Difficulty swallowing on sleep medications?
December 23, 2024 9:08 PM Subscribe
Years ago I took Ambien (one time) and as I began to get sleepy from the drug I felt like my throat was closing up / swelling.
When I took Ambien, I had a scary experience -- I had trouble swallowing and felt like i might be having an allergic reaction in my throat. But it was fine. I could breathe fine and swallow with effort and after a while I was able to relax and go to sleep. But the Ambien wound up keeping me awake because of this sensation, so not a good use for Ambien.
Another time, I felt my throat "close" about a day after taking an opioid for pain after surgery. Again, I could breathe fine despite the feeling and after a couple of hours the sensation went away.
Finally, the other night I tried a very low dose of Trazedone for insomnia. My doctor prescribed this after I said I'd had a bad experience with Ambien. I wasn't worried about my throat when I took the Trazedone and had forgotten the other two incidents. As I started to drift off I suddenly became aware that it was becoming hard to swallow. The unconscious process of swallowing (saliva) was suddenly difficult. I began to panic and it got worse. I could swallow water fine and I could breathe fine. After a couple of hours it went away. But I wondered if it were an allergy.
My doctor said not to take the Trazedone again and prescribed Doxipen (10 mg capsule.) I have chronic insomnia and I need to sleep, but I feel like it's just going to keep happening with these medicines. (Also - when I googled this dose looks like a higher dose for insomnia than is typical, so I'm wary.)
My question: Have you ever had an experience like this from an insomnia medicine or another medicine? Was it an allergic reaction? Or was it just becoming hyper aware of swallowing?
To be clear, i *can* swallow when this occurs but it's harder to do -- it's like having a sore throat making it hard to swallow, but without the pain.
When I took Ambien, I had a scary experience -- I had trouble swallowing and felt like i might be having an allergic reaction in my throat. But it was fine. I could breathe fine and swallow with effort and after a while I was able to relax and go to sleep. But the Ambien wound up keeping me awake because of this sensation, so not a good use for Ambien.
Another time, I felt my throat "close" about a day after taking an opioid for pain after surgery. Again, I could breathe fine despite the feeling and after a couple of hours the sensation went away.
Finally, the other night I tried a very low dose of Trazedone for insomnia. My doctor prescribed this after I said I'd had a bad experience with Ambien. I wasn't worried about my throat when I took the Trazedone and had forgotten the other two incidents. As I started to drift off I suddenly became aware that it was becoming hard to swallow. The unconscious process of swallowing (saliva) was suddenly difficult. I began to panic and it got worse. I could swallow water fine and I could breathe fine. After a couple of hours it went away. But I wondered if it were an allergy.
My doctor said not to take the Trazedone again and prescribed Doxipen (10 mg capsule.) I have chronic insomnia and I need to sleep, but I feel like it's just going to keep happening with these medicines. (Also - when I googled this dose looks like a higher dose for insomnia than is typical, so I'm wary.)
My question: Have you ever had an experience like this from an insomnia medicine or another medicine? Was it an allergic reaction? Or was it just becoming hyper aware of swallowing?
To be clear, i *can* swallow when this occurs but it's harder to do -- it's like having a sore throat making it hard to swallow, but without the pain.
I've had something like this a number of times when I was going to bed. I can breathe and drink water fine, but swallowing becomes a challenge and there's a distinct feeling of tightness in my throat. I routinely take a Sominex to sleep. (I take plenty of daily meds for other issues, too.) I've always assumed the sensation is either some sort of allergic reaction or a psychosomatic/anxiety thing. Sorry I can't offer much more than, "Hey, me too!"
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:45 PM on December 23
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:45 PM on December 23
Before I treated my sleep apnea, I had a ton of sleep paralysis issues where I'd feel like my throat was tightening to the point of being unable to breathe, typically as I was falling asleep, with bonus body paralysis. When I got a CPAP this went away. If you haven't had a sleep study it's worth it.
I don't know if there's something up with your dose so you're not falling asleep hard enough and you're aware of the relaxation/loss of conscious control of your airways? Maybe they could play with the dose a little and see if that helps? Or a combo of meds and Benadryl. (I'm not a doctor.)
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:32 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I don't know if there's something up with your dose so you're not falling asleep hard enough and you're aware of the relaxation/loss of conscious control of your airways? Maybe they could play with the dose a little and see if that helps? Or a combo of meds and Benadryl. (I'm not a doctor.)
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:32 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I don't know what was going on with you -- I am not a doctor and cannot offer you medical advice. But I can tell you that Ambien is not a muscle relaxant (ungated link). If you read that article, you'll come away with a lot of understanding of its chemical structure and how it works. But the article does mention that some other drugs in this class do have a greater muscle relaxation effect than Ambien typically does. Maybe it has a slightly stronger effect of that kind on you than on most? Just a hypothesis.
posted by verbminx at 1:54 AM on December 24
posted by verbminx at 1:54 AM on December 24
(Anaphylaxis could make it hard to swallow but might also be accompanied by a lot of phlegm/drainage, which I learned to my infinite dismay a few months ago when I woke up with symptoms of anaphylaxis a few times. Trouble swallowing can also be a sign! So that is something to look out for. It could be as simple as a sensitivity to a component of a the tablet itself, not necessarily the medication.
I mentioned muscle relaxants because they can also cause trouble breathing, and some people use them as sleep aids; also because some of the points a few others made here like trouble breathing and sleep paralysis in a more general sense can be related to muscle relaxants. Because of all of that, it sometimes causes people to assume that Ambien is interchangeable with muscle relaxants or has identical dangers or etc. It's not, it's way weirder.)
posted by verbminx at 2:04 AM on December 24
I mentioned muscle relaxants because they can also cause trouble breathing, and some people use them as sleep aids; also because some of the points a few others made here like trouble breathing and sleep paralysis in a more general sense can be related to muscle relaxants. Because of all of that, it sometimes causes people to assume that Ambien is interchangeable with muscle relaxants or has identical dangers or etc. It's not, it's way weirder.)
posted by verbminx at 2:04 AM on December 24
Just want to add that I had difficulty swallowing on Wellbutrin. Never had it from any other medication or life circumstance. So it's not your imagination.
posted by 8603 at 12:10 PM on December 24
posted by 8603 at 12:10 PM on December 24
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posted by knock my sock and i'll clean your clock at 10:12 PM on December 23