Anxiety/Panic and sleep problems - Heart 'shocks'?

[KingOfCats]

I’ve had trouble sleeping for the last few nights and I’m a little worried as to what’s up. Once I’m asleep I’m fine, when awake I’m fine, but when lying in bed trying to get to sleep I’m getting very anxious and finding it hard. I’m not sure if it’s some sort of anxiety, mild panic attacks, sleep apnea(if it was sleep apnea why would i be worrying before hand?), some sort of myoclonic twitch, or what.

So I go to bed and no matter how tired I am I find it hard to sleep. I think it’s anxiety related as when lying there I tend to worry about my health, in particular my heart, which sounds typical of anxiety/panic. Last night in particular, it was almost like a sense of foreboding, as if any minute now I was going to have a heart attack, or something, and i had a heavy chest and very vaguely short of breath. I think if not for the fact I know about the health issues outlined above, if not for that fact I think i might well have gotten up and gone to hospital, because something didn’t seem right. But I assured myself(knowing how many people mistake anxiety and panic problems as actual physical problems) and troopered on, otherwise I was thinking, should I wake my mum? Because I was actually worried – I don’t want to downplay that fact.

Here is what happens, where it gets odd:

Just as I drift off to sleep it’s like I’m zapped, it can be like a zap in the heart or sometimes in the head. Just like a jolt of energy(but more of a shooting sensation to the heart), it hits me, I’m suddenly conscious and aware. I worry for a few seconds – wtf was that? No, seriously, WTF WAS THAT!? Panic for a few seconds... Here’s the thing, after the jolt/zap, after those brief seconds of worry that I’m about to have a heart attack or something crazy, after that brief moment I’m awake and I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me when i’m awake and conscious. Heart seems fine, head seems fine, everything is okay – okay, try and get to sleep again. Again I drift off, I’m woken up again in the process by the same thing. Worry for a few seconds, no I’m good, I’m relaxed, I’m tired, think positive thoughts, I’m going to go to sleep. Drift off, ZAP. Repeat that process. Finally after maybe 3-6 times (over say 30 minutes to an hour or maybe more) I fall asleep and I sleep like a log, for however long, 9-12 hours. I can wake up within my actual sleep, go to the toilet, go back to bed and I’ll fall back to sleep no problem. It’s the initial getting to sleep that seems to be the problem. The shocks I’m feeling seem real, which make me wonder if it’s some sort of muscle twitch I’m reacting to?

But they never happen in the day, they never happen when I’m awake and aware, only when I’m partially asleep. Sometimes when woken up by w/e it is, or sometimes even before I first drift off, I’m worrying about my health, for some reason, particularly my chest/heart, which leads me to think it’s some sort of issue based on anxiety. Perhaps even a mild panic attack. It was by far the worst yesterday, and I think I started it off by worrying about nonsensical things when I went to bed. For some reason I had a random sensation in my nose, sort of like a cold/burn, and thought "Wow, I wonder if you could die from a nosebleed?" and then it started, I was worrying about having a nosebleed and losing all my blood - a very unusual thought, but for some reason it got me going, then I had the worries about my heart from there because I was in a state of very mild panic, with a heavy chest, a little trouble breathing and vague nausea.

I’ve never had panic attacks of any kind, I’ve always been a champion sleeper, but I have had anxiety in the past. A few years ago I was socially anxious and depressed and was taking Citalopram.

I know that sleeping problems of this kind are associated with all sorts of causes, but what about specifically what I’m feeling, has anyone experienced the same? It’s like a shock to the heart and a tight chest as i’m drifting off, i wake up heart racing for a few seconds expecting something to happen, nothing happens, and I’m relaxed(sometimes I’m not relaxed, sometimes I’m worried obviously wondering wtf happened) and we just recycle the process. This is like targeted jolts, around my heart and sometimes(but less so) my head, it’s not the normal body jolt that people sometimes get(where you feel like you’re drifting from your body and jolt back). The first shooting jolt to my heart yesterday felt so real, I thought I was about to have a heart attack, I really did.

