To wonder if you can experience panic attacks when not panicked?

[OhCustardPots]

Admittedly I am going through a royally crap time at the moment and can suffer from anxiety attacks when I am worked up about my predicament.

However, recently I have been experiencing what feel like panic attacks whilst in bed at night. These usually happen just before I fall asleep. I start feeling like I can't breathe and end up shaking and feeling like I'm going to die. I can only explain it like I begin to fall asleep then wake up with a jolt and feel like I've forgotten how to breathe.

I could have had the loveliest evening and not thought or worried about my situation at all that day and yet it still happens.

I always thought that to experience a panic or anxiety attack you had to be worked up about something at the time.

Does anyone else get these randomly with no apparent immediate trigger?

I have an appointment with the Dr on Monday.

It might not be an anxiety attack. I’ve recently been pretty poorly and one of the worst symptoms was palpitations and breathlessness when I was lying down, it really felt like a panic attack, and I did feel like I was going to die. My blood tests showed I had very low blood pressure when lying down and was seriously low on iron and now I’m on a very high dose twice a day. Still waiting for my energy levels to recover but thank god the panicky feelings when lying down have stopped

This is very, very common. Anxiety attacks can appear from absolutely nowhere, even if you're feeling good or are asleep. For whatever reason, your body decides to let loose a rush of cortisol. I know exactly what you're experiencing and try not to worry. Anxiety attacks can NOT hurt you. It may feel as though you can't breathe, but you are. How old are you, op?

Yes! I do get the odd heart palpitations too! Like a flutter in my chest.

Definitely see your GP, but yes you can have panic attacks in the situation you describe. Also if you’re peri-menopausal they can occur seemingly for no reason at all.

I'm 25

NHS is a good place to start

www.nhs.uk/conditions/panic-disorder/

Yes, I don’t normally have anxiety attacks (can count the number I’ve had on two hands), but the worst one I had we were on holiday and I was just sitting having a take away (after bedtime with small dc, not a very exciting holiday!) and all of a sudden I felt like my heart was beating fast and I couldn’t breathe and my hands and face got really hot. I literally had to crawl to the bathroom, shut myself in there and I sat there running my hands under cold water because they felt like they were on fire. I truly thought I was having a stroke. I wasn’t remotely stressed about anything.

Thank you.

It does seem to happen when I'm at my most relaxed bizarrely. I am under a lot of stress though at the moment so it could be subconsciously affecting me.

I can get them out of the blue. Last week I was cleaning my teeth and had one.

I get my worst ones when I’m relaxed! My doctor explained that it’s quite common for this to happen, actually. Knowing what is is and trying to remember to do grounding exercises etc is very helpful - it doesn’t stop them, but does help me ride it out. If it’s causing you difficulty a chat with your GP might be worth a try!

I used to get them when l was all relaxed - it was like my subconscious wouldn't let me chill out! CBT helped me a lot.

I get them in my sleep sometimes - so echoing PP's comments, they very well might be: but see what the gp says, just in case there's something else causing it.

As others have said, yes you can. It's like your body has tipped over the edge of normal emotion and they can come on for no apparent reason. Agree with others about going to your GP. What helped me massively was regularly doing some exercise - specifically stomping in the woods near me. It helped get the excess energy out of my system so the panic didn't happen so readily. I also needed medication (wasn't pregnant) so going to the GP too is fab advice.

I get full blown panic/anxiety attacks too, mostly at night or in the evening when im nice and relaxed. I think it doesnt happen at the true time of stress or anxiety because your body goes into fight or flight mode and knows its needs to fight to get through whatever it is. Then in the evening that built up stress/cortisol/adrenaline finally gets released when its safe to do so!

For years i thought i had (and was misdiagnosed with) a heart attack because of my palpiations/sensation of running beats etc. Been much better since accepting the above and realising they attacks cant hurt you

It could be something like this, OP. You can have reflux without any obvious symptoms.

www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/laryngospasm-causes-symptoms-and-treatments

They certainly can.
My first one was for no reason , I was just sitting on the sofa .
I also find I get them in bed when I’m struggling to get to sleep, it’s awful