Adrenaline rush when trying to fall asleep

[Sweetpea0290]

Hi, my partner has been having terrible trouble falling asleep, he complains of feeling a huge surge of adrenaline just as he is about to drift to sleep, this can continue for quite a while until he is so exhausted his body has no choice but to sleep.(this feeling is not associated with any physical twitching or jerking of muscles or limbs)
He has fairly recently stopped taking citalopram which was prescribed to alleviate anxiety which he was diagnosed with many years ago.
Could this problem he is experiencing when trying to sleep be SSRI discontinuation syndrome? If so, is there anything you could recommend to relieve this unpleasant symptom?

[nfehily]

wow, i thought i was the only 1 to experience this, a total cliche but true. i havent had this for ages now but used to suffer every night, i think i was very sensitive to the chemicals that send me to sleep being released into my brain,  i felt that i could literally feel them being released and it caused an electrical kind of rush from my toes right up to the top of my head and it would make me immediately sit bolt upright. sometimes it could happen 4, 5, 6 times per night  and was awful. i have tried citalopram for anxiety attacks that i was suffering from and i stopped abusing alcohol and cocodamol tablets and i havent had this symptom now over a year. Good luck all.

[johnsmith130]

The lucid dreaming idea is why I looked this up. I have no anxiety. This happened to me the first time and it freaked me out, so i jolted myself awake...the second time i just rode with it, and i ended up falling asleep within a minute or so. My theory is that it's like a little DMT or something: http://*****************/question/index?qid=20100124210226AAB9aEQ being released early in your sleep cycle. It's like a massive drug rush, which is exactly what i thought it felt like. Again, i just didn't panic about the feeling and i ended up falling asleep.

[Terror_Teddy]

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to ask/tell the doctor? It feels like  no one will listen, but not being able to sleep because of this sometimes makes me want to "off myself" (which I wont..).

It's been about 2 months of this for me and I really don't want this to last years. I am starting to avoid sleep all together.

[alamosa]

How long did it take after you started the diet for the attacks to end?

[Mmm27]

Does anyone get pain un the stomach area and feel like an urge to poop with the adrenaline rush ? I have the same, it's as if I wake up startled just un the nik of time not to die. Only when I drift off to bed. My eyes get heavy and if I let myself fall asleep I get that surge thing. In super scared and am alone with my daughter too. Happens once or twice a month ( past 4 months). I'm anemic taking iron and have gastrititis not sure if it has anything to do with it. I think I have anxiety under control but perhaps not. I stress over a lot of things. Mostly my health

[WileyWiggins]

I've experienced the described symptomes about 2 weeks ago for the first time. When it happens it's like drifting into sleep at full consciousness. I get the feeling of something flooding my brain (like some kind of drug) and I get aware of the sleeping paralysis spreading out through my whole body. THAT'S THE MOMENT the choking feeling starts and NOW the adrenaline is flooding and I wake up again.
After the first time happening this to me, I've searched the internets for similar reports and found people describing the same symptomes. Some of them said they had this for many years and it appeared very infrequent. So I understood that it's nothing too serious and the MOST IMPORTANT THING IS NOT TO GET OBSESSED WITH IT.
So every now and then it happens to me and after 2-4 wakeups I guess the adrenaline kicks get weaker and I fall asleep just fine. AND EVEN BETTER: I figured out it can be another DOOR FOR LUCID DREAMING. If you don't know what that is: go research! It can be so much fun! And watch the movie "Waking Life". Good night & sweet dreams!