does this happen to anyone else? i have been taking xanax as needed for about 2 months for anxiety. the symptoms were getting worse, mainly the palpatations at nite, then i landed in the hospital with pancreatitis & gall stones. spent 5 days in there & my dr. put me on lexapro 10mg. & xanax .5 as needed. it has helped all my symptoms except the paps at nite. every am about 5 a.m. i am woke up with heart racing. this am about 2 a.m. i took the xanax hoping it would stop them, but no such luck! there has to be a solution for these in the early a.m. do anyone have any advice? it seems like if i turn over my heart starts to quiver, if i breath deeply a couple a times it settles back into rhythum, then it will do it again few minutes later. i have had all kinds of tests except heart cath (was hooked up to heart monitor the whole time i was in hospital and it only done it once there, they weren't concerned. please respond if you have dealt with this.

Yes, this has happened to me. There is some information that I found in a Prevention book on Diabetes that might explain what we are experiencing.
All of us have a metabolic mechanism that triggers the gradual release of growth hormone & cortisol starting at around 4 am, so we have the get-up-and-go to roll out of bed when the alarm goes off. BUT, some people get a more potent burst of these wake-up hormones than others. The hormones also suppress insulin production.
I have found that doing a deep breathing exercise BEFORE moving out of bed,
helps my heart to calm down. One Dr actually instructed me to "bear down, like when you are having a bowel movement," & it worked! Hope you find some relief soon. Take care!

thanks for replying! that is very interesting! is there a certian time of day that you're supposed to take lexapro? my bottle just says 1 a day. i'm curious if it would help these early a.m. paps if i took it in the evening instead of the morning?

I get those as well. I only take Klonopin 0.5mg as needed and normally only in the morning once a day. I notice that once I am up and about that the heart stuff goes away and I am fine. I think it may be stress and just generalized anxiety. I know for myself that is what it is. Hope you feel better soon. It is no fun having those senstaions with your heart. I have had all the heart tests too and all have come back fine. :confused: