you are in a particular position? Sleeping on your left side is generally harder on your heart. Also, are you have fluid retention? This can also cause the symptoms you mention.

From what I understand, although I've never had one, sleep studies are pretty painless, other than getting the glue out of your hair the next day! They can detect a multitude of problems. A coworker just went through a 23-hour EEG, which is similar to a sleep study, with her 2-year-old son. He was diagnosed with petit mal seizures about 6 months ago and they wanted to see how the medicine was affecting him. Other than being frustrated at not being able to move around a lot, she said that he did real well. A sleep study is generally only about 8 hours, but it can detect sleep apnea, heart rhythm problems, and other sleeping issues.

 

[Dina]

I am not sure if this is heart related at all, but maybe someone has heard of this or experienced something like it. I am 11 weeks post AVR surgery doing well. I have awakened from sleep at night a couple of times feeling like I can't breath and I am coughing. As soon as I wake up and cough some more and sit up I can breath fine. Now, I also tend to have weird vivid dreams at times and I am actually dreaming that I am coughing and having trouble breathing too when I wake up. My thought on this is maybe it's more sleep apnea related. I have been told to get a consult or sleep study done when in the hospital for OHS. I wanted to wait to be feeling better before scheduling a sleep study.

I just wanted to say that if when you first lay down , you are SOB it could be
orthopnea,which is difficulty breathing while lying flat and can occur with CHF(esp. left sided). But if you only have the SOB after you have been asleep for awhile ,it could be a sleep related problem ,or an arrhythmia trying to start
up. I used to have something similar with the SOB , and chest pounding,
but I had no cough, and I used to think it was a nightmare,and they were
very infrequent.I would tell your cardio since arrhythmias can begin in this way sometimes, even though since you just had surgery it is probably
nothing.
Wishing you the best-Dina

 

[Bina]

At 11 weeks post op I still had the head of my bed elevated and was sleeping on my back with short sleeps on my right side.
You may want to ask your Doc if you can wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours and see if that shows any arrythmias.

 

[MikeHeim]

I had this issue a couple times prior to my surgery (it is technically called nocturnal dyspnea). I would wake up out of breath and could only relieve the issue by sitting up. Very scary. I have not had the issue at all since my surgery.

 

[CRM-Mom]

Thank you all very much for your comments and suggestions and information. I truly appreciate it. I am going to schedule the sleep study and see what shows up. I see the cardio for a follow up appt. on August 12th and can mention this to him.