Nocturnal panic attacks

[dontworrybehappy91]

I have been having panic attacks late at night. Majority of the time I am asleep and I wake up possessed by an attack. My heart races and I go completely in to flight mode.

I haven't been on my anti anxiety medication for months now. 

But tomorrow I am going to be courage and go to the doctor and get a new script.

I know this won't help my attacks but what else can I do.

I have become a lot better at managing my attacks. But they are always at night time now and I wake up confused.

Does anyone else experience this?

It is a horrible thing to happen.

I hope someone can feel comfort knowing that someone else is going through the a similar experience.

Because I will, I decided to make an account and connect with people today. Because I'm starting to get scared to sleep at night and the only person who can help me is myself.

[joeljoel]

Hey dontworrybehappy 

I too am new to the forums and I find it helpful to read that others experience the same sensations as I do, it is a great comfort to me to know that I am not alone. 

I have experienced panic attacks before too and I know how debilitating they can be. Are yours occurring during dreams? Also were you experiencing this when you were on medication? 

Joel. 

[dontworrybehappy91]

Thanks for replying to my thread mate.

I did experience attacks during night time when I was on my meds. But not as intense and as often as I do now. 

When I first originally started taking my medication I was very skeptical and weiry about being on medication.

I studied mental health just before I was diagnosed with anxiety.. The irony of it.

Anyway I took all of my 6 months script. And I did feel a lot better. Maybe about 4 months later I started feeling anxious more often and over smaller things.

I do have a whole lot going on in my life and it is Def out of my character to be the one asking for help or being so vulnerable.

My younger brother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and my dad is elderly and I try to care for them both.

Sometimes I feel selfish because I know my brother has it worse and dad is getting older. That my problems are insignificant.

I don't know if that makes sense.

I find it hard leaving the house . . Especially alone.

I'm glad you found comfort and have related in a way with what you read.

Thanks

[dontworrybehappy91]

And sometimes I could be in the middle of a dream .. but most of the time it is almost like my worries that trigger my anxiety come into my dream. Almost like a thought that I worry about. Then that is when I wake up.

A lot of the time it has a lot to do with death.

[joeljoel]

You shouldn't feel selfish for having anxiety even if your brother and father have it worse than you. Sometimes when it comes to dealing with issues like anxiety you have to be a little selfish to overcome it. I know when I was at my worst I would work to comfort everyone but myself, help everyone but myself and that wasn't helping. I know you are in a different situation so that might make it a little more difficult for yourself. 

When you say you find it hard leaving the house alone what do you mean? Are you the type of person that fears loneliness and needs constant company or is it more a cerebral fear of feeling out of control in place that you can't control (i.e. not your house). 

Also I know what is like to have panic attacks triggered by small things but I have never really experienced them during dreams so unfortunately I do not know what to say when it comes to that. Have you ever considered therapy? That might be helpful. 

Joel. 

[Neil_1]

Dear don’tworrybehappy (was almost going to call you "Bobby McFerrin", as he sang that song back in the day)  🙂

Firstly, LOVE the name you’ve given yourself – that’s a very up-five and positive message that you’re sending from the get-go.

Are you finding that you’re doing certain things before bedtime that could be linking you with these panic attacks?   Ie:  watching certain programs on the teev, or playing different kinds of computer games, etc?   You know, things that could be sitting in your subconscious and then coming out to play when you drop off to sleep?

Another thought I have had is with food.   I’ve heard or read somewhere that sometimes people can have strange reactions to different kinds of food (or drink) that they have before bedtime – it’s just a suggestion, but just something I thought I’d raise.

Not sure if any of this helps at all, but I hope even a tiny bit it might.

Neil

[Mindful_Advocate]

Hi there

You are not alone.  I have had dreadful night-time panic attacks in the past, associated with me changing anti-depressant medication.  At these times I have been the most vulnerable to panic attacks and interrupted sleeping.

Take heart from the fact that, since consolidating my medication, I can't remember the last time that I had an attack.

[dragon52]

I too suffer from night time panic attacks. They are considerably worse when I drink alcohol. I usually wake regularly at 1 - 2am   with my heart racing......it's horrible. My problem is that I regularly drink too much so the night time panic attacks happen a lot. I find that a healthy diet and plenty of exercise really help, and of course abstinence of the wine. The secret for me is to wear myself out physically with exercise.