4. Gasping
Some heart problems such as Brugada syndrome are known to alter the breathing pattern, and not only the heart rate or the beating pattern. Gasping is an involuntary and automatic response to the lack of oxygen experienced by the brain and other organs with sensible cells in your body. You can gasp or pant in an attempt to compensate for the lack of oxygen that your cells need to get in order to work as they should.
Gasping or panting is especially common during the night or the resting hours when the manifestations of the Brugada syndrome tend to increase. In most cases, the person doesn’t even realize that their breathing pattern has changed because they are sound asleep, but the gasping and panting can wake them in the middle of the night. Gasping is not accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath, because there is nothing wrong with the lungs.