Waking up in Panic Attacks.. Again? Can anyone help?

[Txxxrho]

Just woke up in a panic attack... Again... This is like the 20th time this year maybe more. It's almost getting on a every other night basis. I'll nod off I suppose then 20 minutes to an hour later I wake up either in a panic or like a few seconds after I wake up. I used to get these really bad when I first suffered from panic attacks and maybe randomly here and there but this is turning out to be way to frequent of a thing.. Like, I'm always convinced I'm dying and just feel like the GREAT sense of impending doom. A few of them I just woke up and didn't even know what I was worried about because I was just so afraid and everything felt wrong but there was no thing to point it to. But the one I just had/am having I guess I slept in my side wrong because my arm was numb and I felt like I was having a heart attack of some sort and even though I was 95% it was anxiety that 5% chance kills me. But does anybody know how to help and how to stop these?

[xvolatileheart]

I'm struggling with this too. Like you said, I had them a lot in my early days of panic attacks but have been sleeping fine since then until a few weeks ago, I woke up in the night having a panic attack. Then I went on holiday and it happened nearly every night. I've since started on citalopram which is affecting my sleep horribly and I'm waking up constantly with my heart pounding and anxious thoughts racing. I'm getting so fed up, I'm exhausted!

My plan is to get into a bedtime routine - same time every night, do some yoga, have a hot shower then a relaxing cup of herbal tea, write in my journal and listen to something calming. I also have a book by my bedside if I wake in the night so I can read until I feel sleepy again. Hopefully it will be positive reinforcement, I'll learn that nighttime is relaxing not stressful, and the cycle will break. We'll see how it goes!

[Davit]

Night time is when all the thoughts from the day that are important in short term memory move to long term memory so if there is anything during the day that bothers you then it will replay before getting stored. Try to deal with any negative thoughts before bed so they don't influence this transfer or better yet aren't there at all.

[PanicAttackGurl]

I have this as well. I also have sinus tachycardia so the Dr nor the therapist can figure out if in the middle of night its tachycardia or Panic attack. I listen to sleep hypnosis for anxiety and panic attacks and have at least 4-5 good sleep nights a week now. I listen to it as soon as I lay down in bed and fall asleep to it. You can find it on youtube by searching "sleep hypnosis for anxiety and panic", there will be numerous ones that come up and just find one you're comfortable with. I've listened to all of them in past year, but I like jody whiteley and thomas hall the best.

Unless this isn't something you'd consider, then try getting rid of any anxious thoughts from the day by doing relaxation breathing.

[Ditapage]

I could've written this post myself! I've had panic attacks for 5 years but only in the past 6 months I've had night attacks. As you know they're absolutely horrible. I can't figure out why they're more intense than my day time attacks but I think it's our thoughts mostly. Night time is a more vulnerable time because the body is programmed to be wind on down but our bodies are contending with anxious thoughts and firing up fight or flight. I too wake up every few hours in a panic and feel like I'm dying and then I pace frantically wondering whether to wake somebody in the house, up. All that calms me down is when I've been pacing awhile it occurs to me some major medical thing would've happened by now if it was going to. That is what I have to tell myself in any attack.

I take Bach's rescue remedy in the pascal/lolly form and the chewing (and a hot cup of herbal tea like chamomile - which I don't even like the taste of but it's got calming properties so who cares!) seems to calm me down enough to go back to sleep, but there's no guarantee I won't wake up 2 hrs later with panic. Now this sounds stupid and crazy but if I have some body sensation that feels out of control I get salt, sniff it to make myself have a sneezing attack because it takes the focus off other stuff. It actually works. In my experience you can't actually sneeze and panic simultaneously!

Anyway, I'm not too much help because night time panic is nearly crippling me, but I totally relate to what you're going thru and it's definitely a pattern we got into- if you go to bed thinking you'll up panicking it keeps our nervous system alert. Just like people avoid places where they panic and the mind has now been trained to respond to the place like its a threat, our nervous system at night can't rest because we are subconsciously fearing waking up in a panic.

One other thing that helped me was the tapping technique. Google it. You basically tap parts of your face and body and talk to your anxiety and assessing its severity. For example, you tap for a few minutes then say "how anxious do I feel?" 8. So you keep tapping. Eventually the anxiety gets to 3,2 or wherever it's manageable. Tapping is really just a distraction but it really does work.

