Sudden rapid heart during sleep

31F

Please be gentle with me, I feel so tired and fragile due to what’s been happening.

On the 23rd of March (so a week and a half ago) I randomly woke up at 2am to my heart rapid and racing. Out of nowhere. I have never experienced this before. I stayed calm and breathed and after maybe 3-4 minutes it slowed down and went almost back to normal (assuming it remained slightly high due to me feeling very on edge at the situation). My partner rang 999 but by the time they turned up, my heart was back to normal. He said could have been an svt episode or well, any episode but as it wasn’t caught while it was happening, he can’t really say. He ruled out anxiety. He said my BP was high. This was new - my bp is normally low or normal, I’ve never ever had a high reading. Once he left I went back to bed and was fine.

The same thing happened a few days later. Been asleep for half an hour or so and then suddenly I woke up feeling really funny (like bolted upright) and my heart again was going very very very rapidly fast. Lasted a few minutes, then slowed down. I went back to sleep but did feel concerned because this was now the second time.

On Friday evening I was sat on the couch at about 9pm and the same thing happened.. it just suddenly and randomly happened like a switch. I had to lay down on the floor and wait for it to pass. I then tried to go to bed but felt so on edge, and confused about what my body is doing. I felt scared to go to sleep. It got to midnight and it went fast again suddenly, so my partner rang 999 and they came out. My BP was high (it’s never high! Only this occasion and the occasion prior). Pulse wouldn’t come below 100 just sitting down, but it wasn’t doing the ‘rapid’ random thing it was doing before.. I dread to think my pulse at that time, it’s so fast I doubt it be able to even count it. They were concerned about the episodes so took me into hospital. I was plonked in a&e and had to sit on a chair and wait. I felt fine for an hour or two and then at about 3am it suddenly started doing the rapid thing again. I had to lay on the floor as I was concerned I was going to pass out. People around me became concerned so they went and got medics, and I was wheeled into a private room for tests. They did the typical ecg’s and bloods. But of course, this rapid heart episode had stopped and was now just ‘fast’. Everything came back fine apart from my usual low potassium (3.2, so not horrendously low). She didn’t even want to do anything for it as she wasn’t concerned about it, but I pushed for a prescription of potassium). My heart remained above 100 for the next day, I assume due to feeling, then, anxious about it. I went home at 8am after zero sleep. When I got home I went to bed (8am) and I kept jolting awake. You know when you just drift off and suddenly your whole body jolts like a big jump. That kept repeatedly happening. Some point I must have fallen asleep.

The next night I felt sort of jittery? Almost like I’d had 10 coffees but I’d not had any. I just felt weak and jittery and weird.

Fast forward to last night. I drifted to sleep about 1am, and woke up suddenly at 1:40am to the very very rapid fast sudden heart. I breathe through it and after 3-4 minutes it calmed down out of the ‘episode’ but was still classed as fast afterwards. Around 4am I managed to fall asleep again.

I already have a cardiology apt booked for mid April. But honestly, I’m concerned I could be dead by then. No… I’m not being dramatic. These sudden rapid heart episodes seem to be linked to me being asleep for the most part. And they started out of nowhere. I’ve never in my life experienced this. The cardiology apt all he will do is an ecg (which don’t help unless you’re having the episode while the ecg is being done..) and then talking to me about my symptoms, and then deciding what other tests to organise to be done… which involves more waiting and apts to be made. It feels like such a long drawn out process.

I’ve tried to do some digging and the things that keep coming up are ‘Long QT syndrome’, ‘Wolff-Parkinson white syndrome’ and ‘brugada syndrome’. It seems these things are more likely to effect you in your sleep, and increase your chance of sudden death by quite alot. Everything says to ring 999 if you get symptoms… but as proven, that’s done absolutely nothing. The multiple ecgs that have been done haven’t been done during these episodes… and I can’t see them ever being caught because the episodes come on so suddenly and while I’m asleep.. and only last a matter of minutes. What on earth am I meant to do?

What would you do in my shoes? I’ve got kids that need me, I don’t want to suddenly pass away. I am now putting off going to sleep because I’m scared of it happening again. I’m scared of not waking up. This all started so suddenly and out of nowhere. Im struggling to even process it. Im fed up.

I don’t know what to do and I’m just sat here crying and scared for my own life.

What do I do? What would you do?

💔