What can cause me to "choke" at night, waking me up?

Doctor's Answers 1

Two conditions readily come to mind.

The first is that of obstructive sleep apnea, which is when breathing pauses while asleep due to an airway that is too narrow or blocked. Choking in sleep is caused by your airway being blocked by soft tissue in the neck. When air cannot reach the lungs effectively, it causes you to wake up suddenly choking..

The second condition is that of a panic attack. Nighttime (nocturnal) panic attacks can occur with no obvious trigger and awaken you from sleep. As with a daytime panic attack, you may experience sweating, rapid heart rate, trembling, shortness of breath, heavy breathing (hyperventilation), choking sensation, flushing or chills, and a sense of impending doom.

Do seek treatment from a mental health professional who has a special interest in sleep medicine as he can evaluate your condition further and order a sleep study if it is indicated.

Similar Questions

For younger patients in their 20s and 30s, should they go for a colonoscopy or CT scan if their “IBS” is bad?

I think rather than jumping the gun, whether they should go for investigation, the very least you should do is to seek a consultation with preferably a specialist. The reason for that is IBS is not a condition you have to live with forever. Or rather I should say you have to potentially live with it forever, but it’s something that there are medications that can potentially treat it. I think first and foremost when you come and see a doctor, we take a detailed history and decide whether it sounds like IBS in the first place.

Photo of Dr Aaron Poh

Answered By

Dr Aaron Poh

Colorectal Surgeon

What can cause the urge to urinate during the day?

The urinary bladder has 2 bodily functions. 1. To store urine produced by the kidneys2. To empty the urine from the body through the urethraWe develop the ability to decide when it is socially appropriate to empty our bladder as our brain develops. Once the bladder is filled to a certain volume, we will feel the need to empty the bladder, also known as urgency. When a patient presents to us for bothersome urgency with and without incontinence, the first thing that we would want to rule out would be urinary tract infection. Other causes would be bladder stone or distal ureteric stones.

Photo of Human

Answered By

Human

Ask any health question for free

I’m not so sure about a procedure...

Ask Icon Ask a Question

Join Human

Sign up now for a free Human account to get answers from specialists in Singapore.

Sign Up

Get The Pill

Be healthier with our Bite-sized health news straight in your inbox