So the last week or so I've been having TOTALLY freaky sleep experiences. Part of it is due to suddenly stopping my meds. I have really bizarre vivid dreams when I'm not on meds and I think the pg hormones are even amplifying them. I will have such intense dreams that my heart will start racing so that I jerk awake gasping, feeling like I'm having a heart attack. Also, and this is the really frightening thing, I will just barely get to sleep but kind of be aware and I STOP BREATHING! Of course I jerk awake and start sucking in air. I know I had apnea as a baby and had monitors and stuff, but all that was because I was premature. Could it come back? It's really distressing and affecting my sleep. I've had maybe 8 hours of broken sleep in the last 4 or 5 days. Add on top of that caring for 2 babies during the day, having a massive cold and the sickness/dizziness/exhaustedness of pregnancy. I can barely function.
I don't know about how pregnancy can affect these things, but jerking awake/stopping breathing like that definitely sounds like sleep apnea. What kinds of meds were you on and have you talked to a doc about an alternative, other than cold-turkey, that's safe in pregnancy? Is there any chance you could visit a sleep clinic? Apnea is VERY serious, you need to make sure you and that little one are taken care of and getting all your much-needed oxygen!
Hooray for oxygen! It's died down quite a bit. As soon as things settle down (DH gone sailing for 3 days.) I'm going to the clinic to get things checked out.
