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bbachman
27-04-03, 18:41
Does anyone else wake up out of deep sleep into a panic attack?

My situation is one where I wake up suddenly, consumed by an overwhelming claustrophobic feeling, along with shortness of breath and that "unreal" feeling. I feel like I'm going crazy and feel like I "need" it to be daylight to make me feel better. The realization that there are several hours of night left tends to make it worse.

This has been happening for 8 years now. They used to occur only occasionaly when on business trips, but now I am getting them at home very frequently.

I haven't seen much information regarding night time attacks of this nature. I'm not really sure if these fit the classic defination of panic or not. (I don't feel like my heart is racing, I never get an irritable stomach, etc).

sarah
29-04-03, 01:08
This did happen to me for a while at the beginning. I used to wake up at about 2 in the morning felling really dizzy like I was going to faint.( maybe those 'unreal'feeling you say you get). It probably lasted only a couple of minutes at the most but felt like forever. It doesnt happen anymore (touch wood) but I kept a bottle of water by the bed and just drank loads until i was so worn out by it I fell back to sleep.
Hope this helps a bit at least to know you arent alone feeling like this.

Sarah

Jo
01-05-03, 16:54
Night time panic attacks have happened to me! I would suddenly wake up, with my heart racing and unable to breath properly. When it first happened I honestly thought I was having a heart attack - I felt awful! I, like Sarah, have a bottle of water by the side of my bed - it just helpd me to relax and calm down. Infact, I carry water with me everywhere because my panic attacks happen during the day also!

Take care all

Jo xxxx

Rachel
02-05-03, 00:13
I have had many Night time panic attacks also. My heart would race really fast and I felt as though I was going to have a heart attack and I could not breath - it's horrible. I would lay in bed just waiting for daylight too like you said.

Paul Abrams
13-05-03, 12:29
It happened to me only last night (hello everyone - my first post)...

For me though it only seems to have become more commonplace since my doctor prescribed me Citalopram. In just over a week, my day time symptoms are beginning to ease (more relaxed and more self belief etc) but at night my sleep patterns and panic attacks seem to be more prevalent...
The symptoms are like a startled wake from a deep sleep, heart racing, jumpy...usually i'll switch the radio on quietly which seems to help destract me from these symptoms...

nomorepanic
15-05-03, 23:46
Hi Paul and welcome. I was prescribed Citalopram to help me sleep!!! It never worked for me so I gave it up. I have never woke up in a panic but I suffer during the day.

I know that it must be scary in the night as well so I sympathise with you all.

Hoping it works out for you.
Nic

marion
18-05-03, 10:23
hi my first time as well i suffer sometimes with night time panics i go really hot and it feels like something is travelling up my body i then feel sick and don,t know what to do i then keep repeating in my head relax relax until i,m so tired i go back off to sleep then in the morning i worry about it

Lewelen
21-05-03, 05:38
wow! I am so glad to know I'm not the only one suffering from being awakened from sleeping with an attack. My panic attacks use to be only in day time, now they are more prevalent at night - here I am at 11:31pm central/standard from the very reason we discuss! My original medication for this disorder has been xanax. It helps mostly if I just take a whole one right at bedtime, but I didn't want to be 'hooked' so we tried Ambien to see if that would help - made it worse - whether self-fulfilling or because I had a reaction to the Ambien I would then still need to take a xanax. Walking outside and going through some cognitive therapy ideas helps, but it takes a bit. Thankfully, the worst symptoms are supposedly over within the first 10 minutes. I hate this problem.
Will keep checking this site to see how everyone is doing.
Lewelen

tuppence
05-06-03, 12:56
I wake up in the middle of the night from a deep sleep and feel like i cannot breath in, i get out of bed and walk to the end of the hall until i breath in again. It is so scary that for years i have drunk alcohol just to relax and get a good night sleep. I feel it is unfair on my partner as it disturbs him then he worries about me. I suffer during the day too. How do i get out of this?

bruce
08-06-03, 00:32
Whats up buddy?

I got my panic attacks as a result of of bad experiences of drug use and i can remember just having a terrrible time falling asleep and/or staying asleep. i would jolt up after just falling asleep and would have the damndest time getting to that point again. then i would also wake up in the middle of the night feeling just totally not with it.

Other times i would wake up and remember a dream i had (not even necessarily a nightmare) and in trying to analyze it it would freak me out kinda. what is totally not cool about what your dealing with is that its like you dont even have time to be fully awake when all this anxiety nails you.

I can remmebr this as being of some of the very worst panic attacks and i used to dred trying to fall asleep. my guess for your situation is that you may be working different hours or something thus altering your noctural clock or perhaps you are older now and there is a decreased need for sleep.

Perhaps you are drinking coffee or some extra caffiene may have entered your diet. water is a good idea, just shoot for spring water (that way you can be sure its pretty clean).

What worked for me was cognitive behavioral therapy and i also took mild doses of clonopin/klonezepam which helped me to sleep however i feel like your situation is much less severe than mine (congratualtions).

If this happens again, i often felt that being alone really helped to scare the **** out of me, so if you have a partner wake that person and talk to them about anything to bring you back to calmness, if you feel unconfortable waking them then do it indescretely by making extra noise when getting out of bed or something (hey desperate times call for desperate measures).

