Dear Farrier~
Welcome to the Forum. I guess it is testimony to how bad things become that you have come here. It would not have been easy, but is good step to take.
There's a couple of questions I'd like to ask. I don't just want to give you general stuff but would like to offer specific advice from my own experiences, however to do that I guess I need a little more information if that was OK.
First are you in the military or have you been? As an ex-policeman I found an awful lot of my nightmares were tied up in my previous occupation.
The other thing of course is have you sought any medical help for this situation, with those panic attacks , nightmares and a very understandable fear of going to sleep? I too suffered from this for a long time, however between competent medical help and medication, plus therapy these are now greatly improved.
Panic attacks, fortunately now rare for me, do seem like a heart attack, however in my case have simply been very frightening and not a symptom of anything other than an overdeveloped "flight or fight" reaction.
Apart from medical support do you have anyone in your life who cares and you can talk with about this? I found not having to try to keep it hidden and have another's viewpoint a real help.
It would be great if you came back and said more
Croix
