I am a very anxious person and I notice that when my anxiety is bad and I will often be awake for extended periods of time and I try to sleep I will wake up abruptly gasping for air immediately after falling asleep. It doesn’t happen when I’m calm, but I have always been a very loud snorrer. I feel like the two issues are related. I tried taking a sleep study, but couldn’t fall asleep so we got no diffinitve results confirming apnea.
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Hey Joe, I totally get what you’re describing — it can be really unsettling to wake up gasping like that. Anxiety definitely makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, and it can interact with breathing issues. Since you mentioned loud snoring, it’s possible that sleep apnea could be part of the picture too. If your last sleep study didn’t capture enough sleep, you might ask your doctor about trying a home sleep test — being in your own bed can make it easier to actually sleep through the night.
Some little things that sometimes help:
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Try to elevate your head slightly when sleeping or sleep on your side instead of your back.
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Wind down slowly before bed — deep breathing or a guided relaxation app can calm your body before you lie down.
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Avoid caffeine or heavy meals close to bedtime, since those can heighten both anxiety and reflux, which can make that gasping feeling worse.
You’re definitely not alone — it’s tough when anxiety and sleep start feeding into each other, but once you get clearer answers (especially if apnea is part of it), things usually start improving a lot. Wishing you all the best 