Sleep panic

[sylvina]

Just about nearly everynight about half hour after i fall asleep i suddenly wake up with a jolt and start panicking , it passes over after a few minutes then i fall asleep and sleep well for the rest ov the night, it never happens if i have a nap in the daytime, its only wen i go to bed and it always happens in the first half hour ov my sleep, anyone else have this?

[Audrey00]

I go through the same things and I get a feeling like my whole body is swimming its weird

[dazza]

Jolting awake is common for everyone, let alone anxious folk.

There's another, simialr thread down the page right now.

Three possible causes:

1/ it's a dream

2/ the brain sometimes gets confused as you fall asleep. Sometimes it misinterprets your horizontal position as you falling over, so it takes evasive action which wakes you with a sudden jolt

3/ your old, tatty electric blanket gives you an electric shock when you accidentally stick your big toe on a bare wire

[sylvina]

I never saw what u put b4, i dont come on here as often as i used to as my anxiety is loads better in the day its just this night time thing that does my head in, i just dont understand why it happens, i dont feel anxious wen i come to bed and im in a happy place with my life so its confusing xx

[sylvina]

Yes had it
Its your brain trying to sleep when it has to many chemicals that are fighting to keep it awake .

There is a name for it but cant recall it .

May i ask you a question and the answer is not directed at you but alot of this forum .

Did me telling you that i have had it make you feel better ?? I am just so surprised that so many people wish to focus on their symptoms but yet very few end it with what can i do about it ??

I never saw what u put b4, i dont come on here as often as i used to as my anxiety is loads better in the day its just this night time thing that does my head in, i just dont understand why it happens, i dont feel anxious wen i come to bed and im in a happy place with my life so its confusing xx

[sylvina]

You know anxiety is a load of symptoms from stress and the fear behind not understanding what is happen. Not understand it in turn feeds more fear , which keeps it going .

What you talk of is common and as your body settles it will calm down .

When i am stress i wake about 4 hours into sleep with the same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk This is what they are called

Thanks i will have a read xxx

[dazza]

I never saw what u put b4, i dont come on here as often as i used to as my anxiety is loads better in the day its just this night time thing that does my head in, i just dont understand why it happens, i dont feel anxious wen i come to bed and im in a happy place with my life so its confusing xx

It needn't be anything to do with anxiety. As I said, it's common.

Another, more frightening variation of it is suddenly waking and gasping for breath.
I've had this, as has my dad.

A strange phenomina, and just "one of those things" that'll pass.

If you want to experiment with stuff to help stop it, you could:

1/ go to bed a bit later so you're more knackered

2/ ensure you don't consume caffeine or any other form of energy foods after ~6pm

3/ exercise in the evening (burn off excess energy)

4/ try ear plugs

5/ make your bed more comfortable (like using toweling sheets as opposed to plain nylon)

6/ have a fan on in your room... the gentle breeze & soft, ambient whirring can be quite comforting

7/ watch tv or read in bed until you literally can't keep your eyes open

[sylvina]

It needn't be anything to do with anxiety. As I said, it's common.

Another, more frightening variation of it is suddenly waking and gasping for breath.
I've had this, as has my dad.

A strange phenomina, and just "one of those things" that'll pass.

If you want to experiment with stuff to help stop it, you could:

1/ go to bed a bit later so you're more knackered

2/ ensure you don't consume caffeine or any other form of energy foods after ~6pm

3/ exercise in the evening (burn off excess energy)

4/ try ear plugs

5/ make your bed more comfortable (like using toweling sheets as opposed to plain nylon)

6/ have a fan on in your room... the gentle breeze & soft, ambient whirring can be quite comforting

7/ watch tv or read in bed until you literally can't keep your eyes open

Done pretty much all ov them other than ear plugs , hopefully it will calm down if not i no its not serious and will just have to put up with it till it stops or eases off, still scary though

[sylvina]

are you taking any drugs ??

No never touch drugs at all im not into stuff like that x

[AceParadox]

I used to get those jolts of panic in sleep when my anxiety was at its peak high. The most annoying thing in the world. Another one is where I'd wake up every hour on the hour for the rest of the night (Even with melatonin), but that is probably because my sleep schedules are all over the damn place and thats a bit much for melatonin to try and fix on the spot. Today I woke up at 7:00 PM after going to bed at 6 AM, tommoro I have to go to bed around midnight and wake up at 6 AM to go to work.

Yeah forwells could be right. Give melatonin a try, in my high school days it worked like a charm for me. Party all night on the weekends, and suddenly gotto get to sleep early for monday morning, pop a melatonin and within 20 minutes or so, zzzzzzzzzz. Perfectly safe as like forwells said, it is naturally occuring in the brain. Babies produce a lot of it I've read, as that is why they can sleep so much, but then again what else are they gunna do? "I'm in a crib with no way out and nothing to do... well... goodnight.. zzz"

Give it a test first, melatonin can sometimes create very interesting dreams. When I didn't have anxiety it gave me fascinating lucid dreams, now that I have anxiety, it can give me bizarre and frightening dreams sometimes. >.>

[sylvina]

So were can i get this stuff, at doctors or at the chemist? Xx