Heightened anxiety before falling asleep!?

[tan235]

Hi all,

I"m a breast feeding Mum, my daughter is 17 months - and I"m exhausted.
I suffer from Anxiety/Panic attacks.

Lately over the last month though I seem to only have anxiety as I"m falling asleep and I mean a full on attack.

I'll wake up, and think that this is it that I"m dying, I"ll run into the lounge and grab the phone at which point I think we'll I"m still alive and then manage (somehow) to put myself back to sleep - waking in the morning exhausted.

I"m exhausted enough as it is, I can't keep doing this it's so draining.
Anyone else experience this?
I also have a weird sensation as well where I feel myself dropping and it wakes me - not the normal twitch but a weird brain drop - and it gives me anxiety and I wake up again!

I"m going to the Dr on Monday just to check there isn't anything wrong with me but I've suffered from Anxiety for 20 years but this seems extreme.

Anyone else relate????

I'm going through a lot as well - newly single, baby's daddy moving in with his girlfriend - only 6 month separated... finding it a bit hard but dealing with it ok - or so I thought.

[mummyanxious]

I am a single mum too and a bf one, I can completely relate with where you're at so please feel free to pm me if you need to.
I've gone through the falling to sleep thing. My hormones were all over the place bf and I do believe that contributed a lot to it.

[saab]

Lack of sleep is terrible for your mental health. That's why some countries use sleep deprivation as a form of torture. I know a bad nights sleep makes my anxiety worse. I think you probably have so much going on in your head that when you try to sleep it all comes up in a rush.

The falling feeling is called a hypnic jerk - big article on Wikki. You actually get this more when you have trouble sleeping. I am getting it a bit at the moment. Think I am falling asleep, then body jerks me awake and I start thinking its my heart giving me an electric shock (which it isn't). Very unpleasant feeling.