Stress Center Peer Support

Please let me know if you can relate. IF i fall asleep on the sofa, i wake up in a panic (i feel startled and as if i'm confused/spacey). If i fall asleep in bed and wake up, i don't feel startled. Is this weird?

I'm not sure, as I've done this in bed only and not on the couch. Mine's the other way around. Hmm now you have me thinking - why the bed and not the couch?

I've done that usually if I take a nap or just fall asleep on the couch. I have a big thing with bed time. It's something I'm working on and it hasn't happened in awhile.

OMG! I really hate that feeling! Waking up with limbs vibrating sometimes and heart racing. I don't generally fall asleep on the couch, so this happens when I awaken in bed. It's an awful feeling that used to just TERRIFY me. While I still don't like it (and see it as a symptom that something's not quite right), it doesn't scare me as much as it used to. But it's unsettling, for sure!

I woke up in bed with this middle of last month.

I had a different type of chest pain and my anxiety was off the charts. I could not collect myself, I took my xanax. I could not pull myself together.

Took my self to the ER for the first time ever with this stuff. I am an EMT, walked in and told the guy that I had chest pain, likely from anxiety, but that it was different than ever before.

They took care of me, EKG, blood work, etc. Released me in a couple of hours. They drugged me up a little bit, came home an shoveled the driveway - Funny how that works.

Can't say I wake often in a panic, but it will keep me from falling asleep if I am panicing before bed.

I get that sometimes too. It used to scare me because I knew those feelings usually preceded a panic attack. I now try not to fall asleep on the couch and if I do, and happen to wake up feeling anxious, I then practice my breathing to calm the anxiety. That doesn't always work so I usually end up just going to bed and then I am fine.

my first panic attack i ever had was a spontaneous panic attack. These are the ones that come when you sleep. Wake you up out of a dead sleep and you got the symptoms. it was so bad i got so i was afraid to go to sleep. my anticipatory anxiety before going to bed at night was just as bad as the panic attacks.
i don't have any insight as to why the couch vs. the bed.
i just know it was awful and can feel for you.

I can completly relate to this however mine has happened in my own bed and at other places such as when we are on vacation (In a hotel room) or if I stay the night somewhere else. When my husband travels occasionally for work my child and I stay with relatives and this is so embarrassing. The last time this happened to me was at my parents house and I woke up from a sound sleep shaking with panic. It felt like my blood wasn't flowing throughout my body right or something. I actually had to wake my parents up to talk to me and ended up calling my husband at 1am to try to talk me through the panic attack. I don't know why it seems to happen in the night or while I am sleeping!

i can completely relate to all you guys, lately when i wake up in the mornings i wake to a severe panic attack, my heart is racing, my skin is hot, my limbs a numb, i'm dizzy, and feel like i can't breathe. i also feel like i'm going to get sick, and then i can't fall back asleep because i get circular thoughts that will not go away at all. so i guess i'm adding myself to the list...what can i do to get rid of waking up like this?

i have to take xanax to fall asleep at night to aviod the attacks but every morning as soon as i wake it's like i'm hit in the face with everything and my day of panic starts all over...what can i do?

Hello!I can so relate to all of this.My anxiety usually is the worst in the mornings.It's harder to deal with then because your body and mind have been in a rested state and then when you wake up Bam it hits you like a ton of bricks!ncolombo what's happening is that the Xanax that you took the night before has wore off and that definately can cause a boost of adrenaline.Ask your Dr. if he or she can change it to the extended release Xanax.The extended release last about 12 hours.Hope that helps.Take care!