Sounds like you may have sleep apnea. You stop breathing for a few seconds to minute and you end up gasping for air. That was happening to me so my pulmonologist did an at home sleep study by attaching a unit by strapping it around by chest and it monitors your breathing.
It’s painless and you unhook the little box in the morning and bring it back to your pulmonologist and he takes the information and decides if you need a c-pap machine to stop the sudden stop of breathing and it pushes air into your lungs and then get a c-pap prescription and you will have to attach it to your nose area and you should stop your breathing from stopping.
You just need the machine to push air into your nose or your nose and mouth mask.
You need to see a sleep doctor. Talk to your doctor and ask for a sleep study.