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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Shortness Of Breath And High Heart Rate While Sleeping?

i work midnight shift and a second job from 10 am to 3pm. i got home ate a burger and fries layed down becuase i go back to work at 1030 pm. i fell right off to sleep and work up a half an hour later with a feeling like i was gonna die. Heart was racing and left arm feeling numb no pain anywhere else no shortness of breathe. I sat up trying to relax myself and not go into full blown panic and after about three or four minutes it subsided . I got up took 4 aspirins and went back to bed. No further complaints tonight. What's possibly going on?
Tue, 18 Mar 2014
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Cardiologist 's  Response
Dear patient,

After a heavy meal, your digestive system gets a significant amount of blood pooled to the gut, and sometimes it can cause transient changes in heart rate and blood pressure. It is one of the reasons why people are told not to swim less than 3 hours after a meal; also, it predisposes to gastric reflux.

Hope this helps, wish you the best,

Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
Cardiology
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What Causes Shortness Of Breath And High Heart Rate While Sleeping?

Dear patient, After a heavy meal, your digestive system gets a significant amount of blood pooled to the gut, and sometimes it can cause transient changes in heart rate and blood pressure. It is one of the reasons why people are told not to swim less than 3 hours after a meal; also, it predisposes to gastric reflux. Hope this helps, wish you the best, Dr Brenes-Salazar MD Mayo Clinic MN Cardiology