Panic Attack during sleep

[Shannon Wyatt]

Question to the group:  Does anyone wake up during a panic attack?  I think I do.  When I wake up in the morning, I'm trembling and shaking with sweaty palms and cold feet -- and racing heart.  Standard symptoms of a panic attack.  Anyone else?  Thanks!

[louwho72]

I use to get them during the night, I would wake up in a state of panic every night, I got to a place where I didnt want to go to sleep.. Now the morning time is bad for me, I dont have a panic attacks like I use to, but I have anxiety and the feeling of doom every morning...
It will go away, but it just takes time.
Sorry to hear you are going through this.

[magen7984]

Yes! i wake up in the middle of the night like i had a horrible dream. and such a large feeling of doom like something really bad happend. It dosent happen much anymore like 2-3 times a year. But i know  how you feel

[suzi-q]

Yes, I used to wake up EVERY morning with those symptoms...it was TERRIBLE....my doctor then put me on buspar in conjunction with my paxil.  Those tremors and heart racing has gone away....still get a little nauseous every morning, but nothing compared to how bad it used to be...best to you!

[kel882]

I wake up almost every night sometimes more then one time feeling like I'm going to die.  I wake up gasping for air, heart racing, and I run out of my room.  It happens when I am just falling asleep, not during REM.  I have such anxiety about going to sleep I toss and turn for hours worrying about these attacks.  I feel like I'm going to die or that I'm having a heart attack, I know its Irrational, and my heart is fine, but I can't shake the feeling.  My chest constantly feels tight and I CONSTANTLY worry about my anxiety.

[tommylee333]

i get that it s a horrible feeling.God bless you.

[john248]

I have had the same problems. I was surprised to find out I have about 8 of the 10 symptoms of sleep apnea. Racing heart, vivid dreams, feel terrible when about to dose off. It's even worse when I have a bad day and I'm mentally tired. My heart doctor said I'm fine and asked if I snored, and woke up with a racing heart. I took a sleep test and i'm not (for insurance purposes) in a full blown apnea. I bought the cpap myself and I sleep better and have almost no dreams and no more racing heart when I wake. My regular doctor said was only stress. most doctors don't ever think of sleep disorders. Just a long shot but it helped my stress a lot.

[sandra151167]

I suffer from anxiety but when I wake in the morning i feel I cant breath then I cough and start to heave after a minute or two im fine is this  a panic attack from  sleeping is it possible

[no_sleep8]

Everynight I wake up with my heart racing, problems breathing, a feeling of nervousness, and dry mouth. PANIC ATTACKS! I need help I really want this to stop.

[nonnie82]

Yes!!! Ive been researching sleep panic attacks cause im getting older and im embarrassed that this happens once in a blue. I wake up mid sleep feeling half my muscles are numb, and confused and so scared like I wanna cry. But im always confused after it passes as to why I was scared. I cant breathe,sweating and I usually run around lost, confused and I always smack myself so hard trying to wake myself up> I pull my hair, I sometimes take off my clothes. I do alot but still thinking Im going to DIE! Then all of a sudden it ends and Im still scared but ill fall right back to sleep if i dont think about it. 7 years of this!

What the hell do I do if im with someone and this happens!!!

[cmur06]

Hello Shannon.  The same thing used to happen to me when I wasn't on medication/starting medication.  I would just about mid sleep and all of the sudden i would wake up in fear, heart racing, i would jump out of bed but my body would be so numb i would fall over.  It scared me to death, however, I was always somehow able to calm myself down and go back to bed with no problems after that which was always so weird to me.

I do not know if you suffer from anxiety/panic attacks in the day time too, but my psychiatrist told me it is totally possible to have them while you're asleep especially if you constantly have that anxiety feeling, or sometimes we get so used to the anxiety that it can happen in our sleep.  It is quite a scary thing, but as you can see there is quite a few of us who have had or have the same problem you do.  I hope it all works out well for you, just know you're not alone :)