Start to Fall Asleep - Wake up in a Panic

04-04-2004, 04:57 PM

I am new to this and I am having some strange things happen as I am falling asleep. This has been going on for several months and I am prone to panic attacks, asked my doctor if it could be panic and he said "how can you have a panic attack when you are asleep?" I also have restless legs syndrome which just adds to the sleeping problems. I read about Tonic Water under the RLS section and this may really work. If that takes care of the RLS I will just have the other problems to deal with. Was wondering if anyone has experienced these feelings.

Symptoms are: I start to fall asleep and I suddenly feel like the bed is shaking, and there is noone there with me at the time. I then notice my heart is beating fast and that feeling is thru my whole body, like my body is shaking or throbing with the beat of my heart. But as soon as I realize what is going on I am fine. I also sometimes awake with a start like I am tying to catch my breath. When this happens I notice my heart is beating fast but my breathing is ok. Sometimes when I awake like that the first thing that goes thru my head is "am I dying?". It is really a wierd experience, but everything seems to be fine once I am awake. This may happen once or twice, or several times. When this starts happening, it sometimes takes me a couple hours to go to sleep - and usually my legs start moving around too. I have this same sensation in my arms as in my legs and this just drives me nuts. I know I should get up but I think if I just lay here I will fall asleep. And, eventually I do. This doesn't happen EVERY night, but just about every night.

I am currently on Zolof and Remeron. The Remeron makes me tired so I go to bed, but then after 30-45 min these symptoms start in as I start to fall asleep. Just wanted to share this to see if anyone else has had this experience.

04-04-2004, 05:07 PM

Hi Melodyann,
I'm fairly new here too and the site is great. When I started having attacks a few years ago, one of the kinds I had was during sleep. I would wake up instantly in a PA; sweating, heart racing, dizzy, needing to runaway, thinking I was dying....It took me a long time to get back to sleep. I don't have them that way anymore. Mine have changed over the years, but I used to have them like that. I hated it because one of my PA triggers is lack of sleep. And, since I wasn't sleeping well because of the PA's, it just made it worse!

04-04-2004, 11:49 PM

I have that happen a lot when I am asleep, will wake up in a panic for no reason, heart racing & even after I'm awake & realize what is going on it takes forever to settle down. What kind of doctor asked you that? Was he a family doc or a psych doc? I quit my family doc for help with these problems as he just wasn't with it, but the psych doc just nods & understands that these things are a part of panic & anxiety.
I sometimes think it's the meds I'm on that may trigger the waking. I also have another weird thing that happens & that is just before I fall asleep, you know how you can get a jolt, well this one is a huge jolt & I usually get two of them just before I fall asleep. This has just been in the past few weeks, but my pdoc has been trying me on new meds, so it may be that.

04-05-2004, 11:55 AM

Lori J,
Thanks for the reply. The doctor was my GP, not a shrink. I had started seeing a counselor a few months ago mainly because of my job, but in Nov I got laid off and had to stop seeing her. As soon as I get another job, I want to start seeing her or someone again. It really helps having someone to talk to who doesn't judge you.

You never know what meds will do - I have to be careful because I have bad reactions to some. Although, I took Prozac for years and am now on Zolof which has helped a lot. I started on the Zolof because I was having panic attacks at work - in fact I was in a state of panic most of the day. It was an awful place to work and it was a blessing when I got laid off.

I think these forums are pretty neat. Never done this before. It is nice to know you aren't the only one having these things going on.

04-05-2004, 12:13 PM

I was waking up every night at 3am with a panic attack to where I thought I would die. I see a pdoc and he has perscribed me xanax to take for it. Now I sleep through the night. It has helped with the daytime attacks as well. I also take effexor but that wasn't doing the trick by itself.

04-05-2004, 01:50 PM

to melodyann, i wonder if the remeron or zoloft is causing the problem
hallucinations on falling asleep and waking are common and may be happening to you

04-05-2004, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hry33

to melodyann, i wonder if the remeron or zoloft is causing the problem
hallucinations on falling asleep and waking are common and may be happening to you

You may be right, I notice that my "zaps" have disappeared since I'm not on an AD right now.

04-06-2004, 01:14 PM

To Melodyann: Does it happen just when you are drifting off to sleep or when you are already asleep? For the past couple of years, I go through cycles when for weeks just as when I'm about to fall asleep, it feels as though I am rocking on a boat and floating, almost weightlessness, and it is such a strange sensation that I wake up just before I fall asleep. My face sometimes feels tingly and my body vibrates when I awake. Like you, if I get up or sit up, it all goes away, but then happens again the same night just before I fall alseep. It will happen for weeks at a time, but then go away for several weeks. I have no idea what causes it or how to stop it. I take Tylenol PM to fall alseep but then am useless the next day for a few hours. In short, you are not alone in your sensations at night, but I understand, it is very uncomfortable, scary at times, but the way I figure it, if I don't have these sensations, vibrations, trembling, foating feelings during the day and when I'm just lying down awake, then I think its okay. Like you, eventually, I just fall asleep, but during these cycles, I hate going to sleep. (Also, in looking at the internet, I have found a few other people's testimonials who experience the exact same thing.)