Also another thing that may help will be to sleep with a tv or radio as to not feel alone and this will occupy you, give you less opportunity for your mind to wander in the wrong direction. another good idea is that if you dont like to sleep with it on then if, in the middle of a waking panic attack, then instead of trying to analyze the situation right then and there, turn on the tv suddenly and it will bring you back in a few minutes at most, your mind is now able to concentrate elsewhere. then you can go back to sleep more comfortably and analyze your situation when you wake up more naturally and are in a position to look at things logically and without worry.

I understand the inconvenience of this espeically considering that this happens in the middle of the night when there is no one available to talk to and nothing to do, i have been there and it sucks real bad, the idea is to bring yourself back to reality, the sun will ALWAYS come out tomorrow and when you can take that for granted as being true you will know that its basically over.

If you are very fearful of the neurological implications of this (highly unlikely that there is any) then you may want to get a test done that measures brain waves. i got my family doctor to send refferals to get this done. so far i have done a cat test and an eeg and both turned out ok, if you decide on either of these dont be nervous, they dont last long at all and are no big deal.

My response is kind of lengthy and i hope this will help you as i am absolutely terrified of what you were talking about, some of the worst **** ever! i wouldnt be too afraid though if i was you, i have been through some of the worst **** ever over the last year and a half and i am still alive and improving so i dont think any of this will kill you.

PS, perhaps your bed or sleeping environment is not comfortable enough, treat yourself with an extra comfortable mattress. you may also want to try real aromatherapy, certain scents cause you to feel relaxed and what not, help you sleep. i dont have anything to speak of on this but maybe if this turns into a chronic ordeal then you could try.

Maybe talk to a sleep psychologist? trust me dude, all in all this REALLY sucks but wont kill you and you will eventually laugh at these tremors as the impact becomes chi

trisha
07-08-03, 11:07
quote:Originally posted by bbachman

Does anyone else wake up out of deep sleep into a panic attack?

My situation is one where I wake up suddenly, consumed by an overwhelming claustrophobic feeling, along with shortness of breath and that "unreal" feeling. I feel like I'm going crazy and feel like I "need" it to be daylight to make me feel better. The realization that there are several hours of night left tends to make it worse.

This has been happening for 8 years now. They used to occur only occasionaly when on business trips, but now I am getting them at home very frequently.

I haven't seen much information regarding night time attacks of this nature. I'm not really sure if these fit the classic defination of panic or not. (I don't feel like my heart is racing, I never get an irritable stomach, etc).

cassi23
07-12-07, 11:49
I'm so glad i've just found this thread!

Last night for the very first time i believe i had a night time panick attack.

I woke very suddenly from a deep sleep with my heart racing and pounding and i felt so jumpylike i had to just get up and move.

Managed to calm myself with a stress stone. Was a truely horrible experience though, another new one to add to my ever growing list.

cassi

joy
07-12-07, 12:16
whats a stress stone?

Joy

fork n knife
07-12-07, 17:54
I to have woken up in the middle of the night confused,heart racing,dizzy
and short of breath,It was the most scariest thing ever.I have suffered
a fair few of these attacks so i'm used to them now but they are still scary.

All the Best F'n'K

Gunz
21-12-07, 11:06
I just woke up from a full blow attack, heart racing, sweating, dizzy, light headed, tingly feet, felt like a sure heart attack...

i'm on medication, klonopin and lexapro and this is my first full blow PA since the medication which i been on for a month now, feel defeated, the meds felt like my blanket and now the illness broke through them.

PS: 90% of all my PA's have been during the night time, woken up just like you, its now 5am, i was woke up around 4am tonight with one.

NaturalMed529
12-01-09, 02:36
Greetings

A few things you may want to look into. I had panic attacks quite often. Stops for about 6 months, then come back. I had a hair sample done and it revealed a problem with my thyroid and adrenal glands. Usually when you have problem with one, you will with the other. The thyroid and adrenals work together. My test also revealed that i was "stressed to the limit" which depletes your body of some major things such as
1- Magnesium (oh oh oh sooooo important to have proper magnesium levels in the body. Magnesium helps muscles to contract and aids with stress, nerves, constipation, high blood pressure, mood, kidneys, the heart; more than 350 chemical processes in the body)
2 - B vitamins (make sure you take a coenzyme B complex. B is depleted in the body with stress. Magnesium activates B)
3 - Food allergies such as wheat/gluten which can cause rapid heart-beating or panic attacks in some people like me. Delayed allergic reactions
4 - too much sugar especially in the evenings (btw, sugar also depletes magnesium)
5 - Dehydration, not enough water. Dehydration will cause panic attacks

Just a few items to look into. Hope this helps

Ryan
12-01-09, 11:10
Oh yes I get this... Usually with in the hour I've dropped off I'll wake up from sleep suddenly feeling very paniced, worried, short of breath and confused I don't feel real either and I cannot think straight for a few seconds it is like my brain is all over the place.

Very creepy experience!

pasta heaven
23-10-15, 02:58
Hi, this is my first post and as you can see tis the middle of the night. I'm on antibiotics for a mysterious illness doctor says is a virus, however I know that antibiotics don't work on viruses. It started with a very rapid heart beat 135 bpm, I was hot one minute and cold the next. Started almost 3 wks ago. Not been myself since really but getting on with things. Had ecg, chest x ray and bloods and all came back normal. Cat just woke me up and my husband woke up angry and my heart started racing again. He's gone back to sleep but my worries are starting all over again. I'm on citalopram 10 mg but tonight I doubled the dose and I'm starting to wonder if it's making me worse. Just reading all your problems make me realise that I am not alone, in fact letting this all out makes me feel better. Thanks all.