View Full Version : Panic attacks when falling asleep?
HI all,
Just curious how many of you get this?
I get weird jolts through my body, a sense of foreboding, I wake up thinking about I"m about to die, I feel weak and my heart beats a thousand beat per minute and then 1 minute later I"m almost asleep until it happens again!
It's like the place between wake and sleep my body freaks out!
It drives me nuts, I don't feel overly anxious during the day but I do suffer from GAD and have for about 20 years, so my Dr believes I live on HIGH ALERT but am so use to it I just don't realise ( I believe this to be true) - last night this all happened about 4 x and then I had a night terror where I felt my whole body trembling and shaking and woke up thinking I was having a seizure to actually find I was fine - yet another panic attack.
Anyone the same?
Not seeking an answer, I seem to get shunned for posting on here lately so unless you have something similar and are happy to share please don't bother with the posts to go see a therapist or take meds, as all of those things I AM DOING! (well meds when I see my new therapist next week)
Thanks guys -
HI all,
Just curious how many of you get this?
I get weird jolts through my body, a sense of foreboding, I wake up thinking about I"m about to die, I feel weak and my heart beats a thousand beat per minute and then 1 minute later I"m almost asleep until it happens again!
It's like the place between wake and sleep my body freaks out!
It drives me nuts, I don't feel overly anxious during the day but I do suffer from GAD and have for about 20 years, so my Dr believes I live on HIGH ALERT but am so use to it I just don't realise ( I believe this to be true) - last night this all happened about 4 x and then I had a night terror where I felt my whole body trembling and shaking and woke up thinking I was having a seizure to actually find I was fine - yet another panic attack.
Anyone the same?
Not seeking an answer, I seem to get shunned for posting on here lately so unless you have something similar and are happy to share please don't bother with the posts to go see a therapist or take meds, as all of those things I AM DOING! (well meds when I see my new therapist next week)
Thanks guys -
I also get kind of panicky when sleeping(only since I began suffering from pureO/anxiety). What helps me is that when I try to sleep, I always keep a dim light on so that I'm not in a completely dark room. also, you can try leaving the TV on while playing a heart warming show like 'Friends'. For some reason, that show helps me calm down.
Yes, I had this about a month ago, terrible, and wrote a thread about it (others joined it too who were experiencing exactly the same- so its not something that others aren't getting). I was put on lorazepam for a week or so to try and stop myself doing this. It was awful, just as I was dropping off (though didn't know I was) I would jolt awake, or feel a rush in my body and other odd feelings and and it was as if my mind was stopping my body from doing what it wanted to do. This went on for a few hours sometimes and made me so anxious. It is because adrenaline is so high during the day and evening that your subconscious stops you going to sleep, as that would be dangerous if there was a risky situation going on that was causing the adrenaline. As it happens there isn't a physically risky situation, just the one we have created with our anxiety.
Don't know what you are referring to about 'being shunned', and I don't think that is very fair as many people have answered you who have been giving and helpful. When you make a post on here, a public forum, you can't pick and choose who replies and what those replies are - so you have to take the 'good' with the 'bad' and be grateful anyway. You are posting about a lot of fears, a huge number, and you have to ask yourself why you feel that you are owed responses by other members.
My GP cancelled my appointment for today. Uh! What a flipping drag...It happens man, was this over your anxiety problems you was going to see the dr's about? Make another appointment :) ATB
So Tan, you made a point that people didn't reply - lots replied - and you didn't even come back anyway. :confused:
Sorry! thank you so much, everyone, I actually posted this thread and then distracted myself and forgot, so the distraction worked!!! .... I guess these things we just have to live with, I don't get them all the time - but when I do get them they freak me out!!!!
---------- Post added at 08:02 ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 ----------
Hey Cary, I should explain the being shunned... sometimes when I post on here I get - 'are you taking medication.' - 'you're still posting on here' - that makes me feel bullied that's all... and yep I know it's a public forum - so give and take.
FOR what it's worth, you described the panic attacks perfectly!!!!!
I actually posted this thread and then distracted myself and forgot, so the distraction worked!!!
Well, thats good anyway ! :D
Ok thanks for explaining - no I don't comment on medication and therapy generally, as thats personal choice and people know it exists so will decide when and if they want to. Self-help can also be effective.
