Wake up in middle night panic

[KateS10]

Anyone else just wake up in middle of night and have panic attack . My current situation. It’s 2 am and I am wide awake in a complete panic attack. For no apparent reason .... WHY !!!!!!!!

[Hidden]

Hello

Anxiety and panic attacks regretfully can join us anywhere even when we are sleeping !

The best thing to do is accept it is happening , wait for it to pass , do not over think it and give it more control , know this won't harm you even though unpleasant and happens to so many of us

I hope by the time you read this it has passed and you have managed to get some sleep and feel better

Take Care x

[KateS10 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you ! It’s so so hard to accept it and move on . I have all the physical symptoms and it’s just terrifying , especially during middle of night . I did try my best and I fell back asleep about an hour later . It’s just so frustrating that this can just be and just happen like this out of the blue 🥺

[Hidden in reply to KateS10]

I know , it does though and the more frustrated we get unconsciously it can be on our minds and that can trigger them of even when we are asleep

The less importance we give them as horrible as they are they will subside

Glad you got another hour or so sleep x

[KateS10 in reply to Hidden]

How do you fight through it ?? Do you have any coping skills that you use . I try to do deep breathing. In through nose out in belly ... but I am always so congested I feel I can’t get a good breath in .

[Hidden in reply to KateS10]

Don't fight it , that gives it power , that tells are minds it is something to fear and feeds the attack ....tell yourself ...OK I know what you are and I know what you are doing come on do your worse and lets get it over with , accept it and then it does not feel a threat as such , these things take some practice but as time goes on we get better at it

If you go on You Tube there are so many Relaxation demo's maybe trying those before you go to bed could help to x

[KateS10 in reply to Hidden]

Even when the heart races up to 130’s+!!! That’s what is more scary and telling me to drive to the ER !!!

[Hidden in reply to KateS10]

Your heart will rate will go up when having a anxiety attack but look you are still here so that shows what caused it an anxiety attack and nothing else x

[KateS10 in reply to Hidden]

You are right I am still here ... still fighting it . I took a Xanax about 40 mins ago and still fighting :(. BUT , if this was a heart attack or something going on with my heart I guess I would have more symptoms??????

[Hidden in reply to KateS10]

Stop fighting it and accept this is anxiety , go on you tube and look up relaxation or anxiety and try some of the videos out to try and relax you

I am not a Doctor so I can't give a diagnosis but if this has happened before which you say it has then chances this is a heart attack are about 1 in a million and I doubt you are that 1 x

[KateS10 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you !!! I will look up videos

[Richy626]

Yeah like they say don't focus on it and concentrate on it as much and this WILL stop happening when asleep, I used to get it all the time myself.

Don't fight how you're feeling go with it for as long as it takes and watch how powerless it is then, start asking the questions what is this actually doing to me? Let's see you actually do me some harm? How powerful really is this stress response? The answers will help you calm down, it's all an illusion there's nothing to fear beyond the illusion of your own making believe it or not (don't feel guilty or bad on yourself for that you've done nothing wrong) there are no bad feelings to come or any monster inside or outside of you coming to get you, no life threatening or mind destroying illness etc once you grasp that it will all stop.

You've just misinterpreted stress/anxiety as a threat.

Patience is also key especially with yourself it all takes times to learn and put into practice, therapy is a must in my opinion to help you on your way and quicken your process to recovering and no longer going through this.

Never give up 😊 there is no other option and that's the best thing.

[Lm92]

I'm not saying that my story is what you're experiencing, but I thought it might help. I have generalized anxiety disorder so when I started waking up in the middle of a panic attack almost every night, I just thought it was par for the course. Finally my doctor recommended I have a sleep study and they found I had mild sleep apnea and would wake up in a panic when my tongue would relax and slip backwards and inhibit breathing slightly. I was fitted for a mouthpiece to keep tongue from moving back and unless I forget to wear it, my anxiety during sleep has mostly gone away. The only time I have issues is when I have a nightmare really. Definitely speak with your doctor. Sometimes our body is just trying to make us pay attention for a reason.

[Agora1 in reply to Lm92]

Hi Lm x I'm happy your doctor was on top of the issue and found

the cause of your not sleeping well. Continued success with a good night's sleep. xx

[Nancyinoc458]

Hi KateS10, I feel your pain! I have a panic attack almost every night in the middle of the night! I hate it so much! I had one last night that lasted for about two hours. It’s so annoying, because I feel like something is seriously wrong with me when in actuality I know deep down inside that it’s just a panic attack. I am so over these things! I feel fairly OK during the day, so I don’t believe I’m actually sick. I have an aversion to medication so I don’t take anything right now. I took Zoloft for 1.5 years, but it made me feel like a zombie, so I quit taking it. I don’t have any solution to offer you, but I would just encourage you to keep pressing on. It’s just anxiety. As painful as it is, it won’t kill us. My heart was one speeding 200 beats a minute! I thought I would die! My doctor told me to just think about the fast heartbeat as being a workout, since beating fast is actually good exercise for the heart. That statement brought me some comfort, and I haven’t actually had a heartbeat that high since I spoke with my doctor about it. I’m so thankful for this forum! It makes me know that I’m not crazy. I’m sorry you’re suffering. You’re not alone. I’m glad you’re reaching out to this community !

[HealthAnxietyGuy]

I went through this a lot in the past few years. I finally discovered I have mild sleep apnea even though I'm not obese and do not snore. I now have a CPAP and sleep much better. The other issue was my gut was out of whack for decades due to many antibiotics when I was a child and teen. I've been using probiotics for about 4 months now and my anxiety and IBS is almost nonexistent. This after being diagnosed with panic disorder about 4-5 years ago. Anxiety and panic is not always just from your mind and stress. I believe it is often a symptom or reaction to something else going wrong with your body and your body's alert system is constantly going off because of it.

[KateS10 in reply to HealthAnxietyGuy]

This is all so interesting to know !!! I have been wondering myself if I may have sleep apnea !!! Thank you for advice!