mjr21

This is my first post althought I've read many of your posts. I had my first anxiety attack in Dec. of 2001 at the age of 34, about 6 weeks after some of our dearest friends lost their beautiful daughter in a tragic car accident. She was a Senior in high school. Having rarely ever been sick, never having visited an emergency room, overall very healthy and happily married with a beautiful family, this episode was a complete shocker for me. It occured after I had fallen asleep on our living room sofa and then awaked to get into bed. I felt extremely dizzy and nauseated and just very strange. I got into to bed feeling as if the room was spinning hoping it would go away and then suddenly this sensation started at my toes and went through my entire body in a rush up through the back of my neck into my head. I became extremely panicked at that point because I thought I was having a brain aneurism. I broke out into a cold sweat and became very clammy. My husband grabbed me and tried to get me to calm down. He rushed me to the emergency room and I made him promise me he would insist they do an MRI or some kind of scan of my brain. They gave me medicine to help me relax and after they checked my brain I was told I had a beautiful brain and was sent home. I had another attack 2 days later, with the same symptoms and I also felt I was coming out of my skin..I felt like I could run for miles. I ended up getting a RX to take which helped and other than the fear of having another attack, after several months I returned to being my normal self. This lasted until early spring of this year, shortly after I turned 40, when I was sick with the flu and taking several over the counter cold remedies. (At this point I had only been taking Zoloft 25mg every day. I discontinued the other in 2002 after I had been attack free for about a month or so, as I did not want to become addicted and I wanted to be strong enough to get through the situation without this type of medicine--I did continue the Zoloft) Again, I was floored, because I had been fine for 5 years. I can get through them without an ER visit because I recognize the signs, but they are still very unpleasant and scary. Mine occur almost always at night, ususally if I have fallen asleep and have to awaken to get into bed, or if I get awakened suddenly. (therefore I try to never fall asleep on the sofa watching television with my husband, but...I did last night and I had an attack) I have never felt like I was having a heart attack. Its always the same..the rush, the nausea, dizziness, and then I feel like I'm coming out of my skin with muscle twitching and shaking and like I could run for miles. I have walked on my treadmill at midnight to try and get through one of these events. My Ob/GYN prescribed Clonazepam in March, but until today I would only take it once the attack had began. After reading some of your posts, I decided I would try taking it throughout the day for a while and see if it helps. I apologize for the length of this post, but I would really love to hear if anyone else experiences these attacks that occur only at night and with these same symptoms. Thanks so much for your responses.

mjr21