Well, thats good anyway ! :D
Ok thanks for explaining - no I don't comment on medication and therapy generally, as thats personal choice and people know it exists so will decide when and if they want to. Self-help can also be effective. Think sometimes depending on the poster it's good to point them in the right direction though :) as some are totally consumed by their condition. ATB
Think sometimes depending on the poster it's good to point them in the right direction though :smile: as some are totally consumed by their condition. ATB I do get where you are going on this BB, as to us it is often evident that some very vocal repetitive and long-term posters need professional help. However, I think we need to be careful not to presume that people a) want treatment b) haven't already tried treatment or c) have some personal and current complicated reasons to choose not to have/do either. When people choose to post here we don't know their background - they are often on their first port of call in the process of realising they have a problem, or are waiting in a long queue for help and support. Sometimes they want nothing more out of the experience here than to see that others feel the same way. HA whilst horrible, is perhaps something they want to deal with through their own methods and feel they want no further assistance than posting here. I've just seen another post about 'not wanting it on my medical records'; there are those who aren't ready, and don't want to have people even know they are suffering, they are not wanting to even imagine that they have to 'go public' with this. Their choice.
It could also be that people can't afford it, that they are reaching out when they don't want to make it public in their lives or aren't at the point where they believe they want any treatment. Maybe they just aren't being affected enough that they think they want to go down those routes? (even though, to us it looks like they are) Meds and therapy are a very frightening and emotive subject for many, and they need to come to their own conclusions about if it is right for them and if they want to pursue it. Telling people they should get either or both will often be met with resistance/upset and closing down this place as somewhere where they feel they aren't judged.
Remember also - Quiet people aren't as 'needy' and don't shout as loud but could be suffering in the same way, or more severely than the loud shouters. (Tan, this isn't about you personally by the way !!!! just a general comment)
Professional treatment isn't the only way to go on these things, many individuals manage self-help routes, with literature, meditation, research and self-help cbt. So, I guess I'm saying that if someone is closed to the idea, at this point in their life, that they don't want to be treated more professional - then at least here they can find other ways to progress.
My personal opinion is that I honestly don't think its our business to be pushing anyone towards therapy or certainly medication, as we aren't here to diagnose mental health conditions any more than we are here to diagnose physical conditions. We can encourage, question if they've considered it, but Therapy and medication don't work for everyone, and you have to be committed to them in order to make them work. Both can be quite hard work in their own way and they aren't a 'magic cure' for many.
It is frustrating to see at times, I do agree BB, when people have been coming for years and years with the same issues that indicate they are suffering and not functioning well, but, thats their choice. Its not their choice to have anxiety issues, but it is their choice to just live with it instead of do something more proactive. We can't actually presume we know what the 'right direction is', that you refer to above, as we aren't part of their lives or professionals. I know there are plenty here who will disagree with me, and please do add your thoughts if you'd like to, I won't be offended. :D
Edited to add - I'd not been on here for years. I came back one day a low point and the first comment I was met with was 'what are you doing about your HA'? I found this an upsetting response, I've had loads of treatment, been hospitalised in the distant past, am on medication and just wanted to find someone to say that they knew how I felt. That was actually all I needed, and I felt put on the spot with that question at a time when I was not in the right place to even think about such things.
Yes I understand that Cary's I usually only post that advice 1. When the OP says they have had enough of what ever MH condition they have. 2. When they are spiralling out of control then some one has to step in (I believe) and off that advice no one is forcing any one to take that advice either. I have noticed while it's ok to say yes I have the same symptoms as some one else to me it doesn't fix the problem either. ATB
1. When the OP says they have had enough of what ever MH condition they have. 2. When they are spiralling out of control then some one has to step in (I believe) and off that advice no one is forcing any one to take that advice either. I have noticed while it's ok to say yes I have the same symptoms as some one else to me it doesn't fix the problem either. ATB Fair enough. I know also that you are a really kind and thoughtful person BB, and only ever mean well, and it doesn't fix the problem - of that you are certainly right! Just 'therapy and medication' aren't the only ways to skin a cat, thats all I was saying really.
I tell you what, this user Kevinor762 is a great example of a better use of the forum - he won't mind me posting this here I'm sure. He is really suffering, and having one HA issue after the other all day and every day. He has started putting his cbt thought record things up here, so that people can help him think about if he has missed things or if people think they are accurate. (just generally assessing them) He asks things, and is starting to use the people here as a resource to gain other opinions.
Fair enough. I know also that you are a really kind and thoughtful person BB, and only ever mean well, and it doesn't fix the problem - of that you are certainly right! Just 'therapy and medication' aren't the only ways to skin a cat, thats all I was saying really.
I tell you what, this user Kevinor762 is a great example of a better use of the forum - he won't mind me posting this here I'm sure. He is really suffering, and having one HA issue after the other all day and every day. He has started putting his cbt thought record things up here, so that people can help him think about if he has missed things or if people think they are accurate. (just generally assessing them) He asks things, and is starting to use the people here as a resource to gain other opinions. Thx Cary's I try my best :) I couldn't agree more on Kevinor762 he is suffering big time that is a good sign and shows that he is being proactive he isn't just stating symptoms etc which is really good for him and others hopefully will follow suit:yesyes: ATB
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