Hi,

I suffer from anxiety and a lot of it manifests as health anxiety. I am having therapy and working through issues/grief after a particularly hard year. I have been trying not to go to doctors as much in order to break the cycle, but I wanted to ask on this one.

I woke last night gasping for air/with a really dry mouth (like I would cough if I didn't get water). I've always slept with water (I often have a dry mouth) and the gasping has happened before, but is more frequent over the last couple of years. I'm often waking up tired/am tired during the day, suffer with headaches and muscle pain/tenderness all over. I have been diagnosed as a severe bruxist and so get muscular face pain/headaches (have a mouthguard but it doesn't really help so I wasn't wearing it).

I googled (first and always my mistake) and came across sleep aponea. I read about the central type (I don't snore) and am now panicking that because I don't snore, I have the central type which is linked to a neurological cause (a big health anxiety fear). The problem with a lot of my symptoms (pain/tingling/sometimes twitching eyelid/seborreric dermatitis etc) is that they can all be linked to neurological causes (MS/Parkinsons) as well as anxiety! I had a neuro exam about 2 years back, all normal, my eyes are normal (only blepharitis in eyelids and normal age related floaters), brain MRI 2 years back all within normal limits. I have a deviated septum after I broke my nose age 12 and do sometimes struggle to breathe more through one nostril.

And yet, because I don't snore, it's turned into CSA in my head, which has turned into neuro disease. I feel crazy just typing that. And I'm afraid to sleep tonight. I'm 31.

Sorry for War and Peace here.