Woke up panicking

[Imscaredxpanicattack]

I just woke up panicking.

I'm fed up of these panic attacks. I wake up scared for no reason, having to try and shake the emotion out of my head. I feel sick. I know there's nothing to be scared about. It's not like there's anything major happening in my life right now. I've suffered with them for about 6 and a half years on off.

How do others cope when this happens please?

Can you remember the circumstances of your first panic attack? Often it can happen that your mind got such a scare when that first one happened that it sets up an 'alert' that overreacts to the very normal surge of cortisol when you need to wake up - resulting in a 'oh fuck, it's happening again' feeling.

It's very natural to fear it (because it feels horrible) but it might help to shift your concentration to what happens after the panic rather than the episode itself; which is...nothing. You have that horrible feeling, you shake the emotion out of your head, it passes and you then get on with your day. Focusing on that rather than the fear may help put it into perspective.

Hello OP. I experience the same if I wake up fairly soon after going to sleep initially. I wake feeling sick, hot, pounding heart. Sometimes I feel so panicked I jump up out of bed, ready to go somewhere, but obviously don’t. I try to calm my breathing down and it gradually helps.

I think my panic episodes stem from having DC9 prematurely, and I woke at 32 weeks, in the middle of the night with my waters breaking.

Now when I get back into bed, I try and play a game. Like thinking of a topic and then going through the alphabet. I often pick Christmas, then Advent, Baubles, Christingle etc.

I try and remind myself that I have experienced the panic before and survived fine, and will do so again.

Huge sympathy from me as waking like this is horrible, I hope it improves for you.

Six years is a long time to suffer like this. Have you spoke to your GP about anti-anxiety medication? It could really help.