Therapist, somnologist Alexey Melekhin: sudden awakening at night with a rapid heartbeat may indicate endocrine, mental or neurological problems.
Doctor Melekhin shared explanations about night awakenings, which are accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. According to the specialist, a whole range of conditions can cause them. In particular, these may be conditions caused by tension in the nervous system and psychological distress – nighttime panic attacks, nightmares, depression.
“With depression, there is a feeling of an active heart rhythm, accompanied by sensations as if something is pinching in the chest, there is something in the chest, there is a sensation of a foreign body in the chest, extrasystoles (types of arrhythmia) appear,” the specialist specified in a commentary to AiF.
In addition, sudden awakening from sleep with a rapid heartbeat is often observed with sleep apnea, when the brain, due to the resulting stops in breathing, senses a lack of air and begins to react to this.
Melekhin emphasized that in most cases such awakenings at night are not something dangerous. But if they are repeated, this is already an alarming signal. Especially if at such moments, in addition to rapid heartbeats, a person experiences a variety of unfavorable symptoms (for example, excessive sweating, soreness, numbness).
“It is dangerous if you wake up with pain in the heart area. If it bakes, burns, there is pain behind the sternum, there is no way to breathe. This indicates a risk of cardiac pathology,” the therapist warned.
He advised that if all the phenomena described above appear, be sure to consult a doctor and get examined.
The MedikForum.ru portal previously wrote that severe sweating and trembling possible with a sharp drop in blood sugar.
Important! Information is provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and under no circumstances self-medicate. At the first signs of illness, consult a doctor.
Alexey Melekhin Health therapist, somnologist, psychoanalyst, candidate of psychological sciences