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Panic Attack On Waking

Messages
70
Location
Chelmsford, England
Last night was a strange night as I actually slept most of the night restfully. Than I woke up at 6.45 in a pool of sweat and had a full blown panic attack, shaking, needing the bathroom, and all the horrors a panic attack has. It wasn't blood sugar as I am not eating simple carbs anymore and blood sugar is normal. I am thinking rush of adrenline due to dehydration and orthostatic intolerance. Anyone else have this?

I don't usually sleep much at night and get up and down, so I am wondering if this movement probably keeps the low blood volume moving but a restful night doesn't. Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated, as I suspect this is POTS/ NMH related.
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
I went through this until a few years ago - in fact I still get it occasionally but it's much more muted - not as overpowering and I can function through it if necessary

watch yourself for the next few hours after it occurs as I used to get random shutdowns (usually gracefully slipping into unconciousness but occassionally not so graceful, catatonic seizures, absences etc) within 10minutes to a few hours after waking like this - unless it's really essential not to I'd suggest writing off the day

I have no idea what causes it in all situations but I did notice a strong correlation with the way I was woken up eg alarm clocks, fire alarms, doors slamming etc could all cause it - but didnt always - I assumed it was an adrenal spike caused by being woken suddenly (it sometimes occurs when i'm not aware of being woken suddenly but for simplifications sake I assumed that I simply didnt remember the stimulous)

AFAIK it's not related to blood sugar at all, also AFAIK I dont have POTS/OI/NMH etc (or if I do it's subclinical)
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Hi Machair, my blood sugar reading are nomal and i dont eat refined food either, but i still had a problem with this or a while and eating a snack before bed and then again in the nght if i needed to did really help me. It might be worth a try anyway as low blood sugar is often the main cause of this nasty symptom. Im sorry but i dont know if OI would cause rushes of adrenaline like this if you are asleep.
I ound this a particularly horrible problem, but it did eventually clear up.
 

curry

Senior Member
Messages
107
Hi Machair

Have you had yet your hormon levels/thyroid checked?

I had twice such a panic attack as you've described, and I assume it to be related to my menstrual cycle.
So, in case you are female, I would suggest to keep a diary where you make notes when you have those attacks, and compare it with your cycle.

Hope you feel better soon.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
Dysautonomia

My daughter has dysautonomia with her ME/CFS. Mostly it's not too bad, but when she's having a bad patch, she has a lot of trouble in the morning -- heart pounding, sweating or freezing, maybe some GI symptoms.

I don't know this is at all related to what you're experiencing, but thought I'd share it just in case. :D
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
What are the symptoms of a panic attack? A friend was diagnosed with anxiety; he was sitting in his car and he couldn't move - just couldn't move. I'm sure he had other symptoms but that's what I remember.

That made me think of CFS as a very slow moving panic attack like state - where your body is kind of frozen but you can still move it - with difficulty. Still the signals aren't really getting through...
 

citybug

Senior Member
Messages
538
Location
NY
I have night sweats, which are really waking up sweats. I've been thinking there is an adrenaline rise that happens with waking.
 
Messages
70
Location
Chelmsford, England
Thank you all for your replies which are appreciated so much. I think it is my dysautonomia as it is flaring up just now really badly. Thank you sickofcfs for telling me about your daughter as this fits my pattern exactly. This morning my pulse shot up by over 40 when I stood up and my BP dropped to 89/70, which is what it does when I am really bad. I think this is causing the panic feelings as GI symptoms are also involved. I am trying to increase fluids and salt again for a while as I haven't been doing this as religiously as I should, and have also be overdoing it on a daily basis.
 

helsbells

Senior Member
Messages
302
Location
UK
This is actually how my illness started many ( :() many years ago. I have been told by Drs that it is a feature of dysautonomia - something to do with autonomic function being more difficult to regulate when supine (i know this seems counter intuitive) but this causes deep tissue oxygen insufficiency which puts the body into fight or flight.
 
Messages
70
Location
Chelmsford, England
Thank you for that Helsbells- that is so reassuring! I have had CFS/ME for fifteen years and have wondered about the supine aspect. Do you raise the head of the bed at night or do anything to lessen the impact of this, and do you still suffer from this aspect of the disease?
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Hi Machair, after replying to you yesterday, the exact same thing happened to me this mornign and it has put me in a strange mood all day. I also woke up last night once covered in sweat and once having had a horrific nightmare. My thyroid is o.k and my hypoglycaemia is well controlled o id ont know what else it could be. I dont know much about dysautonomia.