This has happened for the last 3 nights, and I’m really, really hoping it’s just a brief spell brought up on by my whacky sleeping routine(work from home late nights/mornings sometimes on the computer) and too much caffeine.

I’m going to call the doctors tomorrow, but I want to know if any of you have experienced what I’m experiencing? Should I be more worried or do you think I’m right to think it’s a problem of anxiety or panic and I should start again with medication? When I had anxiety and depression before I didn't have trouble sleeping, in fact i loved lying in bed lol, so this is new to me.

It would be awesome to get a few replies because I have no idea what this is and don't want to worry myself anymore than I am doing!

Chris

[KingOfCats]

Sorry for writing so much, I wanted to get down in detail how I'm feeling.

My heart also feels a little, heavy, with the slightest pressure/pain today, which is new. But I really think it's because of last night and how I'm worrying about it. I feel a lot better when my cat is sat on my knee, or lying in my bed, which also indicates to me this problem is a mental one and I'm overstressed and anxious. Hence the peculiar username - couldn't think of anything else.

Chris

[KingOfCats]

Hi, How are you feeling now? I have had "zaps" in the past but I have always associated them with my head. I have had many different tests and all have been clear. The "zaps" are definately an anxiety symptom - one of many :(. Take care.

Thanks car

The zaps to my head don't really worry me, it's something I've had before and woken up from and it seems harmless. It's the zaps around my heart area that panicked me, it's more of a sharp sensation and, well, it's my heart - and it's a pain in the arse getting to sleep lol!

I don't feel too bad today, because it's the day. I felt good yesterday and the day before and the day before that too, until I went to bed

Drinking green tea today, hoping for a good nights sleep, otherwise I'm going to book an emergency appointment with the doctor tomorrow to get his opinion and hopefully some citalopram.

[Beautiful Disaster]

Hi - not sure if it's the same thing you get, but I will get these adrenaline rushes when I'm trying to go to sleep - and they usually signal the start of a panic attack. Taking .5mg of ativan in the evening helps me get to sleep without many problems but I know I can't keep that up forever. It helps me to distract myself to not let the anxiety start churning... reading a book til I fall asleep or listening to a guided sleep/relaxation audio on my phone. I've heard chamomile tea before bed helps people calm down too.... but I've yet to try it.

When my panic/anxiety issues started initially (over 10 years ago) they would come on at night. Then I would be fine during the day. During this recent relapse, they started at night, got me so worked up that I started getting anxious during the day too, but now that I'm starting to get better it's back to only being at night again. I'm sure your "zaps" are a symptom of anxiety... anxiety seems to affect people in many different ways. It all stinks!!!!!!! :(

[BxBowler]

Hi KingOfCats. I just wanted to say that reading your post made me feel like I could have written it myself. I wanted to let you know that you're not alone in experiencing those zapping sensations. It feels like a surge of electricity to your chest just as you're falling asleep. I haven't experienced the head zaps (which is all I need now lol), but the heart zapping has happened on numerous occasions. I'm still in the fight with my anxiety, but I have already gone through the cardiology exams and my heart has checked out just fine. I have read previously about other people having these sensations, and some anxiety related sites even list it as one of the many symptoms one can experience. What it seems to be is that when you're lying down trying to sleep, your body is trying to relax at that point, but because of the anxiety our body has a lot of nervous energy that still needs to be dissipated. During the day you don't feel this nervous energy as much because you're moving about and going through your daily routine, but once you're trying to relax it starts to hit you. Of course you need to start working towards ridding yourself of your anxiety, but in the interim period I wouldn't worry too much about the heart zapping. It's just another one of the many annoying, uncomfortable, and often horrifying symptoms that we have to bear.

Oh and Beautiful Disaster, chamomile tea works wonders. I have at least one cup every day, usually at night, and it calms my system a great deal. I highly recommend you try it.