04-06-2004, 03:08 PM

Hi Melodyann

I just want to start off and say that yes.....panic attacks CAN happen in your sleep. I think your doctor needs to read up more on that. I have them mostly in my sleep. The symptoms you are describing sounds more to me like a reaction from the medication you are on. I am not a doctor, but I've also had these symptoms from medicine before. Cough medicine gives me RLS. It drives me nuts! I have to be careful what I take because I am real sensitive to medication. Medication can also make you dream causing you to wake up scared. If you are better after a few minutes, I would say that it is not a panic attack. Just from experience, my attacks usually last longer than a few minutes. I may be wrong though.

Chantel

04-07-2004, 03:55 AM

Hi,
Oh! do i suffer from this! Every morning i wake in a state of panic , i just do not function! I have poured hot water on my cereal, Milk into the Kettle usually takes me 20 minutes or so as i have no idea what to wear and quite often wear my clothes the wrong way round , i dont no whether to open the door or shut it etc etc.
I was on Remeron for nine months and am now at the end of my 1st week off it.And the mornings are no where near as bad, i still wake with feet twitching and in a bit of a panic but i can now function!
But i have lost my job over it as i could not drive (i was just a complete danger) and although popping Diazepham helped (i really had to to calm myself down) it would then make me drowzy so from one extreme to another in about 25 minutes and it just messed up my job.

Was it the Remeron? I dont know but reducing it did seem to help.

I hope its been a help.

04-07-2004, 08:20 AM

To: hry33 - It very well could be the Zoloft because I have only been taking it a year or so and at first it made me feel really "nice" but then that wore off so my doctor increased it, and that helped. It has been several months that I have been having these "things" happen when falling asleep.

To: MSH - it seems only to happen upon going to sleep. If I wake up during the night I just go right back to sleep with no problems. I don't do it EVERY night but more nights than not.

To: Chantel2003 - My doctor is not from here - he is sometimes hard to understand and sometimes it is hard to understand him. But he has always given me the best medicine for what I have. I do disagree with him and agree with you - you can have a panic attack while going to sleep or sleeping! About RLS - they say taking an antihistamine can make RLS worse. I used to take one before going to bed to help me get to sleep and this is when my RLS started. It was awful but I had no idea what was causing it. You might want to try Tonic Water for the RLS (see thread under RLS) if you have them quite often. I just started it and it seems to work. I purchased the diet kind and then got some of the regular and last night when I drank the regular my legs drove me nuts. I guess I shouldn't drink that sugar so close to bed.

To: fruitloop - Right now I am not working due to being laid off, but the last job I had was awful and every morning I would wake up in a panic (I have also done this for years). What I have to do is make myself get out of bed and once I am up, it goes away. But is is an awful feeling to wake up every morning in a state of panic. I don't think (in my case anyway) the Remeron has had anything to do with it. The Remeron helps me get to sleep.

Thank you all for your replys!!!!!!!

04-07-2004, 09:23 AM

Hi again hun

Well, I sure hope you can find out what is causing all of this. My husband get RLS real bad when he drinks Dr. Pepper too close to bedtime. Before I had panic attacks, I could drink it and then go straight to sleep. I gotta watch now not to drink too much. Anyway, let us know if you find anything new out.

Chantel

04-07-2004, 09:50 AM

I too when i woke in the middle of the night and never got these feelings on remeron , only got them in the morning or a milder form of panic if i had a afternoon sleep.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
I guess everybody is different but it has seemed to get better as a weaned of remeron.
But i have learned on here that everyone is different.

Good luck.

04-18-2004, 08:52 PM

This just started happening to me. I had a severe bout with panic disorder and depression about 5 years ago. I was pretty stable on Paxil 40 mg and Klonapin I slept a lot but it made me functional and got rid of the panic attacks and agitation that I had. About 3 months ago I started waking up out of breath and my pulse racing. Now before these attacks started my psychiatrist and i decided to ween me off my klonapin. when i was doing fine i was talking .25 x 3 a day. I was down to .25 x 1 a day. Now im back at .25 x 2 a day. Now I am waking up everyday with panic attacks with varying degrees of strength. The problem is the panic sets the tone for the whole day. I feel myself getting depressed again because I feel like i am going back wards. The worst is i take two Klonapin and fall asleep and 3 hours later and wake up with a panic attack. Whats up with this ? I thought the klonapin was suppose to supress my nervous system ? The only plus is I can fall asleep and that I'm not all that panicy when im outside doing non stressful things. Its all this apprehension about putting several good days together and wondering what is going to happen tommorow. Anybodys input or advice would be helpful on this subject.

Thanks,

FED

04-20-2004, 09:15 PM

Hi Melodyann-
I just responded to a similar question under the title could it be panic attacks if you're interested

Take care.

Billy

Start to Fall Asleep - Wake up in a Panic

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