night terrors/panic attacks in night

[inberlin]

hello all,

had a really bad night last night, i didn't sleep almost the entire night due to a panic attack i had while trying to fall asleep...sometimes i just feel like i am dying, no real specific symptom other than being sure of it, and sometimes i worry about something really unrealistic, like dying of a gas leak in the apartment, and then i start feeling dizzy.

once i fell asleep, i awoke with a night terror. does anybody get those? i just wake up screaming, thinking i see someone in the room or just with this intense panic...

anyway i am scared to fall asleep tonight but i have worked so much i need the sleep bad...

thanks

kelly

[vernon]

Hi inberlin, so sorry you are feeling so down but this is very common with anxiety and it does get better, What about trying a low valtage light at night? or maybe a radio with quiet music on, or some even leave a small tv on just to stop the silence and emptyness of the room. hope you feel better soon. take care. Vernon

[Trish]

Hi Kelly

I suffer from panic attacks during sleep...i wake up with a huge big start, my heart pounding and trying to get my breath, its very frightening so i really feel for you.

I've yet to find out what brings them on, after 3 years of having them sometimes up to 11 a night at its worse! I end up getting up because they are so frightening and have to wait until i'm dead on my feet before i go back to bed...and sometimes thats when my husband is getting up!

I avoid tea/coffee after 6pm and take 150mg of Dosulepin at night...but it doesn't seem to help. I also went into a sleep clinic last November, had my head wired up, and although i had a few of them nothing showed up...thats when they said it was night terrors/panic attacks.

Pm me anytime...i'm thinking of you hun.

Trish

[Karen]

Hi Inberlin

This is a common part of anxiety. Have a look at these previous posts for further information and advice:


Nothing like a panic attack at 3:30 am
Sudden nighttime attacks
Waking Up With A Panic Attack In The Night
Bad Morning !!!!!!!!!!!
Panic attacks during sleep.
It's Back!
Waking Startled at Night
Panic Attacks....During Sleep
panic attack in sleep


Karen



Happiness is not a state to arrive at but a manner of travelling.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough ~ Christine Cagney, Cagney & Lacey

[inberlin]

thanks all,

i slept better last night, perhaps because i was dead tired??

i have been dealing with this for years too, but it gets so unmanageable sometimes. after working today i have holidays for a few weeks and i am scared i will be panicking a lot.

i had migraines a month ago really bad and a neurologist gave me sedatives, but i am sort of scared to take one. i think it would probably help though, when i have a really bad attack in the middle of the night. they are called lorazepam.

kelly

[florence]

Hi Kelly

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">once i fell asleep, i awoke with a night terror. does anybody get those? </td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

Yes, I get them too, and I totally understand how petrified you are.
Fear of going to sleep even when exhausted, I am the same. Not nice at all. I do get the feeling of dying too, I think we worry way too much but can't really help it.
I take lorazepam too occasionally, they do help, don't be afraid of taking it.
Take care.

Florence.

*** Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.***

[wendy]

Hi Kelly

I can totally relate to what you have described, Even when I am ok during the Day Nightimes are awful, I have tried a Diazepam (well a quater as am scared of meds) yet still seem to fight going to sleep and when I do nod off I wake in fear I am dying as you do several times a night

Sorry cant offer you any advise at the mo but you are defo not alone

Take Care

Wendy xx

[inberlin]

thanks,

i just got off work early because of another migraine...sometimes when it rains, it pours. that is what i find anyway. but i did my super-migraine plan (1000 mg aspirin plus strong coffee and some food) and i am feeling better.

i think out of all my panic/anxiety issues over the past 12 years or so, the worst one is the feeling that i am going to die. there is not very much to do about that one other than wait it out, and i think i feel it in the nighttime because i am so vulnerable then.

i really appreciate the posts...makes me feel like i am not alone, and i really need that right now.

kelly

[scoobygirl2005]

Hi.

I get things like that happen to me sometimes. Sometimes I get a nightmare every night and I am too scared to go to sleep, so I try and stay awake but then I end up falling asleep.

I suggest perhaps read a nice book not a scary one and if you read that before you go to bed it would mean that you would be thinking of that and so if you were to have a dream it would be about something in the book not something scary, I have tried that and it works most of the time. Hope this helps.

Scooby2005.

[Paddington]

hi kelly,i am the same as everyone else who has posted!jump awake numb and tingly and dying!!i 'die' at least 6 or 7 times a week,still here to tell the tale,he he he!i agree with vernon,i have a bedside lampi have on low so when i jump awake i'm not in complete darkness,i also recommend paul mkenna cd's listen to them as you are in bed they do help,relly they do.i find them marvellous soooo soothing.love mary-rose.xxxxxxxxxxx

we are all in the same boat and can guide each other ashore