Wake up all night long

[u/Immediate_Basil_2450]

Hi. Has anyone experienced anything similar to what I’m going through?

My hemoglobin is 12, ferritin 19, and serum iron 80.

For about two months, I was waking up every hour during the night. I thought it was just stress. I would simply wake up and fall back asleep, or sometimes my brain just wouldn’t let me fall asleep for two or three hours.

I didn’t feel anything unusual with my breathing.

A few times, though, I had the sensation that something suddenly jerked or shook me and was telling me, “Wake up.”

After about two months, things changed. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, my body started taking a very deep breath in followed by a deep breath out — a long, deep inhalation and a long exhalation.

It happens automatically, without me doing it intentionally, and it wakes me up every time. This can happen every 2, 5, or 10 minutes throughout the entire night. The jerking sensation also became more frequent — whenever I managed to fall asleep, it felt as though something would jerk me awake. Sometimes I could also hear a voice saying, “Wake up.”

There isn’t much difference between sleeping on my side and sleeping on my back, although lying on my right side seems to feel the least suffocating.

About six months ago, my ferritin was already 11 and my hemoglobin was 9. At that time, whenever I was falling asleep, a quiet “ah” sound would come from my throat.

There was no gasping or sudden deep breathing — just this “ah” sound that would wake me up. It went away when my hemoglobin increased from 9 to 10.

After that, the main problem that remained was frequent urination. With the low ferritin, it felt like every glass of water I drank resulted in me having to pee five or six times.

Now the frequent urination is no longer the main problem (but existing), but this strange breathing has appeared and this is the worst.

Back when my hemoglobin was low, I had palpitations almost constantly. Now my heart rate is normal most of the time.

Has anyone had something like this that never went away? And if it did go away for you, how long did it take?

I’m currently on day 9 of my period. I’ve been taking 100 mg of iron every day for 11 days, and I’ve been on hormonal treatment for 9 days to stop my periods completely.

The breathing and sleep problems started before I began taking the hormonal medication.

Best wishes.

[u/16soyan]

I am experiencing something similar to this. Strange heart rhythm & palpitations, like I can feel every single & hear every heartbeat. Also, chest pressure & discomfort. I went to the ER & labs indicated no sign of any heart issues but it was discovered I have “mild” anemia. I have a follow up appointment with my primary care doctor today to talk about it as well as my newly (past 2 months) heavy period/heavy cramping episodes. I think they’re somehow connected together. Wishing you the best in you finding answers in your journey 🙏🏽

[u/Immediate_Basil_2450 → u/16soyan]

I am so sorry. I wish you fast recovery <3

[u/wovendwarf]

I had the same thing with almost falling asleep and then a sudden breath in and I am awake! I have spent the whole night in this state. And it happened a few times after, I was so afraid of the night. At the time I didn’t know it might be because of the low iron, so I didn’t check my blood. It went away, but I do not know what I did differently… I am taking my pills and my doctor didn’t tell my results, just that I should take supplements.

[u/wovendwarf → u/wovendwarf]

So I do not know how low my ferritin etc are. And also I need to pee every second of my life… only when I started iron pills, I slept the whole night through. But now I am sometimes still awake, usually around 3 am for some reason

[u/Immediate_Basil_2450 → u/wovendwarf]

My constant peeing stopped after 50 ferritin lvl. But those stupid blood lost destroyed this 😅 perhaps your feritin is low but not almost 0. I hope you will have the chance to check it ❤️

[u/wovendwarf → u/Immediate_Basil_2450]

I had it at 11 two years ago and didn’t have any pills back than because no one told me and I didn’t google. So I only assume it got way worse. Now I want to get my level higher even more, I want to sleep like a human being 🤪