Panic after nap

[Barb]

Does anyone ever wake after a nap feeling very panicky . I have had it often over the years and I wonder why. Just now I was doing a tape and it had only been 10 minutes and I must have just dozed and I woke with a scream and felt really funny for a minute and had to sit up and distract myself to stop it turning into panic. Now I am really tired and on edge and I've got the family coming tonight as usual and I darent lay down again.

Rotten anxiety

Barb xxx

[seh1980]

hi Barb,

I think it makes sense to feel a little panicky after sleeping. I think it's because your mind is not yet fully conscious and it can sometimes feel like it does when feeling anxious or having a panic attack. There's nothing to worry about. I think it's just our minds mixing up the signals.

Sarah :D

"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal

[melanie]

hi barb you arent on your own there hun i have done it once or twice and i think its whenyou wake with a start and i think its first response to panic.hope it helps.
mel xx

melanie

[vernon]

hi barb, I get that real bad to especialy after i have my evening meal, I sit on sofa not realy meaning to drop of then have short naps and wake so scared each time. I also wake every morning so so frightened and shaking. Must be something to do with sleep?

[Barb]

thanks everyone I thought I was the only one that got it.

Vernon I find the nightime ones the worse,you get all comfy and relaxed on the sofa and fall asleep and wake up all weird and panicky not knowing how you will get up to bed. If Ifeel tired I watch tele in bed dont matter if you fall asleep then.
Mornings vary sometimes I am really panicky and sometimes not too bad.

Barb xxx

[carlin]

Hi Barb,
I'm exactly the same as vernon, i wake in the mornings so nervous and ugh! that even if i am exhausted from no sleep, i refuse to nap during the day because i'll wake feeling so awful again (once a day is enough) it's a shame, cos sometimes i so need to sit and chill but i'm too scared of waking and feeling awful, have no answers i'm afraid, just to let you know you're not alone. xxxx

[Barb]

Hi Carlin

Its a shame you cant nap when you are exhausted, I just have to, most of the time I am fine doing a tape, but in the evening I always wake up in panic nightmare!!!!

Barb xxx

[florence]

Hi Barb

I try not to have naps as I always feel either weird or panicky after..
I also get night terrors and nightmares occasionally . Not nice at all .
Take care.

Florence.

**Don't believe everything you think .**

[henri]

Hi Barb,
I get this too, usually after an afternoon nap. My panic has been getting much better recently, and sometimes i feel relaxed enough to fall asleep on the sofa, say on a saturday afternoon. then i wake up feeling terrible, like i'm going to panic. then i start worrying about the fact that i've had a long afternoon nap, how am i going to get to sleep tonight, etc.
My only way of dealing with it is to get ready and leave the house, go and do something to just distract myself, go for a walk or whatever to exert myself a bit so i'm tired in the evening.
Anyway, you are definitely not alone with this!
Henri x

[mjh74]

Oh yes Barb!

I get this a lot and have for as long as I can remember even when I thought my anxiety levels were very low. I would only have to drop off for a couple of minutes and wake up with a pounding heart feeling really grotty. Infact it happened to me the day before yesterday.

Mark

[Barb]

Thanks everyone,its really helped to know I am not the only one to get this, perhaps it wont panic me so much in future.

Barb xxx

[SickofIt]

That's why I don't take naps!!

Doesn't it stink having to re-arrange your life so you can't even take a nap without dealing with this? Ugh.

[SFAOK]

Yes I get this too. Also, sometimes (it really doesn't corrolate to anxiety levels) I'll be trying to go to sleep but when I drift off my body won't let me, and I 'jump' and I'll get a wave of anxiety through me. It was perticularly bad one evening - I literaly fell asleep 10 or so times, each time waking up with a jolt. Not nice :(

[beavermatic]

i used to get these after napping, but for the past few years, not anymore...

I was told that having too much sleep can cause migraines/more tiredness/and anxiety... saying you slept a decent amount the night before and slept for a few hours or so for a nap, that can stack upto quite a bit of sleep for one day.

naps recharge your system, awakening from them sometimes you may feel lightheaded, dizzy, "walking-on-air" druggy effect... something your mind is not ready for at that time of day, which may reflect an echo of fear in the subconscious or mimic a feeling or thought you had during a panic attack (lightheadness, unreality, europhia) and feed you anxiety after waking up... It's too much rush for the head. Coffee, Soda (especially Diet soda's), large amounts of caffeine/sugar can do the same and actually increase the severity and occurance of panic attacks and anxiety for different reasons as well.