Electrical / Numbness feeling waking me out of sleep

[d09784]

Hello all, first post here.

First of all, I undoubtedly do have health anxiety. I've been to the doctor and had holter monitor, blood tests, CT scans, all turned out to be completely normal. However, recently I've been having a very different issue and it's scaring me.

A few days ago I woke up feeling good and drifted back to sleep, only to wake up a few minutes later with a strange electrical feeling starting in my head and radiating down into my neck. It happened a few times until I gave up trying to go back to sleep. It's a very real and strong sensation.

I went to my GP and after doing some physical tests, he said I appear to be in good health neurologically.

So it happened again this morning. I was dreaming normally and all of a sudden, mid-dream, I woke up feeling lightheaded like I was going to pass out. I couldn't feel my heart beating so I rolled over and checked my pulse, at which point my heart started beating faster and I could finally feel it.

I called and made an appointment with a sleep center, appointment is Thursday. I'm hoping I can wait that long because I'm afraid of dying in my sleep =/

[anthrokid]

Hey d,

Sounds to me like it could potentially just be panic attacks. Especially because the tingling/nubness feeling is such a common symptom of them due to hyperventilation. You may also find that you are just breathing quickly in your sleep which reduce blood flow, it isn't dangerous, but it can result in those tingly/numb sensations, which your body may be interpreting as a threat due to anxiety. Unfortunatley the demons can even get us in our sleep as well. You may just be having panic attacks in your sleep which are waking you up.

[d09784]

Thanks for your reply. That's what my GP told me too. It just seems hard to believe because the feeling is so intense at the time. I'm going to see a sleep specialist on Thursdsay morning just to see what he has to say.

If he gives me the all clear, I'm going to accept that it's just panic attacks in my sleep. Crazy how these things can make you feel.