panic attacks during the night help!!!

[sammie]

hi everyone

i now get panics during the night i wake up suddenly heart pounding shaking and hyperventilating and a horrible sense of impending doom( i am going to die) has anyone else had this because i feel so alone with this and its getting to the point where i dont want to go bed let alone go to sleep. i just lay in bed frightened to death that i wont make it through the night :madness:

any ideas or experiences of this that i can take comfort from to know i am not alone would really help
sammie

[haribo]

hello,

i too have had experiences of this, however i can't really offer advice, other than these are just thoughts and i often get up out of bed and make a drink, and if i can't shake it i try and read or watch a movie and the second time it happens i tell myself that i survied last time so this time i will survive too!!

whenever it happens to me it is really scary and frightening and i hope that you find relief soon!!!

:)

[Allye]

Sammie

I have had one of my worst panic attacks at night (before I knew they were panic attacks) and I truely thought I was dying - I made my boyfriend drive nearly 80 miles in the middle of the night.

My advice like Haribo is to try some positive distraction - get up - have a drink - watch TV. I also have some relaxation CDs that I listen to before I go to sleep (I often fall asleep listening) and that seems to have helped as recently I have not worken up feeling anxious during the night.

Something that also works for me is that I think - if I broke a leg I would not be anxious if it hurt - so why panic about the feelings of a panic attack - accept them and they seem to get easier to handle.

Allye x

[ThreeBee23]

I just want you to know you are definitely not alone. I get most of my panic attacks during the night. I am not sure what triggers them out from a sleep, but I can usually tell as I am falling asleep if I am going to get one though. Strange, I know.

I just get up and try to distract myself. I am fortunate enough that I do not have to be up for a job the next morning, so once I calm down enough I try to go back to bed and sleep as long as I can.

[jodie]

meee to sammie

i hate the night i am allways worse at night i have to try and not let it take over or i would never go to bed i do try chilling out befor i go to bed have a warm drink ect not saying it will work but you can give it a try .
i have had them thought of omg will i die in the night what will happen i have got up and everone is asleep i would go sit in th kitchen and be so panicy i know it is not nice hun but dont give up try and work out what you can do to make things better try make sure what you go to bed you are realy realy tired then you might sleep rather than getting up .

jodie xx

[trish1955]

i to suffer these night time attacks some times i lay there and u even imagine how it will be when yr family come in and can,t wake you up wich sends u all emotional as well as afraid i can often get these thoughts of me gone and see every one finding u awfull things to ave i try to change the thougt but i ave already had it so its hard to shake off any way i am rambbling now we keep serching there as to be an answer for us out there some were bye for now trish

[groovygranny]

Hello sammie,

Ooh, this brings back memories.

One word springs to mind - Distraction!

When I had this I found it was made worse by me lying there thinking about it, so I had to get up. Sometimes I suppose this was counter-productive because that caused me to pace up and down forever and a day.

But, once I'd trained myself to get up and go sit in the lounge (you do this by just doing it over and over each time you wake up) the urge to pace lessened.

Once I got up I'd either make some herbal tea, or just sip water. I also had a wet flannel to wipe over my arms, face and forehead.

I watched tv - any old thing but definitely not the news, horror/violent movies etc......stick to house decorating progs, wild life documentaries or even kids progs etc!!

Eventually, you'll be able to train your mind to think calmly when you wake up like this. Your first thought will not be doom and more panic but 'right, here we go lets get this sorted'.

Don't know if this is of any help to you - I hope it is.

big hugs :hugs::hugs::hugs:

[sammie]

thanks everyone for your replies i will try the suggestions you have made . i usually wont get out of bed but will try that approach and see what happens instead i lay there thinking i'm going to die or go mad and be carted off somewhere. i need to get a grip on this because i am going on holiday in 3 weeks and i dont want this to happen there.i do tend to go to bed early so will try to stay up later i take trazadone on a evening so maybe i am taking it too early for it to work properly.

will keep you posted

sammie

[CarpeDiem]

:) Hi Sammi :)

I used to get that a lot & it went through bad 'phases' (I think having one made me panic about it happening the next night which made it happen again and so on & so on) so distraction was definitely the key for me. If you have an iPod or TV in your room put on some music/film you like or do some exercise. Definitely sitting up made a difference, if I stayed lying down too long I'd be afraid to move at all after while. Basically just try to break the cycle like with any panic but also remember you have made it through one before & can do it again!
Take care, CarpeDiem
xxxxxx

[mark74]

Yep i get them too.Its like i wake up out of breath,feeling dizzy and not really knowing whats going onwhich brings me too panic worse.Its a horrible surreal feeling,like being awake but not sure if im dreaming or not(if that makes sense).I then cant get back to sleep because im scared of it happening again.

