rapid HR and pounding just before I fall asleep is making me too scared to sleep

[stupidtrashrat]

hi all. as im typing this im struggling to stay awake, so I really. Hope this at least somewhat coherent

suffered with anxiety for a long time. that includes health anxiety and panic attacks. ill mention this at the beginning for context; my dad had a massive heart attack in his sleep in December and went into CA; after me and a paramedic giving him CPR he’s recovered (was down for 19 minutes) but it left me with PTSD and has brought my health anxiety back.

ive been having a LOT of physical anxiety symptoms since then. first ectopic beats, which after getting 24 hour tapes, being in A&E a couple times etc, was told that everything is perfectly fine with my heart.

i also get panic attacks. these haven’t been TOO frequent, until recently.

or at least, ive been told they’re panic attacks. what happens is that when i go to sleep, half an hour or so later i wake up and my heart starts racing. sometimes im not fully asleep, im in that state of being, half asleep? but yeah, my heart rate will soar to between 160-180, it’ll be POUNDING in my chest, i get lightheaded and my hands will go numb etc. it settles after 10 minutes max, maybe a little sooner than that (although it feels like an eternity lol). after the first one there was around a week or so gap before it happened again, which is when i called 111 and went to hospital after a clinician said he wanted to get me checked for SVT. my bloods and ECG came back fine and the doctor told me these were panic attacks.

it didn’t happen again that night, but it happened the next night. stopped fairly quickly because i was able to force myself to use breathing exercises. 2 nights later it happened again; initially i was able to slow it quite quickly, but after a minute or so it picked up again, not as fast as it had been but i ended up getting bad pain in my chest that radiates to my arm which made me really think I was dying lol. it went down after maybe ten-fifteen minutes. every night since then (4 nights now) it’s happened. always around half an hour after ive laid down to sleep and just as i fall asleep.

ive called my GP about it and they also said it sounds like panic attacks. the rational part of me tells me that’s true, but the anxiety keeps telling me something is seriously wrong. when it happens i am TERRIFIED that my heart is going to suddenly stop. i was prescribed propanalol 10mg a couple months back for the ectopics i was getting, and after seriously siking myself up, i was able to take one last night at 10pm. around 4am i tried to go to sleep and i woke up with the same feeling again.

its left me at the point where i am genuinely scared to go to sleep. as im typing this, it’s 5am. i am exhausted, and my eyes keep closing, but i am absolutely terrified of going to sleep just to wake up with this again. i don’t know what to do or how to cope with this. if it’s anxiety and/or PTSD related, i don’t know how long it’ll take to receive therapy, all I know is that the waiting list is long and i was referred in February. if something physical is going on, then i can’t get help because everyone keeps telling me it’s just panic attacks. it’s making my life miserable; my dad gets annoyed at me for waking him up when this is happening, i am so tired and depressed, and I can’t get any help until im at the top of the waiting list.

i honestly just really needed to get this off my chest. i am so so scared and i hate this so much.

[Sparkling_Fairy]

I'm so sorry to hear this! Also sorry no one has responded yet, I didn't see this post until now and I know how scary heart things can be!
I have bad cardiophobia, I think it's the 'cause of like 90% of my anxiety. So I can't really help you in that sense. Although I've had racing hearts for like 10 years and it never stopped. But that doesn't mean I don't think it will every time it happens

My GP ended up putting me on Propranolol and it's honestly changed my life. I don't recommend people to just go on it, talk to your doctor first. But I take the 80mg slow release daily and I haven't had a racing heart in a year. There are also instant release tablets at a lower dose though which I think is more recommended for anxiety. I take it both for prevention of migraines and anxiety so the slow release is a better option for me.
Maybe ask them about it. I've been able to get past all my anxiety symptoms and accept them for what they are, except for heart stuff. It's just too scary

[Flapj]

hi all. as im typing this im struggling to stay awake, so I really. Hope this at least somewhat coherent

No one has said it yet: good job saving your dad's life!!! What a traumatic thing to experience. Your efforts surely led to his survival.


What you are describing - the waking up with a racing, pounding heart, is classic panic. I have experienced it multiple times. It's a shame it happens *after* you fall asleep because it is definitely a rude awakening.

The only sure thing I have found that helps is benzodiazapines (klonopin) taken only when needed. I try to avoid them because they are habit forming. Luckily I only need one maybe once or twice a year.

Ironically, a lack of sleep is likely to make your heart palpitations worse.

Have you thought about therapy to address your traumatic experience? That will likely help your panic episodes. Maybe breathing and relaxation exercises before bed.