I just went through a big cardiac scare Monday that sent me to the ER. I had the classic tightness of chest, shortness of breath, lightheadedness and profuse sweating. It first happened to me in August when I was working in Phoenix and I thought I just got overheated. Then it happened again last Saturday and again Monday. (BTW: my wife was thrilled to hear that I waited until the 3rd event before I got concerned enough to get checked out).
Anyway, I got a full cardio checkout, including EKG, Echo, nuclear stress test and they found no issues. However, I was on the path of "work yourself to death" with an incredibly busy year of traveling with less than 20 days off the entire year. With eating out all the time, plus the stress, they think a sodium rich diet along with a magnesium deficiency were the culprit.
However, sleep apnea has always been suspected too, especially based on what my wife says about my sleeping. So, my first step is to lose some weight, cut out alcohol (anything more than a glass or two of wine with dinner), work on a healthier diet and get some more exercise (all that healthy lifestyle stuff). We'll see if that improves the sleeping. If not, I'll need to look at the nighttime scuba gear options.
Edit: I'll also add that I started taking 5mg of Melatonin at night to help me sleep. I'm currently taking some I bought in Canada that dissolve under the tongue. It's definitely made a difference in how well I sleep. Most nights when I'd go to sleep, I'd wake up multiple times during the night with my mind racing about things needing done. Especially if I've been really busy and stressed. The Melatonin seems to alleviate most of that, and I've gotten a more restful night sleep.
