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Fast heartbeat, fast breathing at rest What happes to me?

Messages
13
When I lie down, my heartbeat gets hard and fast after a while. My breathing also automatically speeds up. I feel scared and a little confused. The noises in my ears and head noises are getting louder.

That makes me impossible to rest because it makes me crazy. I sit down again and the symptoms get better. Because my muscles are so weak, I have to lie down again.

What happens to me in peace?
 

Rebeccare

Moose Enthusiast
Messages
9,064
Location
Massachusetts
I don't know why this happens while you are at rest--I have these symptoms when I stand up--but I know others have similar problems.

Have you ever tried raising the head of your bed or sleeping on a wedge pillow? I wonder if that might help because then you would not be lying completely flat.
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When this happens to me I am sometimes able to get my breathing under control. @Mary taught me about a technique called box breathing, which has been very helpful. You breathe in slowly for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, slowly exhale for 4 seconds, then hold your breath for another 4 seconds. It can be very difficult to do at first when your body seems to be telling you to breathe quickly, but after some time it can help.
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Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
When this happens to me I am sometimes able to get my breathing under control. @Mary taught me about a technique called box breathing, which has been very helpful. You breathe in slowly for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, slowly exhale for 4 seconds, then hold your breath for another 4 seconds. It can be very difficult to do at first when your body seems to be telling you to breathe quickly, but after some time it can help.
There's another way to do this, which might be more effective, though I'm not sure: (1) breathe in slowly for 4 seconds; (2) hold your breath for 8 or 9 seconds; (3) exhale for 8 or 9 seconds; (4) hold your breath again for 8 or 9 seconds. It can take awhile to work up to this, but it's what I do now. Also, it's important to do the breathing all through your nose while keeping your mouth shut, and it's all done on one breath. Your don't take a second breath until you've finished all 4 steps.

But either way of doing this - four counts of 4, or 1 count of 4 and then 3 counts of 8 or so, can be very helpful for calming down one's system.
 

junkcrap50

Senior Member
Messages
1,330
Do you have a continuous heart rate monitor? Like a Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, etc.?
What are the numbers / data like?
Have you taken your blood pressure when standing, then sitting, then lying down? And the reverse: lying down, then sitting up, and then standing?

Sounds like POTS (or some other dysautonomia), but strange that it occurs when lying down, when POTS is most common upon sitting up or standing from a lying position.
 
Messages
13
It happens when I am relaxed. Then my heart races like I'm jogging. The breathing then becomes very fast too. I can only lie on my stomach. Otherwise I can't breathe.