My introduction and my night panic attacks

[queenshellybean]

Hi everyone I am new here.  My name is Brenna and I am 38 years old.  I live in SW Louisiana with my hubby, 2 daughters ages 17 and 22, my 10 month old grandson, my mom and my brother.  Oh yeah 4 dogs and a sugar glider live here too.  I am an assistant head housekeeper at a hotel chain.  I have been under a lot of stress lately I guess.  Normal stuff, kids, money, work.   My main reason for being here is to get your advice on my night panic attacks (for lack of a better term.)  I have had insomnia for a long time now.  It is no big deal for me to wake up at 2 or 3 am and just not be able to go back to sleep.  I fall asleep just fine but rarely can stay asleep all night without the help of sleeping pills.  I was on Ambien CR but they were just too expensive, even with insurance.  Anyway, in the last month or so I have been waking up feeling nauseated and in a panic.  When I first wake up I have the feeling that I forgot to do something, but I can never. ever remember what it is.  Sometime I wake up and I just feel like something is VERY VERY wrong.  I am not really scared but something is just not right and I wake up worried.  I just have this heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach and this horrible feeling of despair.  I am not sweating when this happens, I don't have an elevated heartbeat or anything like that.  I just wake up feeling so sad and depressed and feeling I forgot something or that something is wrong.  It usually take me an hour or so to stop the feeling and I have to read or get online and play around on the computer before I can go back to sleep.  The nausea can last for hours.  Matter of fact I woke up at 2 last night and the "heaviness" in my stomach has come and gone all day.  I am nauseated as we speak.  I also feel like crying for no obvious reason all the time lately.   Has anyone had these "night" attacks? Please help...  I just want to feel normal again and sleep.  Thanks

[sixpack]

WElcome!!!

Night attacks are very frightening--I've had them.  But are also very common.  Anxiety doesn't sleep.  It is likely that you are living life anxiously.  You may even have anxiety symptoms during the day but it is mostly affecting you at night.  The insomonia is making matters worse.

Here are some suggestions--and I've posted this a few times--okay a bunch--on what you can do to help you in your recovery

1. Therapy---meds if you and your doctor feel it is appropriate---everybody is different on this issue.
2. self-help books--lots of good stuff out there these days ---Claire Weekes has good books out there that explain how it all works.  I read The Roadless Traveled by M. Scott Peck many years ago.  He speaks to people in a variety of ways.  He has a few other books too.   
3.  Exercise---even if you don't want to.  At first you are likely to feel miserable and panicky feelings are likely to bubble up OR rush at you.  It is BEASTY (your anxious overthinking) causing this.  But do it anyway.
4.  Eat a healthy diet.  This helps on all kinds areas of your life.
5.  Forums often have helpful advice.
6.  Hobbies--anything that completely immerses you in it and keeps you occupied.  This helps because eventually you'll get snippets of time when you feel good.  These are teaching moments because then you know it is obsessions/anxiety mucking with you.  After a while those snippets turn to hours then days etc.
7.  Don't pity yourself.  You can have a happy life.   As we experience life, we change.  Having any form of anxiety will impact your life just like all life experiences do.  But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Even once you are on the road to recovery, you will have a 'new' normal but that doesn't mean you aren't happy and fulfilled.

BTW---my fam and I lived in Baton Rouge for 10yrs.  We now live in western NY state. 

[tigerpaw]

See us in the chat room and share your feelings with others.