Nighttime Panic Attacks?

[harris5998]

Does anyone suffer from nightime panic attacks? Like, having nightmares and waking up feeling panicky every so often? Or just waking up nervous with your heart racing and body trembling? Some nights this happens multiple times per night, other nights (usually when I take Xanax before bed) it doesn't happen at all. It's very upsetting. I just did not know a person could wake up in the middle of a panic attack, I have enough of them during the day!

[petalsmum]

I am the mother of two adult children who have had panic attacks for years. As far as I have read no one seems to have a solution. Self help or medication, physological help maybe can aleviate the symptoms but they don't get rid of them and medications have side effects.
Now we all have something that causes us grief. Yours is the panic, with others it could be addictions, cancer, MS or living a life of crime, having an unfaithful spouse, being abused, being born with a disability, a combination of a few and the list goes on. What people don't seem to realise is that answers can be simple. For you- continue to do those things that help you when the panic is there but do something else that will start to lead you in the right direction. There is generally a cause. Ask God what this is. Ask Him to heal you. Get a bible and start reading and have a highlighter handy as sometimes passages seem to reach out to you speaking the words you are crying out in your soul and they give you comfort. I don't want to go on but we have been created for a purpose. Apparently the bigger the struggle the more you will be used. Obviously Gods adversary doesn't want you to succeed with your purpose. God knows the purpose He has created you for, ask Him to take over your life and your problems (visualise yourself handing them over like you hand over a parcel) and then try and relax knowinig that He will do this. He knows whats going on - you only need to reach out and he is waiting for you to do this Talk to a good minister in a christian church or a christian friend. Don't be afraid to do this, you will be suprised what others are going through, you are not going crazy, you just need to understand you are in a battle and you need to come to believe that the battle is not yours - but Gods.
Hang in there.  
A mum

[Mona0614]

I have researched foods that cause nighttime panic attacks and along with the obvious one of caffeine, chocolate has a compound in it (besides caffeine) that can cause nightmares. In addition, there is very little research on this but some processed foods have additives in them and preservatives that can contribute to alterations in brain chemistry. I think the best thing would be to cut out caffeine after breakfast, and eat only fresh, unprocessed foods at dinner and after dinner. I frequently have panic attacks in my sleep that started about 2 years ago, but my mom told me that when I was younger if I had Vienna fingers or chocolate ice cream before bed I would wake up convinced that ants are crawling all over me. Twenty years later, it seems the same triggers are starting to affect me again.

It may be a good idea to keep a food diary, and add some cardio exercise into your routine for the good endorphins. Just read that 45 minutes of cardio 3x a week can be just as effective as anti-depressants for some people. Granted, many of us say "I'm not depressed, I have anxiety," as I have for years, but the truth is- it's a fine line, and we can really cross over at any time. Exercise is a great choice. When my anxiety got really bad by freshman year in college, cardio exercise helped me to get my heart rate down throughout the day because I was in better shape. This helps because your body does not feel the symptoms of an anxiety attack, the racing heart, as strongly. Your heart may be able to handle things better.

Just some ideas. Medications have not worked for me, and have caused me increased depression, hallucinations, and vertigo.

This is a tough ailment to suffer from, because it affects all aspects of our lives and no one can understand it!

[pitbull120]

Had panic attacks in my teens, all the usual, short breath,palpitations,clamy, hot,cold, heart attack,death thoughts....the whole package.I got over them,but now at 45 I am having insomnia, sleep a couple of hours, awake hot/cold, feels like im sleeping longer,but awake 2 am, 3 am, then my heart races, then I panic, I get up, try to calm down, pace up and down, walk outside in the cold as it feels 'safer', all stems from a mere high blood pressure reading, that has triggered the 'fear' juggernaut as if it had never been away..I have lost 5 kilos in 10 days, changed diet in that time, walk 20min-30 a day, during the day I am ok, no palpitations, stress...it's nightfall, getting into bed is the start of it, what can I do to just get in bed and have a straight 6 -7 hour sleep and awake without the anxiety?????? I want to sleep, can anybody help?

[sanjurani]

that is called Astral Projection. It is when your sleeping and your physical body is still on the bed sleeping but your spiritual body is leaving you. your going up from your physical body and your seeing yourself sleeping. and you think to yourself huh? im actually flying. And your are your going up from your bedroom on top of your house and then on top of buildings and you realize your flying and that you are. This astral projection is perfectly normal and it happens to every single one of us. It actually happens to everyone, every night! but we dont realize that were leaving our bodies but sometimes we do.

To learn more about this:

http://www.theartofastralprojection.com/lp?sr=1&cid=Search-US&aid=Astral-Projection-EM&placement=&gclid=CNLVttPTua0CFYMEQAodh0gr8w

[mrbisshie]

I am a male 24(was 22 at the time of my first attack)
Alright, a story about my very first panic attack. So it was 2009, I think, I didn't sleep at all(I broke night), because I was quite excited about getting an Xbox-360(yeah, I have the heart of a kid, sue me =p) so I test played it at Target(a mega store in the US). Fast forward 8 hours, I hooked it up and everything, then I found my self to be dead tired(it was 10pm) I was stressed about transferring about 20 burned CDs of songs onto my mom's MP3 player(she didn't know how) and setting up my 360(I suck at multi-tasking). I remember dreaming about downloading a custom map off Xbox-live. The download was corrupted, and tried to load. So I was stuck dreaming of a pause screen saying NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING NOW-LOADING! I woke up thinking "Oh god, what the hell?!" It just kept racing through my mind, I thought it would never stop,(I was shaking, sweating, scared, heart racing, and everything) I got the Sponge bob theme stuck in my head to stop it(yeah, I know, this is a dumb, but my 6 year old brother loves Sponge bob, I had to repeat the song 45345345 times) I took a walk after at 3am(yeah, I woke up my mom, she wasn't too happy, my dad bitched like crazy) I fell asleep 2 hours later, not knowing what happened... I'll post a story of my other attacks later(it's nearly 3am and I can't sleep, and was quite happy to find this thread, so happy to not be alone...) Probably messed up my story, and my grammar, but yeah... it's nearly 3am. Oh, and no meds yet, I am seeing a doctor in a few days. *sigh*

[ghostgirl27]

Hi im new to this place ... i never knew what was happeing to me cause it only happens 7-8 times a year but my symtoms are a lil diffrent  the yours , i feel like im about to fall alsleep  and then i get this horrible heavyness and i have no choice but to close my eyes and then when i do i feel like im traped in my dream no matter how short they are and i tell my self to wake up screming at my self cause i cant breath , and im gonna die  and my mouth drys ... and im scared please tell me whats going on  dose anyone have the same as me ??  im a 27 yearold female.  and im scared