Sleep attacks, sleep terrors, waking up in a panic, feel like I am going to die.

[Kixxi]

Oh I know the feeling all too well. Happened 30 minutes ago here. I battle to sleep at night. I will be fine, sleeping for half an hour and just wake up in a panic. Most times I would just wake up without panic but then my mind says "dont get a panic attack"...and that is exactly when the heart starts racing and a full blown panic attack will ensue. It is almost like I'm just waiting for it to happen every night, which is a really bad mindset. So now I've put the headphones on and I'm listening to relaxing music. Let's hope I can sleep. One night of peaceful sleep will be so great right now...but it is already 3:30 in the morning here. Makes one feel kind of lonely.

It's like when you say: "Do not think of a pink elephant", but then you will definitely think of it. The only thing that use to work for me (I don't have problems sleeping any more), was replacing it with another more positive thought. It takes so much practice before it actually work, but now I sleep like a baby.

[Anne1221]

The one thing you can do is see a doctor to rule out the acid reflux/allergies as being the cause of waking up. It's a pain in the neck but I've been through sleep studies and I learned a lot about my sleep...like the fact that my legs kicking is actually disturbing my sleep up to 10 times per hour!

[AnxiousPsychGrad]

You are absolutely not alone in this. I go through periods of nocturnal panic attacks. In my opinion, I would rather have panic attacks all day than to have one at night. They are completely scary and come and go on their own. One way I've tried to keep them at bay is meditation before sleep. Going to sleep stressed will contribute to the frequency and severity of the nocturnal panic attacks. I have a fear of sleep so I also take medication at night to help. Hope things gets better for you.