The way I see it, our bodies are afraid of sleep now, it's a threat, so it keeps waking us up - I laugh sometimes because it's like it's telling me "what was that!? I didn't like being inactive, so I woke us up!" The panic is just the body recovering from the sleep state it's now terrified of! You've taught your body to react to night time like its a threat and I know how terrible it is.

[Davit]

You could try stacking, it works faster than tapping. It is in top tips.

---------- Post added at 23:52 ---------- Previous post was at 23:45 ----------

You don't seem to have Tetley's ginger mint in the UK. I drink that every night.

[kezzie22]

I have been waking up to a panic attack too or having them just as I'm going to sleep. My usual techniques of breathing, counting, fresh air, mindfulness just don't work...I just have to go through it and they are intense :( can anyone please tell me of any tips to help? I have relaxation cds which relax me a little afterwards and help me back to sleep... You can find lots of stuff on you YouTube x

[Davit]

But they are all coping skills you need to do cognitive restructuring.

[Serodopaline]

Have you any particular eating patterns before you go to sleep at night?
Last night I ate an entire packet of salty popcorn and woke up in a panic.
(Bizarre, but something I'm looking into.)

[ohwell123]

read this youll relate its so funny/dry

especially the part about it evolving its true that is I woke up one day feeling "cured" went about my day only to fall asleep that night and jump off the bed like someone had stuck a poker in me chest, then it all starts again

https://basicbraining.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/463/

[xvolatileheart]

That article is so relatable. I had quite a good day yesterday and I thought "wow, I'm really getting better!" but now I've just woken up and had a panic attack. Arrrghhhhh! It's so frustrating!

[biggerthanmybody]

I'm so glad I've read this thread. I have been suffering from panic attacks waking me up in the middle of the night for the past 4 years or so. At first I didn't know what they were and thought I was having a heart attack. I wake up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding through my chest like I just ran a marathon (highest I've seen is 179 bpm), and in a complete and utter panic thinking I'm about to die at any second, hot and flushed, tingling. When it first started I kept calling the ambulance and they would come and check my vitals and do an EKG and say I was fine. Then after I realized they were panic attacks, if I can get my mind to calm down and relax and remember I'm not dying and it's just a panic attack, I can get them to stop within 5 minutes or so. But I hate it, it's so scary, and I worry I'm damaging my heart by it beating so fast. :( It's so miserable.

---------- Post added at 10:48 ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 ----------


That article is so relatable. I had quite a good day yesterday and I thought "wow, I'm really getting better!" but now I've just woken up and had a panic attack. Arrrghhhhh! It's so frustrating!

Same here. I didn't have a middle of the night panic attack for a few months and one day I realized I hadn't had one for awhile and was thinking I was "cured" from them and had one that very night after I thought that. I think it's subconscious, the more I think about them the more they happen, if I forget about them they stop happening. :(

[jonjones]

Hey,

I get the same thing. I sometimes feel great at night time, then I wake up and I´m tense, heart palpitating, stomach churing, shakes etc. And of course, a racing mind!

What I have discovered is that it´s of two reasons. The first is that, I could have had a bad dream, which made me excited, or scared etc. Or that I may have been very relaxed sleeping then when I wake up, BANG! I am back into reality and tensly hold onto myself.



And then when you wake up, you dread the thought of having to carry the weight of your suffering for the whole day ahead. And it´s only just begun. Even getting out of bed seems as challenging as climbing Mt Everist. You feel like you need to make a Herculian effort just to get one foot out of the bed and on the floor. And you let out a heavy sigh.


This is ecpecially difficult as more than likely you didn´t get to sleep for a few hours because you were so agitated the night before. So you feel groggy and apprehensive about facing the day.


But don´t force yourself out of bed. Ease your way out, gently take your blanket off yourself, and loosen your body as much as you can as you step out of bed. Take a deep breath and let your tummy drop. Let go of the tension you are holding on to.


Remember you have already faced many days feeling like this before and you managed ok. Maybe even yesterday was one such day. And you got through that ok didn´t you! So what´s to stop you getting through today just as successfuly!


Accept however you feel, accept the day for whatever it is. Loosen your attitude, loosen your tight hold you have on yourself. Deep breaths, and surrender. Let your shoulders, arms, and tummy flop, let them hang from your body, you don´t need to tighly hold onto them. Let go, and gently, quietly go about your day at a steady pace. No rushing, to racing around, take your time, and you´ll be able to manage your days even more successfully!


Best,

Jon