Anxiety Attacks in the Dead of Night

[trickynix]

Hey Everyone,

I have been having anxiety attacks pretty much all semester (I'm still in college), so they are nothing interesting or new for me. I go through the usual rigamarole with them, and it pretty much sucks big time. Anyway, that's not the issue. Last night was the first time I ever had one (I'm assuming that's what it was anyway), in the dead of night! It woke me up! I went to sleep around 1 AM, and by 3:30 AM I was shooting up in bed with my heart pounding wildly, and continuous thoughts of a heartattack! So...horrible business. I was wondering...have any of you felt this way before? Or had an Anxiety/Panic attack wake you up in the middle of the night? I would greatly appreciate any and all input. I just thought it was weird that it happened while I was asleep :/

 

[kihira]

maybe a dream triggered it?

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

Not really, it's almost always during the day for me maybe you were sleeping in a weird way? Like you got twisted in the covers when you were sleeping then it scared you in your dream and you woke up.. just guessing!

 

[JesseJay]

I've experienced them quite a few times. Most times for me it'd be right after I slip off into sleep and then it'd jerk me awake with an attack. It's horrible so I feel for you. :/ Just relax though.

 

[devnty06]

Rarely, an individual may experience panic attacks while sleeping and remain unaware of any external stress or anxiety during the day. In these cases, is most likely that the individual is repressing anxious feelings in their day-to-day life. When we don't allow our emotions to flow freely during the day, they can sometimes express themselves at night in the form of nightmares, night terrors, or panic attacks while sleeping.

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[dottie]

no, fortunately i don't experience this. there is usually a buildup to anxiety attacks. maybe you had a nightmare.

 

[Section_31]

My wife sometimes has anxiety attacks that will either wake her up, or keep her from sleeping at all during the night. Usually because of a family engagement soon, although she had it pretty bad a few nights ago, she stayed up all night anxious about not being able to find and keep a job here.

 

[Nanita]

Yes I have experienced this several times!
It began about 9 years ago, I had been on anti depressives for a year and I stopped taking them (I didn´t stop abruptly). Some months after I had stopped, I began waking up at night feeling very scared, with thoughts of .. me not fitting in anywhere, being a weirdo, not having real friends, etcetera.
I still experience this, probably once a week.

 

[Prestonator]

Apparently it is during the night when anxiety is at its highest level. I often wake up around 4am feeling incredibly anxious, with a tight stomach and dry mouth etc. And sometimes I can't get back to sleep after I have awoken. Its not a nice feeling.