nightime anxiety

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-28-2006
nightime anxiety
34
Sat, 10-28-2006 - 8:44pm
When I go to bed at nightime I always have an anxiety attack. It gets so bad I have to get out of bed, I feel like I am suffocating, I start sweating and have shallow breathing. Does any one else do this?
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2005
Tue, 11-07-2006 - 8:31am

Got this from the Insomnia Board:


 

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 11-07-2006 - 10:30am

Hello, JR! We're so happy you found us. You are NOT alone. Those nighttime panic attacks are very scary. Once that fear gets a grip on us, it's difficult to shake it lose. I posted earlier in this thread how I cope with nighttime anxiety. Amy has given you alot of great info. Also, there's meditation, belly breathing & other relaxation info in our *coping tips & tricks* folder below. It IS possible to learn coping techniques that will get you through. It takes practice

 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 11-07-2006 - 11:01am

Thx, Amy for posting this invaluable information.


If anyone wants too, they can click on the link in my Get Your ZZZZ's Community Challenge. I have been getting some new ideas in the daily e-mails. Good luck! (((hugs))) jan


 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Tue, 11-07-2006 - 9:05pm

Since the attacks have appeared since splitting with dh, I would think that therapy would be your best bet.

Sheri Ann

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2006
Wed, 11-08-2006 - 9:09am
Thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions. I am looking forward to trying some of these out and to getting some much needed sleep!
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2006
Tue, 12-12-2006 - 7:18am
I have been dealing with sudden panic attacks during the night or around the times when i am sleepy since last march. I thought at first i was having a heart attack, which sent me to my family doctor who did a stress test and xrays, everything was fine...I also have a giant brain aneurysm that was considered non-operable for 8 years,,with the hope that technology would catch up to my aneurysm.. after 8 years i can tell you it certainly wasnt't a thought to me anymore. My doctor suggested/insisted i go back to the interventional neurologist who might have come up with a plan,,,well i went back and my aneurysm has successfullly been taken care of by stenting and coiling. This still hasn't stopped the panic attacks and i never thought that was what they were about anyways, I see a psychiatrist for depression and she has had me put through a first series of sleep testing, which shows i have apnea,,i go for another sleep study tonight with the cpap. I am also on celexa, ativan, aspirin, clonapin and plavix. My panic attacks can wake me out of what i thought to be a sound sleep and i have learned to deal with them by breathing techniques,,,but i have the same symptons as you,,my chest hurts like someone is crushing it, the pain gets so bad even with the focusing and breathing that tears lsip down my face..I can go a week with nothing and then suddenly they return and i can have up to five a night. so i am following a step by step protocol, first the meds,,,which have changed several times, now the sleep study which shows I have apnea, and the next step will be to see if the cpap helps..if not, the deduction is that i may be having a series of a sort of seizures, not the kind like epilepsy but just that my brain waves are going a little crazy during my sleep modes and i don't know what they do with that. I my only wish is to stop having these attacks...I have gone through a lot in the last year and people keep saying its from the surgeries of the aneurysm, but my attacks have been happening well before i started to do any thoughts of the surgeries. if you have any insight into why these happen i would appreciate it. You are the only perso i have foundon the web or anywhere who sounds like your attacks mirror mine...severe panic attacks awakening from sleep...i wake up sometimes in the middle of the night withthem and won't go back to sleep because i am afraid i will have more, sick and TIRED of them... do feel free to write back
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 12-12-2006 - 11:08am

Hi! Just wanted to jump in here & welcome you to the board. I am very sorry to hear about your problems. Why you're having the panic attacks is a question we all have asked ourselves @ some time or another. Sadly, we rarely get an answer. For me, accepting the the fact that I have them, has helped me to re-focus & get some relief from the obssessive thinking.


I believe what some research supports, that we have a chemical imbalance which is triggered by stresses of illness, major life changes, losses such as death or traumatic situations. Many in our community post that their anxiety/panic became severe after they faced one or more of these situations. Some report being born worriers, but not all. There certainly is an emotional component to it. That is verified when people succeed in getting well with a combination of meds & therapy. It helped me.


