Wake up with intense butterflies - help please.

[sammysung]

Hi, after browsing for years I am finally posting.

A week before Christmas I woke up in the morning with a strong butterflies feeling for no reason (or no reason i could identify). I wasn't worried about anything as the time, so I ignored it and hoped it would go. Unfortunately it lasted until 5pm. It felt almost unbearable at times. I only had a small panic attack while this was going on.

Nothing happened since then until yesterday morning. I woke up with intense butterflies but tried to busy myself making sandwiches for my son and ironing his school uniform. The feeling grew in intensity though until it turned into a panic attack. Trying to get a 6 year old ready for school wasn't easy. The attack lasted until i came home from school at 9am. I think the walk helped although i really didn't think i would be able to do it.

Then last night I woke at 3am with the same intensely nervous feeling and a racing heart. I also felt clammy even though it was just 14 degrees in my bedroom. I just went with it and didn't panic. I read my book for around an hour until I dozed off book in hand.

I woke up this morning at 5.30 am again with the strong butterflies feeling and it stayed with me until about 10am. This morning i was really calm about it and accepted the feeling. I showered and did other things but it just wouldn't go.

I have had panic attacks on and off for 13 years and i (in theory and sometimes in practice) know how to deal with them, and know when i am panicking. I definitely wasn't panicking in the night or this morning. I am on no meds and i have cut out caffeine recently. I don't feel worried about anything at the moment which is unusual for me as I have a lot that I could be worried about.

My sister thinks that i am maybe internalizing things and they are coming out via the subconscious mind as I sleep. Who knows eh?

Does anyone have any tips on dealing with getting rid of the adrenaline? Or any advice on what I should do? This morning i made the error of looking up symptoms on the internet and convinced myself for a short while that i had a tumor on my adrenal gland!!

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Annie0904]

Hi, It sounds like anxiety and you can read more about it on the left of this page. have you seen your doctor? The doctor will be able to prescribe medication to help you and/or refer you for cognitive behaviour therapy which will help. I am sure you will find lots of support on this site. x

[sammysung]

Hi Annie, thanks for your reply.

I went to the doctors yesterday, and booked myself on to some CBT.

The strange thing is that as much as I hate panic attacks, somehow I know that i am having an attack and control it or at least accept that it will pass.These latest intense nervous feelings just seem to carry on despite anything that i do.

Do you think that perhaps i am experiencing general anxiety rather than episodes of panic? I must say 2012 was a stressful year, but i coped with it really well. I wonder if it is catching up with me?

[Paulac]

I can totally sympathise with you, Iv been waking really early lately and the butterflies hit me like a train as soon as u open my eyes, they r really horrible, they last all day for me usually, even wen I feel ok they come n make me feel like I'm about to panic. Iv just started citalopram so I think that's y my anxietys heightened abit at the moment. Wouldn't worry about tumours or anything like that, sounds like your just having symptoms of anxiety. Xxxx

[Annie0904]

I think it sounds more like generalized anxiety more than panic attacks :hugs:

[sammysung]

Thanks for the reassurance. I am quite well versed about dealing with panic attacks, but not so informed about general anxiety. Thinking about it, maybe my sister is right and i haven't been fully dealing with all of the things that have taken place over the last year.

Paulac sorry to hear that you are experiencing this too. The things that have helped me to get rid of the butterflies today were going for a walk, and doing some boxing on my son's Wii (I shut the curtains first).

[PinkRoxy]

I get that and have had it for years. Its weird its like you feel nervous but over nothing and I know what you mean its annoying.

I always thought it was just the way I am because there will random days where I don't eat at all because my tummy feels like its in knots the whole day.

It could be anxiety but I always thought it couldn't be because there is nothing I am anxious about. I hope you are able to find out what it is and help it.

[sammysung]

I had a better night last night. I woke up about 4 times during the night but it was only for a matter of seconds- the time it took to look at the clock and think 'great no butterflies at the moment'. I did have them when i woke at 5.30 and looking back i should have just got up, but I stayed there and the butterflies flapped harder and harder until i got up at 6.30. Good news though is that the annoying things flew away fairly quickly and by 8 I felt fine.

I have to say I have felt ridiculously drained today, not tired as such but just as if my batteries are running low. This has led to a few nervous and panicky feelings, but I am just trying to not let them bother me. I wonder if it is my body recovering from all of the adrenaline or cortisol or whatever it is that has been flooding it?

PinkRoxy, I too think I have nothing to worry or feel anxious about, however after a bit of open chatting with my sister yesterday over the phone, I hung up and found myself crying quite hard. It was weird but it felt like I needed to cry and release some pressure. I very rarely cry. However I still think I wasn't stressed just maybe there was just lots of stressful things I haven't been dealing with. Or, am I trying to look for reasons why the butterflies are there when actually there could be no reason and they just are there? Who knows? Might go and have a chat with the snowman in the back garden.

[PinkRoxy]

It could be a hormonal imbalance as I assume you are female.
Hormones can do funny things to your mood and make you feel anxious and depressed for no reason. Feeling like you want to cry all the time and not knowing why can also be caused by your hormones.

What I am trying to do and maybe you should give it a go is try and keep a daily diary of how you have been feeling, the days and times you are feeling nervous and sick and when you just don't feel so good at all such as feeling down and wanting to cry. You may notice a pattern or not but then if you record it and then take it in to show your doctor they may be able to help you and take a step to making you feel better.

I hope it starts to work out for you soon hun :)