Panic every single morning, I can't go on this way

[UnknownUser]

I wake up and I panic every single morning. I am shaking, my heart races, I feel terrified. I have no idea what is triggering this but it's intense, to the point where I cannot distract myself. I have to go online to chat rooms in order to calm down as nothing else works.

My dreams are not particularly disturbing as far as I remember. I am off work for a while because of anxiety so I have few daily responsibilities to face. I don't know why this is happening.

If I nap during the day, I wake up feeling anxious after that too.

This is getting ridiculous. I am on day 9 of starting Ctalopram, do you think that could minimise these morning attacks in time? And does anyone else have any helpful advice?

[Oosh]

Do you wake up and then panic or do you wake up panicking ?

[aprilmoon]

Hi,
My doc gave me some low dose diazapan as a standby till the meds kicked in
I hardly ever used them but knowing they were in the drawer helped.
Could you ask your doc?

[xrachykinsx]

Starting SRRI type antidepressants can heighten your anxiety initially. Seems cruel considering your trying to take them to feel better. It should calm down soon though. I tend to wake up and then have a little panic once I've been up and started thinking!! lol xx

[aprilmoon]

So do I Rachy!
We should take comfort from each other :hugs:
Sometimes I'm leaping out of bed and getting half dressed at the same time before I have a chance to start over thinking!

[UnknownUser]

Thanks for the replies. It seems that I wake up, and then start panicking. It's very weird.

It's also strange that I feel a lot more normal in the evenings, but mornings are always awful. I am really hoping this will stop as it's insane, I go to bed feeling ok and wake up like this. It's scary and horrible :( and I'm really struggling. My anxiety is so bad that I am scared of things like showering (I still do it, I just get scared) because I don't like being left alone with my thoughts.

[Spazzy wack]

The meds should take a few more weeks to work, they are very good and should take the edge off your feelings.

[Oosh]

When you wake up its natural and automatic for your mind, when it wakes up, to ask

Where am I ?
Who am I ?
What's been going on ?
What happened yesterday ?
Why am I naked and tied to a lampost at the train station ?
(No that last ones a joke)

And it's the answers to those questions that can spark panic.
Because those answers can be -

I'm alone
I was alone yesterday
I'm gonna be alone today
I'm terrified of this thing/thought
I have THIS particular worry/problem.
I have to do this job today and I feel dread and anxiety.

Adrenaline pumps into your system to put you in a state of danger to face the scary life you've just woken up in.

What you need to do is create more calming reassuring answers to those questions for yourself when you wake.

Where am ? In bed.
What happened yesterday ? I found an answer. I created a plan. There are steps on that plan. I carried out two steps yesterday. Today I'll do that next thing. This plan will ultimately lead me here (image) and that makes me feel calmer, more hopeful, more resilient.
I'm not alone. I have these people in my day.
I have these things to do today to ensure I wake even stronger, more optimistic tomorrow.
I am going to work, but it doesn't stress me.
( Relief, optimism, buoyancy, confidence, higher spirits)

Spend the day giving yourself good answers to those questions the following morning.
You do the same, you'll feel the same, like Groundhog Day.

[UnknownUser]

The problem is, my thought process gets stuck on unsolvable issues. I want to be able to put them out of my mind but they keep intruding my thoughts.

[Oosh]

All issues are solvable. They may SEEM impossible, but that's a trick.

You are capable of feeling good, like it or not. When you felt anxious those pieces of you weren't removed in an operation.
Your body can still produce those good moods. It's just very difficult to believe when your current state is an anxious one.
Believing you can still feel good is half the battle.

Your mind is your own. It can conjure up irrational fears and you can knock them down just as quick. It's all a trick, you're in control.

The reason the intrusive thoughts have power is because you BELIEVE they have power.
The thoughts came from you. If the thoughts have power, you have power, you are powerful ! You're just using it against yourself.

You can dismiss the intrusive thought in a second, you just BELIEVE you can't.
Fight back, you're just out of practice.

Make fun of them, make them look silly, steal all their power away from them.

[cloudbusting]

Great posts by Oosh.

Unknown User - I have found since starting Citalopram that my anxiety is worse in the morning. This morning I had my iPad closeby and so just rested and listened to a morning meditation clip on YouTube. It was really nice and went a long way to calming the panic loop that seems to start as soon as I open my eyes. I managed to get my daughter ready and off to school really calmly afterwards. Maybe give it a try ?

Lisa x

[UnknownUser]

My thoughts got stuck on the subject of existence, which is unsolvable (so I know how you feel) but it goes in time, it really does. I recommend reading The Happiness Trap, it gave me fantastic techniques to use on thoughts like this (I swear it could have been made for pure O sufferers).

This is *exactly* what I am suffering from, it's obsessive and extremely hard to manage. How did the book help you?

[nursegreenwhippet]

Hi I know exactly what this is like, it has helped me to never nap in the day - waking up from this sleep is weird.
Bath at night so you don't have to shower in the morning.
Get your clothes all ready next to your bed or in the bathroom and put them on as soon as you get up (no pj wearing).
Get out of bed as soon as you wake up.
Drink tea/ toast or biscuit ASAP
Get some fresh air.
If you take your tablets in the morning change to night - I read that there is an especially low endorphin and serotonin level in your blood after sleep so don't hit your low a.m.but rather p.m when you can cope better x

[marlowe78]

Yuck I woke up this morning feeling generally alright, I bathed and ate breakfast and after sitting down to read on my bed my heart all of a sudden picked up. It's weird now because I've had it so many times that the distress doesn't get worse but I still sit around feeling my heart beat away. Hate it...

[marlowe78]

Thanks for the info :)

[maysma]

I know this feeling all too well. I've been practicing acceptance and using the AWARE approach from Claire Weekes and every morning I have to remind myself not to fight and let the feelings and thoughts wash over me. It's so hard even though I know it will help me move on from this. Something that was really helpful for me was to realize that the content of my worried thoughts was not important. It's all anxiety in a tired mind. Existential thoughts, body thoughts, universe thoughts, it's all under the same umbrella. That's why having a "worry period" is helpful for me because when I first wake up I start ruminating instantly. "Am I real?" "How does my body know how to function?" "What I never feel normal again?" I don't try to stop the thoughts I say "Ok Hi thoughts, there you are. well if it's really that important then we can go over this later at 5pm" and I try to get on with my day. Then I find by the time 5pm rolls around, I no longer care to hash out whatever was bothering me. What happens is our brains are going over and over trying to figure out a way out of the hell but there is nothing to figure out because nothing is wrong, we feel danger where there is no danger. The best thing we can do is give our mind a break and some rest. Let the thoughts come, let the sensations come, let it be there without judgement or fighting. It takes patience and time. I still feel a lot of anxiety but just knowing what it is and why it's happening takes so much of the pressure off to get rid of it or figure it out. So, even though I still wake up and have my mind race I see it as an opportunity to practice and even though it feels horrible in the moment, once it passes (and it always does) I get a little more confident that I can handle it and that one day it won't bother me anymore. Hope that helps! Good luck! :)

[aprilmoon]

That good to know.Its all anxiety in a tired mind.
It makes so much sense when you say it like that.
Thank you.

[Joseph12]

I am facing problem of panic attack but your case is really severe and you are facing worse condition of panic attack and i would like to suggest you to go for a doctor.