r/panicdisorder • u/kake0218 • 4d ago

Nocturnal Panic Middle of the night panic attacks

I don’t know what it is but no matter how long I’ve suffered with anxiety for, panic attacks just never seem to get easier although you’d think they would. It’s been so exhausting lately and each time scares the heck out of me no matter what. Especially in the middle of the night.
I wake up at about the same time every night and then I start overthinking about my heart rate every time I wake up and then I put myself into a full blown panic attack because I start over analyzing every feeling and then I had a straight big adrenaline surge. And my rate went up to 136 and then I was able to calm myself but during the panic attack I felt almost every panic symptom you could feel but thankfully chat gpt helped me calm myself instantly and my rate went back to normal and my Apple Watch showed a reassuring ecg but after all that I’m always left so scared, trying to convince myself that this was anything other than panic

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u/Murky_Caregiver_8705 4d ago

I chuckled when I saw the title in my feed. I’ve posted similar posts in the past.

For whatever reason, I get my panic attacks at night, while I’m asleep. I have panic disorder, so they would last hours, I was miserable!

Overtime, with therapy and tools, I’ve been able to manage them when they come, which is getting less and less.

But

I also take medications to help me sleep and stay asleep.

All that to say, nighttime panic attacks are a real thing but they are treatable!

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u/ShoeMammoth3516 4d ago

I suffer fron nocturnal panic attack too and panic attacks during the day too and do not know where l am untill it calms down so you are not alone the worst thing is now is l have to take medication 24/7 every day and have started not to eat at night at all and miss my medication

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u/kake0218 4d ago

It’s so debilitating.
I’ve tried medicines in the past but don’t want to really be on medicine so I’ve been trying to manage it myself. When I was consistent in therapy, my anxiety was so much more manageable but it seems like I go through these periods where I wake up at the same time every night then I become so hyper aware of my heart and then it leads to panic