Woke up thinking I was dying.. First time this has happened...

[Freaked]

I've had labyrinthitis on and off for years, and a few months ago I woke up in the middle of the night so dizzy it was terrifying. It went after I sat up for a few minutes. I actually had an mri with contrast after that and nothing too weird jumped out at them. Had another few bad dizzy episodes since.

[fedup36]

They don't think I have labrynthitis either :(

I'm to scared to go to sleep now...

[hanshan]

Don't be scared to go to sleep. Almost everyone has sleep disturbances at some time in their life, and usually they resolve without any special treatment.

Although we move around during the night, for part of the time in the night our movement is paralysed. This shuts off when we wake up, but sometimes it is possible to wake suddenly when the paralysis is in effect. It only lasts a few seconds, but it can cause a terrifying feeling. Despite that, there is no real danger.

[fedup36]

Thanks guys, my anxiety seems to be at a slightly higher level than normal.
I ended up having a really bad vertigo spell at work this morning.. there really hard to describe but I have no idea what on earth is happening! I will just be sat at my computer - moving my eyes but not my head - my ears start to rumble and I get this intense dizzy spell its horrible, it just feels like severe vertigo for about 10 seconds - then the anxiety symptoms start and I get burning down my neck and need to go to the loo... I have no idea if this vertigo is an anxiety symptom or what is causing it but its scaring the shit out of me!

[HoneyLove]

Hey fedup, that sounded like a nasty experience :(

Remember that it's really common for vertigo to trigger dizziness and panic, it's an unfortunately natural reaction in your body. The key is to try and remember that, and not let the panic grow bigger or dwell on it past the event.

If you're still seeing your VRT therapist I'd talk to her about the rumbling sounds and the dizzy spells.

[fedup36]

Hi HoneyLove - it wasn't a nice experience at all. I am not seeing my therapist anymore as they think its down to my neck possibly. I do however have her email so I may drop her a message just saying what's happened and whether its worth going back again. I am getting better at accepting its nothing serious but its just horrible and I do sit here fearing it happening again... My anxiety is so much better than before as I spell like that this morning would normally leave me to being in a state of panic for the rest of the day but I am actually feeling ok now and trying to get on with it
I just have no idea what on earth could be causing it - it seems to tie more and more up with menieres with the rumbling sound but its the fact it happens for such a short duration which suggests its not.
How is your dizziness?

[skippy66]

I was scared of sleep for years, thinking my heart would give out in the night. I now think: 'so what if it does?' I can do absolutely ZERO about it, and I'm wasting my life worrying about this huge WHAT IF.

Your attitude needs to shift to this: I may die in my sleep tonight, it's extremely unlikely but if that's my 'fate' (I don't believe in fate by the way), then I'm going to live the rest of my life to the full RIGHT NOW, and enjoy every last minute.

[HoneyLove]

I was thinking that too about menieres, especially with the low rumbling sound you mention. The vertigo from it can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. Just keep an eye on it, and yeah get in touch with your therapist if you can.

That's really good news about the anxiety levels. That's how it happened for me too, eventually you just stop being so phased by the dizziness and accept that it's nothing bad. It's hard with this kind of illness, but you'll get there

My own dizziness gets better all the time! I'm glad to say. I still have some issues, but it's beginning to resolve a lot.

[Rach29]

I get this its quite scary if I cant shake it off ill play on my phone to help take my mind off it until it passes that works for me dont worry it always passes

[Linda01818]

Err this is really playing on my mind :( I can't stop thinking how awful I felt....

Hi,

I know I'm a little late on the draw here with chiming in, but this exact thing happened to me last night and I was searching for others who have experienced the same thing and found your thread. And I too can't stop thinking how horrible and weird I felt. I've never felt anything like it in my life and I'm sitting here crying because it scared me more than I think I've ever been scared, ever. You said this in another post:

"I just woke up and I was spinning... I suffer with dizziness and vertigo and it just felt like a very severe dizziness and felt out of breathe to... Wasn't very pleasant :( I just thought like I had died and my body knew it was happening so jolted me awake :( "

That's what happened to me EXACTLY. And I was convinced that I had been slipping away (dying) in my sleep and my body was like "Oh no! Hey! You're dying! Wake up!!!"

So I shot awake and the room was spinning and I felt dizzy and I couldn't focus on anything and had to sit there for a minute or two before I could get out of bed. Then I was terrified to go back to sleep all night long. I'd try to, but as soon as I would start to nod off I'd come back awake because my brain didn't want it to happen. I finally got up and took an ativan and that helped relax me enough to go back to sleep.

And here's something even more weird - once I was able to get up and walk, I went to the bathroom. The light must have bothered my eyes some because walking back out of the bathroom I think I hallucinated, I saw something moving against the wall and I literally gasped, that's how bad it freaked me out.

My gawd, what an awful, awful night and one of the most terrifying feelings I can ever remember having. And then I found your thread and what you described was the exact same thing I went through, so I had to post comments.

I'll tell you one thing (I'm still crying because I still can't get over how that made me feel) I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I think it's a form of panic (I have GAD and get the occasional panic/anxiety attacks, although they're less severe than they used to be) and I might be wigging out a little in my head right now because I'm on a couple of medications for an ailment (nothing serious) and I'm already one of those people who suffers with 'health anxiety', constantly worried about coming down with some horrible disease or not living much longer, that sort of thing. That's the only thing I can come up with as to why this happened.