I’d been in bed for maybe an hour last night, when I woke up unable to breathe. And I mean REALLY unable. My throat had completely closed up. My thrashing about had my 13yr old son come running, who then went downstairs screaming for his mother. By the time they had come back up (a minute/minute and half), I was able to pass the tiniest amount of air. Things improved fairly smartly from there on in but let me tell you the whole episode felt like an eternity and I really,truly,genuinely thought I was about to slip off the mortal coil. It’s really freaked me out. Never happened before and I can’t think of a cause. All I know is that I was hammering the snuff before retiring. Nuthin’ new there but maybe all those ‘throat hits’ catch up eventually? Is there a doctor in the house??

Sounds like you need a pro, not these reprobates. Would take seriously!

@fj1988, were you snuffing anything new, that perhaps you might be allergic to?

See a doctor. A number of things are possible.

Sound’s like an allergic reaction.  use a smaller hammer. Or you be the first one ever snuffed out by snuff. 

I know I’d been hammering the Yellow Lily, but no new snuffs. This stuff to me has absolutely no burn and no throat hits no matter how much I shovel up. But it’s so nice I can’t help it. Is it possible for snuff to collect in the throat area then congeal or something and cause grief whilst sleeping?? I’m laying off it for a while anyway. 10.15pm in the UK and I’m a little apprehensive about going to bed.

This sounds like an asthma attack. Or sleep apnea. Both of which I’ve suffered with myself. Have you been checked out for either of those conditions?

@MrRegal, no I haven’t but I happen to have a doc’s appointment tomorrow concerning high blood pressure, so I’ll mention it while I’m there.

786  @fj1988, how did it go?

@slobandtom, thanks for asking. Turned out my blood pressure is okay, but I had to wear one of those 24hr monitors to find out. I’m on lysinopril so it’s obviously working. As for the suffocating incident, I didn’t mention it. I figured that if I did, it would trigger a lengthy run of tests and stuff which I really don’t have the time or stomach for. I’m just hoping that it was one-off that will never happen again. If it does I will get looked over for sure. But,touchwood, no sign of it happening since that incident.

I respect your choice but damn, seems scary to me not mentioning it. Hopefully it was a bug crawling down your throat!

Fj, not sure what happened. Hope it doesn’t happen again. If it does get it checked out. Just a heads up. If you start having a persistent cough, that is most likely a side effect of the lisinopril.

Two weeks have passed since it happened and whilst there’s been no sign of a repeat, I can’t stop having flashbacks, dwelling on causes and what might have been. The bug-down-throat theory actually sounds good to some of the stuff I speculate upon. I’ve got a few health issues right now - signs of my advancing years - and they are taking up an increasing amount of my time in visits to the doc/hospital etc. I really don’t want to add to the list but will definitely have to if this happens again.

I’ve had this happen several times. Always after smoking heavily that evening. It’s really scary not being able to draw air in to the lungs. I have to force myself to not panic, concentrate on getting enough air into my lungs to make a cough. It feels like the air passage has closed to the size of a hair! I don’t know if you’re a smoker but I feel you should have mentioned it to the doctor since you were there anyhow…

I have considered sleep apnea. Does sound along those lines from what I’ve read, but I’m actually a little underweight rather than over (5’9" and 11st) and have no known allergies and didn’t consume or be exposed to anything out of the ordinary that day. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and get checked out. Thanks for the replies.

If you used a lot of snuff…you used the term shovelling it in…and could not breathe clearly out of one or both nostrils…blocked by snuff…that would do it.  Try to lay off close to bedtime or use a mentholated one that’s strong to clear your nose.  A similar thing happened to me because I was over doing it.