For now, please don't think you are alone. There's lots of people with anxiety/panic. I have had the nighttime attacks so badly, that as soon as the sun went down & bedtime approached, I was a mess. I would get an awful pit in my stomach & get physically ill. To the point that like you, I was afraid to sleep. Lack of sleep just brought on more panic attacks. Once I was unable to sleep for 6 weeks. I was afraid to stay alone, so family & friends stayed with me. I couldn't shower, eat, walk or even see straight. It was a long road to recovery. I found that belly breathing practiced religiously became second nature & I was able to use it immediately upon awakening with an attack. Repeating positive affirmations & progressive relaxation also helped. I meditate daily. Reduce stress as much as I can. Eating well, exercising daily & following a sleep schedule keeps me in balance.


If you have time, check out our *coping tips & tricks* folder below. There are several pages, so be sure to click the MORE button. Join us in chats. We have one tonight. You CAN get better. You WILL move past this distressing time. Keep in touch. Good luck in your tests. GBU! (((hugs))) jan


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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2006
Tue, 12-12-2006 - 2:35pm
Wow...sounds like you are going through a lot. My mother has also dealt with panic attacks for years at night. She takes klonapin before bed now and she doesn't have them anymore, but as soon as she stops the klonapin they come back. I haven't sought out any treatment, and I am usually able to cope with them pretty well now with the breathing techniques but I do have those nights where I still get scared to death. I'm just so glad to know that there are other people out there going through the same thing and I am not alone with this. I have been under a ton of stress since I'm going through a divorce and trying to get back on my feet, so I'm hoping this gets better once my stress level goes down.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2006
Wed, 12-13-2006 - 11:40am
Thanks for letting me know I am not the mad woman i tried to beleive i wasn't...lol,,I can't imagine having these things for lifetimes..my sister has anxiety, which is pretty debilitating at times..but she has seen my panic attacks and she thanks her lucky stars she doesn't have them...I don't know which is worse. but for the sake of arguments they both really stink. Mine are weird in the sense that after i have them five minutes later i am fine, I refuse to let them keep me in the house or stop them from letting me do the things i need to do..i see my sister and i am like- no way! I take clonapin at night along with celexa and ativan during the day for the depression and panic attacks, but nothing really seems to work during the attacks but the deep breathing and then to focus on some really nice spots i've been to in this world
I did my second sleep study last night and unlike the other where they diagnosed me with apnea,( and i thought i had a great sleep with no attacks). I had two panic attacks with the cpap, and the sleep technician told me i probobly slept a maximum of 3 hours. I was in bed at 10 pm and awoken at 5am...so yeah it was a bad night,,again.she said even though i might have gotten three hours of sleep it wasn't real sleeep i never hit a deep sleep..damn, i thought the cpap would help. anyways whats the answer i have no clue,,,Thank you for your response once again, and i will hope that your nights are filled with angels watching over you... I will continue to nose around this website it is the only one i have found that actually TALKS about our experiences.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2006
Wed, 12-13-2006 - 12:06pm
thank you for writing me back and yes it is refreshing to know that there are many of us who suffer through this...I thought I was going crazy nevermind dying...It is something that does seems to run in families...there are 9 in my immediate family and of those my sister has always had anxiety, not to be confused with panic attacks...her anxiety can debilitate her to the point where she won't go anywhere without someone and then sometimes won't go at all. I felt bad for her as we all do and try to help her out and then bam out of the blue i start having these panic attacks last march...I too take clonapin at night and the doses seem to increase as the panic attacks don't stop, i also take celexa for depression and ativan to keep things on a level base all day..???? I have never been fearful of much of anything and am the type of person who just lets things roll of my back..but I obviously subconsciosly (sp?) am having some sort of stress problems, nothing significant has changed in my life that set this off..I had my brain aneurysm diagnosed 9 years ago and had it taken care of this summer,,,thank god everything went smooth as a cake. I can't blame the attacks on the aneurysm because they started well before any talk of repairing it this summer. My docs sent me to a sleep study about two months ago and found out i have apnea,,,,so they were thinking that the cut off of oxygen could be the culprit, but i went back lastnight for the second sleep study and had two attacks with the cpap on and had a terrible night..never hit a deep sleep stage all night. I am surprised that you can handle these attacks on your own, I swear to god i thought i was dying from them before i had stress tests done and chest xrays..and was finally diagnosed. but i do think that the only thing that does help me is to know what they are, that they will pass, and doing the deep breathing and imagery stuff helps enormously. I still wish though that there was an answer to the why's? Thank you again, I am releived to know that i am doing just about as much as anyone else can do to try to get over these hurdles...this website is great it is the only one i have found where people actually are talking about what they are living rather than the generalized "what a panic attack" is and symptoms pages. we know what they are but how do you handle the damn things...Praying for angels to watch over you...thanks again.