[Rachey poos]

Gosh.. these are the worst... It is always when you been asleep about 1 hr... dont know about you but i often LEAP out of bed.. heart racing like nothing on earth.. what I do is go straight to bathroom for cold water on arms and face and breath.. whilst stood on landing saying to my hubby.... Paul...paauull... i know im gonna die this time.... 12 yrs on and still here!

[Candy6]

Yes I know exactly what you mean. My attacks always come at night and I think perhaps they happen when you wake suddently from a bad dream but I can never actually remember the dream. I find it so difficult to calm down afterwards and even though I'm tired, the anxiety comes back suddenly just as I'm falling asleep again! I think the answer must be distraction but the trouble is, its hard to be up for a few hours during the night when you've got to be up for work the next day. Good luck.

[Katty1303]

I'm suffering with these so badly at the minute you are definitely not alone in this, I thought I was alone until reading this post. I wake up not long after going to sleep and I literally feel like I'm dying, I feel tingly all over my body like my body is dying, when I get them I turn the tele on straight away and take a beta blocker. I try and look for a programme I like, something funny normally and I'm usually ok with in 5 mins but am left feeling week and fear another one. Once I relax again i sleep like a log, prob due to the beta blocker. I had one last night but fortunately for me my daughter who is 2 had woken up crying around the same time so immediately i distracted my self by going to change her nappy, make her a drink and settle her again, once that was all don't I found the attack had passed. So I think distraction is definitely the best way to stop an attack. Hope this helps you relax and no you are not alone just as your post has done for me. X

[Broken-doll]

Hi Sammie,night times are my worst times too, in fact I started fearing going to bed. I've been taking rescue remedy night time capsules (the herbal ones that melt on your tongue.) and they really are quite good. I also listen to meditation music to help me drift off to sleep and if I wake up in the night now, I play some music to help me drift off again. The key really is distraction and acceptance,I'm trying to accept my anxiety now and just ride out the sensations, I'm not trying to fight it anymore it's pointless! X

[Koalabear1992]

Hey, your really really REALLY not alone... I have horrible panic attacks at night where my heart goes a million miles an hour. Its so scary, and they only happen at night so it seems. Im 21 almost 22, and if things get too bad I find myself waking my mom up in the middle of the night, thinking im going to die any second of a heart attack or something traumatic. And sometimes my heart goes so slow to where I think it's going to stop, and its scary, but ive started to listen to interviews during my sleep. It makes me feel not so alone. So I promise you, we have made it this far. Were going to be okay! Dont worry...

[Hopeandlove]

hi do you take med for your anxiety????????????????

[laura1200]

Mine happen during the night too and I hate it because I feel so out of control. I try and distract myself by watching TV or listening to calm music and it does help.

[NorthernGeek]

I get my worst panic attacks at night too, but usually when I am trying to get to sleep & have had anxiety related insomnia for many years. I have developed coping strategies, but it's almost as if I have to trick the negative thoughts in my head in order to get to sleep!

Firstly, I rarely try to 'have an early night' as that always goes very badly, so I wait until I am extremely tired (usually around 2am). About two years ago it got much worse, so I bought a bedside clock with a built in MP3 player so I could leave 'Ambient White Noise Tracks' playing all night, as concentrating on the sound helps distract me from the negative thoughts.

When even that fails, I just leave the TV tuned to BBC News24 at low volume all night, since human voices seem to attract attention better than ambient sounds. As long as the news is about dull stuff like politicians finding new ways to be corrupt rather than an awful international disaster, that seems to work quite well.

I average about 5-6 hours sleep on a good night & have learned to survive with that, but I still feel tired most of the time. I have just started on Citalopram for my depression & obsessive anxiety, so I am hoping that I can gradually increase my sleep to 7-8 hours, which should improve my chances getting better.

[TelBoy]

All I can say is.... Yes, I have had this about 5 times....it is the worst feeling ever!! I actually thought , this is it, I am actually dying, or I have just died and come back from the dead... it is just one dreadful feeling.
I *assume* that I am in a deep sleep in the middle of the night, and then, all of a sudden....:scared15: I wake up suddenly and rip back the bed clothes and
stand up and I am breathless as though someone has just tried to smother me... so I know exactly what you are going through...The trouble is, even if you dial the emergency services you *feel* like you will be dead before they get to you, and this *is* the frightening part about it all.
What a state we are all in eh:))) Merry Xmas:)

[Seth86]

I used to be bad with this until i was prescribed Mirtazapine which completely annihilated the panic! Used to end up pacing around my room and then holding onto things in complete fear i was suffocating to death :(

[HappySadPunkDude]

I usually get up and make a cup of tea and read for awhile until I calm down. Then I try to go back to sleep.

[whyme22]

Its comforting to know I'm not the only one going through this.