Having experienced something like this a few times, I would say it was acid reflux. You were lucky in that you did not actually throw up or actually aspirate some of that acid.
You probably slept wrong on the couch. You had just ate, and had a carbonated drink before it happened. Now you know what to avoid to keep it from happening again. As a side note, after a couple of times of it happening, you actually are able to identify it while you wake up, and generally do not panic. You wait the 5-20 seconds until your body stops refluxing , you take a couple of breaths, then you are OK. Then you adjust your pillow and go back to sleep. It only happens whenever I am asleep on my stomach. Nerd From Hell > -----Original Message----- > From: Robert Seeberger [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 12:35 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: I think I almost died last night > > > Since I've been posting during the day, I'm sure most of you > guessed that I'm not at work today. > > Something very unusual and frightening happened to me last night. > > I had fallen asleep in the living room last night after a > snack and a coke. > > About 90 minutes I suddenly woke with my body in a panic. My > mind was calm enough, but my body was kinda freaking out. I > couldn't breath. Actually I could exhale just fine, but > inhaling was traumatic. I had to use all the force I could > muster just to inhale a lungfull of air and it took 5 - 10 > seconds to get my lungs filled. It was as if my windpipe > closed up whenever I tried to inhale. At first, I wondered if > I had collapsed a lung. I've had severe pneumonia and it was > *that* difficult to breathe, but there was no sensation of my > lungs being filled with fluid. I felt no sensation or > pressure in my trachea or esophagus. I had no clue at this > point what was wrong. > > Somehow I managed to stand up and made my way to the bedroom > to wake up my wife. I may have taken 2 breaths at this point > and wasn't sure I would be able to remain conscious much > longer. My wife was immediately panicky. The noise I made > trying to inhale was loud enough to be distinct as to what > was happening. > > Susan asked me what was wrong. All I could do was shake my > head as I exhaled. She asked If I was OK. I shook my head > again during an exhale. Actually she must have asked me if I > was OK 3 times. She asks if I want her to call 911. By this > time I was on my 6th or 7th breath and I could feel "whatever > it was" starting to slack off, so I shook my head again and > concentrated on breathing slowly and remaining calm. > > After a few minutes my breathing was more or less normal, but > I felt traumatized. In any case 911 was not called and I > didn't go to a hospital. But I did have the holy crap scared > out of me. > > I have only a couple of guesses as to what was going on. > > I could taste chocolate and stomach acid in my mouth and > figure that maybe my body was trying to keep me from inhaling > the contents of my stomach. Or it could be some sort of acid reflux. > > Then again, I might be suffering from some form of sleep > apnea, in which case I need to make an appointment. > > I've never had anything like this happen before. > > > xponent > Deaths Prey Maru > rob > > > _______________________________________________ > http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