Just to let you know i undestand how oy ufeel, its so nasty waking up like that.
 

helsbells

Senior Member
Messages
302
Location
UK
Thank you for that Helsbells- that is so reassuring! I have had CFS/ME for fifteen years and have wondered about the supine aspect. Do you raise the head of the bed at night or do anything to lessen the impact of this, and do you still suffer from this aspect of the disease?

I literally woke up with a panic attack for about two years when I started this illness at the time way too long a story to go into here got fobbed off with anti-deps which did help me to feel less bummed by the anxiety - I still do get it and mood wise frequently feel worse first thing in a morning. But on the whole I think my body just mal adjusted to the situation - i take sleeping meds mind you. i sleep on two fat pillows but didn't raise the bed as my partner has a demanding job and try not too impact on his Q L any more than I already do. I really don't know why it is worse lying down but the guy who did the tests put me out cold my lying me flat and tilting my head back. Dysautonomia is a major factor for me however in other respects and I believe causes the bulk of my problems - what cause IT however is the 6 million dollar question?? If you are really interested in the supine aspect i can get the notes and look up his findings/explanations??
 
Messages
70
Location
Chelmsford, England
Yes please the notes would be very helpful. I too feel that the dysautonomia is a major part of the disease. I have implemented so many of the lifestyle changes to help this, and most of the time have it under control. I even managed a trip to Arizona to see my son in September, but this week the symptoms have been dreadful.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
Thank you all for your replies which are appreciated so much. I think it is my dysautonomia as it is flaring up just now really badly. Thank you sickofcfs for telling me about your daughter as this fits my pattern exactly. This morning my pulse shot up by over 40 when I stood up and my BP dropped to 89/70, which is what it does when I am really bad. I think this is causing the panic feelings as GI symptoms are also involved. I am trying to increase fluids and salt again for a while as I haven't been doing this as religiously as I should, and have also be overdoing it on a daily basis.

FWIW, my daughter has less problems when she takes Florinef and K-Dur twice a day and wears compression socks. She gets up at least an hour and a half before she has to be in class. That allows her to start slowly, take her meds, put on her compression socks and let her body adjust to being awake and vertical.

Her dysautonomia symptoms were aggravated this fall after she had a flu shot. Mine were worse, too, but are so mild ordinarily that it wasn't a big deal for me. I've read here of at least one other person who seems to have had increased dysautonomia after a flu this fall. I'm wondering if there isn't a flu this year that affects the autonomic nervous system a bit -- just enough to give people with dysautonomia extra problems....
 

Martlet

Senior Member
Messages
1,837
Location
Near St Louis, MO
Moderator: Rose, please would you remove the advertisement from your signature as this contravenes forum rules.

Edit: Have removed it myself after several hours of no response.
 

glenp

"and this too shall pass"
Messages
776
Location
Vancouver Canada suburbs
Extra pillow here

I now use 2 pillows plus a neck pillow. When I wake up I try and lay for half an hour and then get up for only about 10 minutes to make tea etc and go back and sit up in bed for about an hour. I also take a dextroamphetamine. This procendure seems to have helped. Last year at this time I was much worse. I do notice that when I get a good sleep - the morning symptoms are worse

glen
 

Marg

Senior Member
Messages
343
Location
Wetumpka Alabama
I knew this monster was coming back after 8 years when the panic attacks started. The feeling of major anxiety, pounding heart, short of breath and wanting to leave whever you are. The last one I had before crashing was in the car stopped at a red light. I thought I was going to die before the light changed. I turned on the AC, turned up the music and felt like leaving the car. The light changed and I turned into a shoppng center and just sat there drained. When it is finally over you are very tired or I guess better word is wiped out.
 
Messages
78
Even when I don't eat refined sugars I have hypoglycemia, in fact I have it on a low-carb diet too and I haven't yet found a way to fully control it.
Of course my fasting blood sugar is normal, it is abnormal only 1 or 2 hours after eating. And a major symptoms of hypoglycemia is indeed waking up with an adrenalin rush and panick attack feelings or nightmares.