Anxiety attacks - but only when falling asleep. Is this another fun perimenopause symptom?.

[MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel]

I'm not someone who typically has any anxiety issues, more than the "normal" stuff. Had some anxiety issues years ago, but worked hard to resolve and its now been many years. Overall, my mental health is good.

For the last year or so, when I go to bed and start dozing off I will suddenly get a rush of what I can only describes as nerves. I get palpitations, my stomach drops, I sweat, my brain suddenly goes into overdrive about totally normal things (like decisions I've made at work or things I know I need to get done. None of it unusual stuff).

This has the effect of snapping me out of starting to fall asleep and leads to me tossing and turning and getting minimal sleep. I'm now trying to survive on 2-4 hours of sleep a night, I know I need 9 hours to feel okay.

I have sleeping tablets, but they give me restless legs so I tend not to take them and even so, these anxiety attacks are strong enough to even overwhelm sleeping tablets. I just end up awake but feeling drunk.

I'm 44yo of that's important, good job, happily married, 3 teen kids no financial worries and overall have a pretty decent life. So nothing for me to stress over.

I had this at this stage and through menopause! HRT stopped it. Very annoying when you're dropping off an wake up feeling as if you're about to fall off a cliff. And yes, when it's followed by hours of 'drunk brain' rumination, it's worse. But I was older, in my early fifties, when it started.

I had this but on waking. Apparently it's your body panicking due to low hormone levels. Haven't had it since starting HRT.

That's interesting about hormones.

Its annoying though as the physical effects seems to prompt my brain to join in with random worries about things that I'm not really worried about during the day time.

So annoying, as if the non stop peeing doesn't make it hard enough now I have this!

God yes, I had this. Mine would be waking in the night, snapping out of a deep sleep with my heart racing, sweating and feeling like my whole body was rushing with adrenalin. Almost like how you would be if you woke up suddenly from a bad nightmare. It was awful and happened every single night. Then once I was awake my mind and body would take ages to come down from that high state of adrenalin feeling. I would eventually drop off but it disturbed my sleep for ages leaving me feeling exhausted.

I started taking daily magnesium glycinate and within a week it had stopped. Touch wood, it hasn't happened again.

I am not on HRT as I tried it and couldn't find one that suited me so now cope with my symptoms with a mountain of supplements!!

I have the HRT and a mountain of supplements.

Menopause has also made me gluten and dairy intolerant.

It is shit!!!

Yep. Getting the right HRT regime and taking magnesium glycinate sorted it out. Not sure which was the bigger factor - probably the HRT.

That’s really interesting because I’m only 35 and over the last year my periods have shifted into awful, painful, two week long affairs of rage and agony and I’ve also been having the same sleep symptoms.

I wake up and genuinely think my heart stopped and I died briefly and then into massive overdrive and panic for ages. Happens 2-3 times a week.

Like you Op I’m in a pretty decent place with relationships, kids, work etc.

My mum started peri in her 40s, am I super early into peri? Or not.

Shame I wouldn’t get a GP to take me seriously at all.

I have this (am 44) and it's been worse lately. Sudden wake ups with heart racing, in an absolute panic. Mine is not normally about "real" situations but dream type things related to real situations. Like one of the dc is going on a school trip (in real life) and I'll wake up convinced I didn't do something I was supposed to do for it, or forgot a code or something like that.
It's horrible! Takes me a while to realise it's not real and calm down and get back to sleep.

Have been trying to decide if I go and ask for HRT.

Yes I had this. Not the thoughts but the physical sensations of anxiety. It was a bit like the moment you realise you can’t see your small children in a crowded place - a huge whoosh of adrenaline, palpitations, stress. It was happening hundreds of times a night at one point.
What helped was my periods coming back and regularising again (they’d been sporadic for a few years after the Covid vaccine) and CBD oil high strength before bed. I was ready to try HRT but this knocked it on the head.

I actually wonder if it’s an old evolutionary thing—useful to have some adults awake and alert at night and better to have the women who are getting past childbearing and nursing age to be the poor ‘vigil’ keepers.

Yes I have this. I went for sertraline as that helped in the past when I had it after I had DD2 (post natal anxiety). It’s flipping horrible! Sertraline seems to have largely stopped it but HRT is my next move if not. Am 44.

Oh wow, yes. Thought it was a 'me' thing. Totally random stuff that my logical brain knows is nonsense (or at least vanishingly unlikely) but that doesn't seem to touch the physical symptoms of adrenaline rush, racing heart, churning stomach.

I'm not on HRT but will give magnesium glycinate a try, thanks pps. Weirdly reassuring to know it happens to others too.

I've been taking the magnesium glycinate for a few weeks already, as was hoping it would help with general exhaustion so its not helping the sleep issue apparently.

But, I'm glad its not an unusual symptom and does seem to be a menopause thing. Makes me feel like its "normal" if that makes sense.

I guess we're just destined to stay tired!.

I had this but I was late 40s when it started. I used to dread going to bed because I never knew whether it would kick in or not. Horrible. I didn't have any psychological anxiety as such. Just purely physical. I was already on HRT when it started and increasing my does just seemed to make it worse? What knocked it on the head was going on the lowest dose of the anti depressant Fluoxetine. Absolute game changer for me. So thankful for it. I think you just have to try various things to see what works for your body.

I had this, it was absolutely horrible and I started to dread going to bed. Hrt solved it very quickly thank god. Had tried all sorts, magnesium supplements, magnesium cream on my legs, weighted blanket - then realised it was low oestrogen and hrt solved it along with many other symptoms.

I like the PP suggestion that it might have evolved this way - the older women being awake to watch the tribe. Wise elders! Pain in the arse now though!

I had this at 43 along with night sweats (drenching) as my first peri symptom. HRT solved it. Now I’ve added Mag Glycinate to ensure even better sleep. Now I have this only once a month or so if I’ve had a very tiring/stressful day or expecting a stressful day next day.

I have this sometimes - I wake up feeling like I’m dying. I think it’s possibly hormones for me (early 40s) but life is also very stressful. I notice it’s worse when I’m already in fight or flight mode much of the day, though I don’t get panic attacks during the day