I can't stop shaking

[shakingshaking]

Something really traumatic happened last night, I'm not in danger now but I've woken up and I can't stop shaking and feel sick. I'm on my own.
I can't talk myself down.

Take some deep breaths and get a drink of water if it'll help. I'm sure people will be on here to talk you through what you need. Do you want to talk about it or a distraction or something else?

Distraction I can't talk about it,

I'm normally just a lurker but I see you've not had any replies and I know what it's like to be awake in the night feeling scared so if I can help talk away

I just neeed to calm down but I'm getting more and more panicked

Last time I was taking panic attacks for some reason it helped to sit in the floor and count things out loud that I could see

Distraction I can do. It is 8.34pm here, I am in the US. I'm in bed with 8 month old DS and a snoring DH. We always go to bed early and get up early.

Is it a panic attack OP. They can be very frightening
There are strategies you can use to deal with them. Breathing and concentration techniques

And also describe things. I was trying to calm myself waiting on the doctor one day and I was saying things like lady in a purple jacket, man with walking stick, child playing with car ect

I'm counting
At least I don't have snoring to listen to
8 month olds are so cute

Can you describe where you are now? Is there anything around you that's comforting or nice to look at or pick up? A book or teddy or anything random?

I'm in my bedroom, it's dark. We are waiting for the house to be rewired and the lights don't work in my room. I've got the electric fan on as the noise is good, shame it's cold

Do you have any ice? If you do, hold an ice cube, concentrate on how it feels in your hands, how long does it take to melt? How does the sensation feel as it melts?

If there's no ice, try putting your hands in water, first cold, then warm. Notice how it feels on different parts of your hands, on your fingertips, your palms. Now switch the order. Does it feel different to go from warm to cold vs cold to warm?

Yes he is very cute, I could talk about him all day. He has just started saying Dada and Mama in the last few weeks. Do you have DC? Are you happy to be in darkness or would going to a different room help?

I like the sound of a fan too. Sorry you're cold though. I know what you mean about noise. I need something to break oppressive silence x

Aww, dada and mama
I'm tapping my foot and counting it's kind of helping but if I stop it's no good I'm going to look for a game on my phone

Another distraction you could try is to pick a theme and name something for every letter of the alphabet e.g. fruits; apricot, banana etc etc

Or to do something like add 7 repeatedly but start on 2 i.e. 2, 9, 16, 23

Can you put the TV on? Sometimes the only way to shut my mind down is to do 2 things at once (or 3) so game on phone plus TV or radio on.

Do you have any hobbies you could tell us about?

Do you have any beta blockers? These helped me massively. Did you have a bad dream that woke you up in a panic?

Counting is a good strategy. Slow your breathing. Have a drink of water if you can. Small simple things. You will get through this.

Game on phone sounds like a good idea. I like scrolling through stupid cat pictures on Reddit when I can't sleep. Eventually my brain switches off x

Sending you a virtual hug and a handhold.
This too shall pass, even the longest night will have a dawn . Thinking of you

Polyforge is calming and mindless if you want a new game x

Oh stupid me, I do have beta blockers, I've taken one. I'd forgotten as don't normally use them
I read and read for my hobby, I've just started one about a lady in waiting to princess margaret, it's not my usual book but it's 99p

Poly forge looks amazing, thank you.

I love reading too. I slept terribly when pregnant so got through quite a few books. I forget the names now but I was reading a series (in the wrong order), the main man was Jack someone I believe who could work for the FBI, the police or his own psychiatric practice whenever he chose to which I thought was a bit far fetched. It was crime thriller type stuff and an easy read.

Do you have a time you need to be up in the morning or can you have a lie in?