Panic attack

[fisher]

Oh i am so sick of this,can people tell me is this a panic attack?i wake up from a dream and i sit up because my heart starts racing and i try breathing exercises but my heart is going fast so i tap my chest so i cant feel it but i know my heart isnt going to slow down so i get up and my heart is going faster i go downstairs sit by the window but i wasnt hyperventilating,it started to slow back down then after about 8 mins but now am in bed i am thinking about it and am getting anxiety waves now thinking its something worse,i get this alot when asleep and waking up😫😫

[fisher]

So have u had panic before?does it take your heart ages to slow down

[JoeCool]

So sorry you had to go through this again, Fisher!!! Definitely sounds like a panic attack with the hyperventilating and all. It's scary!!! However, own it and focus on your breathing so that you don't hyperventilate. The adrenaline pumping through your system is what adds drama to the whole experience. Do you eat a lot of sugar/caffeine or anything that would bring your heart rate up?

[fisher]

no i dont really drink tea,i am not anxious when i go to sleep,i dont eat loads of sugary stuff either,i fell asleep about 8pm went up to bed about 9 and woke at 12 and as soon as i woke up my heart started goin fast but because am feeling it i get up and its goin fast but i dont really have any symptoms other than heart goin fast then it calms down i go back to sleep had a bad dream that i was on a heart monitor and they gave me oxygen and i woke up and same thing,i am fed up with it just want to know why its happening,scared to go back to sleep

[JoeCool]

Hmmm.... I wonder if as soon as you wake, you get a rush of adrenaline that gets your heart rate going. Are you dreaming something that gets you going like this? I know it's happened to me. Of course, at first I wake kind of startled, and then it's me putting the anxiety to it and off I go in a panicky moment...

[fisher]

Oh joe am scared to go back to sleep tonight😭

[Olive Yew]

Oh joe am scared to go back to sleep tonightdde2d

These are night terrors and they're a bitch to cope with. I used to get it all the time. Your brain will be having a dream or nightmare that will trigger a panic attack. Usually you dont even remember having the dream because the panic erases it. Essentially you're getting kicked with adrenaline and it wakes you up. It can feel like anything from someone banging a gong next to your head to getting kicked in the chest to someone dropping you out a window. When I get night terrors, it takes me a long time to relax again. Back in the day, it'd take me hours. Now that Im better at controlling the panic attacks, i can calm down in 20 min and be back asleep in 30. When you're still figuring out how to rein in it, you're going to want to get rid of the extra adrenaline. Pace your room. Walk around the house. Do jumping jacks. Go make yourself some chamomile tea and stand by the window while you drink it. Then when you've calmed down, go back and lay down. Do NOT think about your heart. You're heart is fine. You're fine. You're more than fine. You're a freaking warrior because you just fought off a round of night terrors. Instead you think about something monotonous or relaxing (or both). Mentally rearrange your room or your shoes or your closet. Tell yourself a happy story. If you're religious, you can pray. You can compose a shopping list or poems. If you're one of those people who like background noise, you can turn on a movie. (I do that a lot and put it on like 2% volume so you can just barely hear it. I usually chose sappy non stressful movies like Disney movies or comedy movies). Just make sure that you are not afraid of sleep. Your fear of sleep will only make this worse. It took me maybe a month to get my brain to relax about going to sleep after i'd pinpointed that I was having night terrors and not, in fact, dying. I still get them occasionally but usually they're more like you're typical nightmare instead of this unexplained terror that wakes you up and makes your heart take up tap dancing. It takes work but you can do it :)

[JoeCool]

Oh joe am scared to go back to sleep tonightdde2d
Night terrors indeed, as Olive Yew notes. You are met than ok!!! You just need to find a way to remove the adrenaline that your body is producing. Start with controlling your breathing and as Olive notes, work on getting your mind away from your heart or anything else body for that matter. Do you meditate? Or better test, what is it that relaxes you? That can be your coping mechanism. For me, when it's that unbeatable, I get up, get dressed and go for drive. I know that's a bit extreme, but that is my absolute out. : )

[fisher]

Oh thats what i keep saying to myself if i cant slow it down i will get in the car and drive it does calm u doesnt it,its my worst fear in life my heart going fast,i am dreading going to sleep now incase it happens again😭

[fisher]

Oh olive i hope it is just night terrors i know i dont want them but its an explanation,no i keep sayin to myself if it does happen i cant be scared of sleep because we need it but what horrible things we go through i was thinking i had a problem with my heart😭

[Olive Yew]

Dont just hope that it is, KNOW that it is. Hoping leaves your brain open to possibilities which is an open door for anxiety. Tell yourself every time that there is nothing to be afraid of.

[fisher]

i will msg on hear no doubt if am awake later on through the night but fingers crossed i will sleep better xx

[fisher]

Oh olive same again sleep for about 1 hr or 2 hes wake with heart going faster but stayed in bed and let it ride over me and didnt add to it,it happened 3 times when i woke,but i feel so anxious now when i have got up,does anybody else get anxious when getting up and have waves of anxiety were u feel like it will go into a panic attack?xx

[doubleA]

Sorry to hear u can't sleep I have not had this so can't really offer any advice. The only time I had anxiety in bed was before I would fall asleep pacing the bedroom always helped me.

