Late night scare

[Tremor]

Fell asleep last night no problem. Then about an hour later I woke up and my head felt a little funny, like it was sweaty or something. So I reach up to check my shaved head and all of a sudden the water just starts pouring out of it! Of course, I immediately think I am about to have a heart attack and my chest gives out this amazing thump, and my heart starts beating like I just finished a 20k marathon! Scared the hell out of me to say the least! I got up and moved around a bit to distract myself.

I finally was able to calm my self down and get back to sleep about an hour later. But once again, about two hours later I woke up feeling like I just got out of the shower, head soaked. Anyone experience anything like this? I have convinced myself that it is nothing to worry about, but was just curious if I was alone on this one? Thanks in advance!

[Teafrenzy]

Sounds like nocturnal panic attacks which is very common. I have woken up with my head covered in sweat and my pillows soaked. Not much you can really do since they happen in your sleep. Just wait it out and try to sleep the best you can.

[The Intolerable Kid]

I agree with Teafrenzy, I hate those late night panic attacks. Usually a nightmare is the seed that starts one off. It can be very difficult to get back to sleep after one of those. In some cases even medication fails to offer any protection.

[gcltr777]

These things are AWFUL! I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I've had bouts of these twice in my life. The first bout lasted about a week. I think was sleeping maybe 45min to an hour each day. Everytime I would just start to drift off, I would have an explosion of adrenaline (feels like someone put an IV of a 'cold' chemical in me) shoot from my chest out to my extremities. After that, I was awake, but still SO exhausted.

Weird thing about mine was my heart. Didn't race at all. I could feel it through my whole body and I could have sworn my rate was 130 or better... but I used a metronome and my rate was in the mid 70's...

After opening my eyes and looking around, the adrenaline would subside in about 10 seconds or so. I would drift back off, same thing again. I would take a 1mg Xanax and that didn't even phase them. They really are awful.

In my experience, they were coming on when I was having high stress ALL day long. LOTS going on at once that I was concerned about. The only thing that helped was bringing it up to my church team and prayer. That night I slept 4 straight hours. Next day, a full night of sleep.

This last time, they came on when I quit drinking. (I was drinking pretty heavy and daily). I use Seroquel 50mg, Xanax 1mg, and Melatonin. That (and The Lord) have kept them away now for two weeks. I plan on dropping the Seroquel as it makes me feel 'cloudy' most of the day.

I will say, if they persist, it might be worth asking a Dr. about Adrenal Exhaustion. My Dr. said that could be a possibility, but there are daytime symptoms that go with it and I didn't have those.

They will pass, but in the meantime I hope you can find something to help your mind relax. Melatonin, Magnesium, and multi-vitamins can help without drugs.

God bless as I know how bad these things are.

[wolvie15]

I experienced these at the height of my anxiety attacks. I was sweating so much i had to changed the bedding every night.

[Tremor]

Thanks for the responses! Always nice to know you are not alone.

Seems to have just been a 1 day event. I have been under a lot of stress lately dealing with my mother's recent diagnosis of dementia. It is very demanding to say the least! I guess I didn't realize how much it was getting to me. Thanks again!

[ssMarilyn]

I had never head of a head sweating, so had to go look it up! Learn something new every day! I can't post a link to the good article I found, because the board says I need 15 posts before I can do that. But I did google 'do our heads sweat' and came up with some good sites on this subject.