Waking up at night

[Abc0710]

Does anyone else’s anxiety keep waking them up at night? It usually happens as soon as I fall asleep -within an hour. It almost feels like a panic attack but not full blown. Like as soon as you are just starting to fall asleep your body twitch/jerk and you open your eyes with fast heartbeat. I calm down quickly right after that but now I’m scared to fall back asleep. Night time is when my health anxiety starts, don’t know why. Now I’m worried something is wrong with my heart. I have not had anxiety for like a good month now it just creeps up out of nowhere if so, what helps to avoid this ? This is like third day now.

 

[Jonathan123]

Does anyone else’s anxiety keep waking them up at night? It usually happens as soon as I fall asleep -within an hour. It almost feels like a panic attack but not full blown. Like as soon as you are just starting to fall asleep your body twitch/jerk and you open your eyes with fast heartbeat. I calm down quickly right after that but now I’m scared to fall back asleep. Night time is when my health anxiety starts, don’t know why. Now I’m worried something is wrong with my heart. I have not had anxiety for like a good month now it just creeps up out of nowhere if so, what helps to avoid this ? This is like third day now.

This is not uncommon in anxiety. Sleep is so often one of the first things to be affected. It's becuse there are no distractions in your mind. Laying in bed at night all the negative thoughts seem to surface and it is difficult to go back to sleep. They come thick and fast like a herd of elephants! so that we can often awake in a panic. The mind senses danger although there actually is no danger, so the body responds accordingly.
It is sometimes best to get up and make a hot drink until you calm down. You will always calm down becuse panic always has a limited life when it uses all the available adrenaline
Stop fighting 'IT'. Stop trying to get rid of 'IT'. Any form of resistance will only make matters worse. By resistance I mean all the 'OMG's' and the 'What ifs'. Deep breaths and let it pass over you like a wave of water. Accept it totally without comment. If insomnia becomes a problem see your GP. There are a lot of remedies available these days to deal with it. Are you on medication?
Only take medicines approved by your doctor. Self diagnosis and self medication can be dangerous in anxiety. Allow yourself time to calm down. This is not just theory on my part. Been there! I finally came out of it by acceptance. It takes time and a lot of practise but it can be done given the will.

 

[Ms.Honey]

I get this often. I’ve been using a sleep meditation podcast to fall asleep and when I wake up in a panic at whatever time, I just throw it back on. It’s been working for now

 

[Abc0710]

This is not uncommon in anxiety. Sleep is so often one of the first things to be affected. It's becuse there are no distractions in your mind. Laying in bed at night all the negative thoughts seem to surface and it is difficult to go back to sleep. They come thick and fast like a herd of elephants! so that we can often awake in a panic. The mind senses danger although there actually is no danger, so the body responds accordingly.
It is sometimes best to get up and make a hot drink until you calm down. You will always calm down becuse panic always has a limited life when it uses all the available adrenaline
Stop fighting 'IT'. Stop trying to get rid of 'IT'. Any form of resistance will only make matters worse. By resistance I mean all the 'OMG's' and the 'What ifs'. Deep breaths and let it pass over you like a wave of water. Accept it totally without comment. If insomnia becomes a problem see your GP. There are a lot of remedies available these days to deal with it. Are you on medication?
Only take medicines approved by your doctor. Self diagnosis and self medication can be dangerous in anxiety. Allow yourself time to calm down. This is not just theory on my part. Been there! I finally came out of it by acceptance. It takes time and a lot of practise but it can be done given the will.

This makes a lot of sense. I need to stop googling for symptoms when I’m panicking- because I went to a rabbit hole after that! I WAS on duloxetine earlier this year for few days but I got bad experience from it. Had chest pain, heart palpitations/ 150 bpm that the nurse had to call in paramedics. Of course they didn’t find anything on the ekg but because of this I’m too afraid to start a new med!

I get this often. I’ve been using a sleep meditation podcast to fall asleep and when I wake up in a panic at whatever time, I just throw it back on. It’s been working for now

Okay glad to know I’m not the only one. Thank you!

 

[Joetaylor]

Hello! I totally understand. I first went through this a few years ago and it made me terrified of sleep. Eventually I had to be put on Lexapro and Seriquol and that helped me sleep and not feel those jerks or adrenaline rushes.
I got confident and came off both those medications and was having no problem sleeping for like another year or so.
THEN…….last week it started happening again and it’s flipped my world upside down. After a few days of crappy sleep and all that cortisol on my body I’m stuck in a hypersensitive state. Affecting my hr and blood pressure even.
I just started back on my meds two days ago, i am sleeping some but still having a lot of anxiety. I hope this medicine catches up and I can have my life back. I totally understand what you’re going through and hope you find some rest soon!

 

[Abc0710]

Hello! I totally understand. I first went through this a few years ago and it made me terrified of sleep. Eventually I had to be put on Lexapro and Seriquol and that helped me sleep and not feel those jerks or adrenaline rushes.
I got confident and came off both those medications and was having no problem sleeping for like another year or so.
THEN…….last week it started happening again and it’s flipped my world upside down. After a few days of crappy sleep and all that cortisol on my body I’m stuck in a hypersensitive state. Affecting my hr and blood pressure even.
I just started back on my meds two days ago, i am sleeping some but still having a lot of anxiety. I hope this medicine catches up and I can have my life back. I totally understand what you’re going through and hope you find some rest soon!

Ugh sorry to hear that, you’re right they just come and go. One month it’ll be controlled and be fine but the next month I’m up worrying. Sigh.