[Olive Yew]

Oh olive same again sleep for about 1 hr or 2 hes wake with heart going faster but stayed in bed and let it ride over me and didnt add to it,it happened 3 times when i woke,but i feel so anxious now when i have got up,does anybody else get anxious when getting up and have waves of anxiety were u feel like it will go into a panic attack?xx

Honey it does happen repeatedly until you get it under control. I promise you it'll be fine

[Olive Yew]

Honey it does happen repeatedly until you get it under control. I promise you it'll be fine

Insomnia, or waking up ill in the middle of the night, jolting awake, bad or crazy dreams

What you feel:

You may feel fine and be able to quickly fall asleep but then wake up a short time later. Once up, you can't easily fall back to sleep because your mind is racing or you are too ill. Or, you may have a hard time initially falling asleep and when you do, you wake often and again have a hard time going back to sleep.
Just as you are dozing off to sleep, you feel like you hear a lot bang, buzz or shot, and that jolts you fully awake. Or, as you are dozing off, you feel like you are falling and that frightens you fully awake. Or, you are just dozing off and your body radically twitches awake.
You may wake up in a panic and recall the dream you just had as being bizarre and totally crazy. This usually has you spending some time trying to figure out what caused the bad dream and what the bad dream is trying to tell you.
What causes this:

Stress is one of the main factors associated with sleep disorders. When the body is stressed, natural sleep patterns become disrupted. While there are many types of sleep problems, the ones mentioned are common for those experiencing anxiety disorder.
Because sleep is controlled by a functioning of the brain, an over stimulated nervous system will interfere with the brain's normal functioning, thusly, producing erratic and odd responses when we want to fall or stay asleep. Similar to ingesting caffeine, high stress biology will keep you awake, and it can do so in a number of ways.
Examples include:
Immediately falling asleep only to wake a few hours later all revved up and ready to go. You then have difficulty falling back to sleep, even though you may also feel exhausted. Your mind may race and you may experience a number of anxious thoughts that continue to disrupt your sleep.
You have difficulty falling asleep and when you finally do, you wake a short time later and can't go back to sleep.
As you are dozing off, you are suddenly jolted awake by a sound, twitch, a bang in your head, etc. This makes falling back to sleep difficult.
You may have a bad or crazy dream that jolts you away, and sometimes in a full panic
You wake up regularly and continually have to go to the bathroom.
You may be chilled even though you are well blanketed. Or, you may be sweating profusely even though the room is cool.
There are many other types of disruptions, however, they are all related to an over stimulated nervous system. These symptoms may also vary from one type to another type, and so on. They will also come and go, and sometimes persist.
The best remedy for these symptoms is rest. When you are experiencing regular sleep problems, it's important to get as much rest as you can. That means taking time out of you schedule to do so if you have to. When my sleep became problematic, I made sure to get to bed earlier than normal and to do so for a number of nights until my sleep patterns returned to normal.
You may have noticed that the more sleep difficulty you experience, the worse you feel and the more difficulty you continue to have. This can become a vicious circle if not deliberately stopped. Rest is the only thing that will do this.
None of these symptoms are important, only disruptive.

Heart palpitations, chest pain, irregular beats, flutters, skipped beats

What you feel:

One of the most worrying symptoms is chest pains or a tight feeling in your chest. The immediate thought is "heart attack" or "stroke" and this only worries you more. You may also notice that your heartbeat is incredibly fast or irregular at times having palpitations and again this leads to the worry that you will have a heart attack.
Often the chest muscles may feel very tight, and sometimes they can become painful if they are tight enough to spasm. Because the individual may become concerned that they may be having a heart attack, their fear will add to the stress biology which can not only worsen the pain, but can produce other symptoms similar to a heart attack such as profuse sweating, light-headedness and numbness in the arms, feet or face.
These increased symptoms can also cause more fear which then can turn into a panic attack
Your heart feels like it skips a beat or flops in your chest. It sometimes may feel like a tickle in your chest that makes you cough. If you take your pulse, you'll notice that sometimes the beats are unevenly spaced.
You may experience a tightness or pressure in the chest. Sometimes you may feel shooting pains, or muscle twitches, or just an uneasiness or fullness in the chest area which causes you concern
There is no evidence that panic and anxiety has any adverse effect on the heart and the pains are easily explained.
What causes this:

Stress biology causes the heart rate to increase. It does this so that the body is ready to take action. It's like in drag racing, drivers get their RPM's up prior to the green light so that they can hit the light with maximum torque. Since the stimulant hormone adrenaline, the body's super fuel, is produced when danger is perceived, the heart rate is naturally increased.
Once the stimulant is used and eliminated from the body, the heart rate will return to its normal range.
Moderate regular exercise helps to regulate this symptom.
When you start panicking the whole of your body becomes tense and this includes your muscles.
The chest pains you experience are due to the constricting of the chest wall muscles and the muscles between your ribs and not due to any actual muscles in your heart and the best cure is to start stretching these muscles gently to relieve the pain. Although you may not feel like doing any exercise whilst getting these pains, try stretching your arms above and behind your head, out to the sides and bending over gently to relieve the pain.
Naturally most people are dreadfully worried about their hearts but if your G.P. has given you the all clear cardiac wise - then do not be alarmed if the chest pains and palpitations come back and last for more than a day. If it is related to panic, although it is painful and worrying, the pains will subside if you try gentle exercise and ignore them.
Regular exercise and deep relaxation help to minimize this symptom. Also, staying away from artificial stimulants such as caffeine, chocolate, high doses of raw sugar (such as pastries, sweets, cookies, etc.) and smoking help to keep this symptom in check.

[JoeCool]

Wow, Olive Yew! Quite comprehensive information you've provided here. Thank you. This is definitely helpful...

[Olive Yew]

Wow, Olive Yew! Quite comprehensive information you've provided here. Thank you. This is definitely helpful...

You're very welcome. The website is
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms/

There've been some people who weren't fans of it but i know it helped me through my worst times.

[fisher]

Seriously when u woke up did u get that fast heart beat?did u just ly there and do deep breathing?

[fisher]

Wow thanks olive just read that very interesting xx