Fear of dying

[br2509]

Has anyone ever had a pantic attack or anxiety attack and afraid to go to bed at night because you are afraid you will not wake up ever since i had my pantic attack about a month ago i am so scared i cant sleep at night i am afraid i will go to bed and not wake up i am scared of dieing ever since i had this attack i feel afraid...Is this normal or not

[Misternobody]

My fear usually compounds because a feeling of "unfinished business" and I often obsess about the lives of my wife and kids if they lost me early in their young lives. Losing my life insurance and job don't aid in that. I replay all the news stories and the experiences of people close to me that I feel were taken too soon, and know that pure numbers are against me. Monitored sleep is one of the only things that brings comfort to me, but it often irritates my wife and she doesn't understand my fear. I am so jealous, she can treasure and wants her sleep. Health issues and no insurance for the past few years also puts my brain in an extra panic of uncertainty. I also lost my insurance after having the luxury of several years of available healthcare. I try to meditate and take some solace in my lifetime ability to short sleep. I rarely slept more than five hours a night before I knew this panic. Recently, I have tried to adopt an "each day is a gift"  or for the country-western fans "live like you were dyin" attitude. With a refocused effort to try better myself everyday, at bedtime I tell my self, " What the hell do I have to lose,, did my best today, and if it is the end, I can be at peace with myself and concence. And in rhyme,  If I'm going to not wake up anyway, make the most of everyday. Cheesy, but has made great improvement to the whole of my life, and maybe someday beyond. Hope the rambling helped, it did me.  

[kraftygirlz]

Hello, this is my first time reading these post and I am amazed that I am not alone. I have been have night attacks on & off for several weeks and the past week nightly. I am a mom of two teenagers and basically a single mom during the week as my husband works out of town Mon thru Fri. I also work for a Dr. And do feel a lot of pressure since its Doc and I to do it all. Pressure is a ubder statement for work, home and private lid e. Reading the previous messages made me believe this can all be contributing to my anxiety. When we are in it we don't know why its happenening but until I heard what others had to say itakes sense now. Now I must find a way to take one thing at a time and rwalize that I am one and I need to just relax and take one step at a time. Thank you for your post and for listening to my. ★Kraftygirlz

[howsitgoing8335]

i am 20 and always afraid of dying and alot of it at night i dont know why just want normal life back if anyone is got help please let me know

[yaisha]

I am 31 had a mild heart attack now I'm afraid to sleep for fear I wont live I'm afraid to take any pill or anything because I don't want it to mess with my heart while I'm sleeping

[xoxo_05]

I have the exact problem. My fear of death was so bad it was controlling my life. I finally went to see a specialist and got on the right medication and it helped tremendously.

[amandaelmo]

i too have that fear off and on, more on lately than off, i have also become afraid of leaving the house after dark for fear of skunks or other animals, i dont know if thats related they r both wweird. as for the sleep thing, nothing helps, i usually put on music ad try not to think about it when i awake in the morning i think ok didnt die after all, just try to distract self w tv or music, that will help

[rilesnic]

Because I am not afraid of death, just dying, I do not mind going to sleep at night.  I think what panics me most is the process of dying.  Being a nurse, I have seen several people pass over and even several of my loved ones...the process was peaceful for some and not so peaceful for others..my grandmother actually passed in her sleep and I feel that would be the best way if it was my time. I too have an abnormal fear of dying and always have.  When my appendix ruptured when I was 16 I asked the doctor if I was going to die, the fear became much worse after I had children, and then losing my mom when I was 29.  A panic attack can sure make you feel like you're dying, and I agree that exercise really helps in minimizing these situations.  If you do have an attack, you should get up and move around when it hits, even if it's the middle of the night, to get rid of that extra adrenaline.

[cinciti]

When I started having panic attacks, I didn't know what was going on so I when to the doctor to try and find out what was wrong.  I was told I had gastro-esophageal reflux (acid reflux).  I took the meds the doc prescribed and followed orders to avoid certain foods (spicy, greasy) and alcohol and caffeine.  When I still had symptoms after that, I went to the emergency room four times in one week because I thought I was going to die!  The doctor on my first visit brought it to my attention that I shouldn't be so worried about dying at 18 years old (I am now 29).  He told me it was most likely anxiety.

So I had a new diagnosis- read a lot about it and that seemed to help.  Another thing that helped me a lot when trying to avoid the emergency room after that week I mentioned above-  I had to tell myself "I am ready to die".  It really helped me get more sleep instead of worrying about dying.  I have been having less and less panic attacks since then... and very rarely get them at night time anymore.  I think it took some time to be more aware of my somatic symptoms that come with anxiety.

I still get panic attacks to this day, but I just respond differently to them.  Exercise definitely helps!

[raechill]

In the past few weeks Ive been feeling afraid while sleeping the fear of death keeps me awake. Ill feel tired and doze off but at some point usually between 2 and 4 am I wake up restless. I feel mild chest pain and  always the feeling that my heart is going to stop. This is truley a teriifying experience and is hard to talk my mind out of. Ill change positions and sometimes that helps but as soon as I start to doze off again my mind will snap awake. As if the feeling of falling asleep is really me slipping into death. So this goes on over and over throughout each night until I either finally get up and stay up or take a sleeping pill which puts me out. Im in over all good health although I have boarderline hypertension which is controlled with meds. This fear of dyeing has always been there as long as I can remeber but very subtle it never interfeared with sleep before so Im not sure whats going on. Help if you can;)

[innerchild09]

That used to happen to me when I 1st got anxiety. I used to be scared I would die from it. Expecially when I would hyperventalate. I still hate that feeling and it scares me but I don't think I would die from it. I get the same feeling when I wake up. I think man why did I have to wake up today. But when I 1st had anxiety I feared the death thing cuz it made me feel like I was dying. So I know how that feels.

[baylynn]

You just described my life every single night. I never look forward to sleep because of it. I sometimes dont even get sleep.

[EroToo]

Used to happen to me.  Now I pray I can fall asleep so my breathing will go back to normal.   Until I wake up in the middle of the night and have a panic attack.  Middle of the night panic attacks started with me a few months ago.  Always something new.

[Maudejolie]

Yes ! it happens to be quite often. Those fear are unreal, just like the fear of "going crazy" loosing your mind. when i feel that way, i usually put something on to watch...like a nature documentairy, something calm that i watch...just the sound brings me comfort and i slowly fall asleep...and guess what, i always wake up in the morning. When you feel that way, remind yourself that you are healthy, nothing is wrong with you , you will wake up just like any other day :)

[onkarb]

i went through the same thing as you and although it is difficult to deal with and still am, but i reassure you as long as your heathy, nothing will happen, its just your mind playing tricks, if you need anything feell free to message me

[Hensley258]

I used to get that often, but after almost two decades of dealing with massive Anxiety and depression I often pray that I will not wake up. Sometimes nowdays, I will actually get pissed off in the morning as a wake and realize I am still alive.

I know that sounds sick, but after so long with this constant torment I guess I have just lost my fear of death simply because the condition to me is worse than death.

[br2509]

Thank you..

[KalmKidd2009]

yes this is a very common symptom. though i no longer have this fear i def have had it in the past. you must overcome it. tell yourself hey '' i felt like this last night and im here today'' theres nothing physically  wrong that would stop you from waking up. stop it while ur ahead. say i know im gonna get this feeling and im not gonna let it effect me.

and yes of course its normal for people with anxiety anxiety can do ANYTHING cause your Mind can do anything and your mind is THAT POWERFUL.. good luck.