[mistyeyed]

anyone experience them? I regggularly had night terrors as a kid atleast 4 nights a week for months at a time.. i'm 22 and panic attacks managed to creep back in lately right around 3:30 a.m..maybe once a week.. pounding heart, paralyzed vocal chords/limbs, racing thoughts that I'm about to die like right then and there

If anyone else suffers from em you can eventually separate the crazy thoughts of dying and get back to a normal train of thought by repeatedly telling yourself that it's just a panic attack and that it WILL go away..ick they suck just shuddering thinking about it

[Rhiannonsmoon]

Hello mistyeyed,

Welcome to pc. Yes the thoughts do eventually go away and the more you re-focus your thoughts the sooner it will happen. Night terrors are awful but you will get past it and they will subside. Everything you mentioned above is great for working through panic attacks and anxiety attacks. Keep posting so that we are able to support you.

.

[11PM]

Night terrors are the worst dude. Good luck trying to sleep after that. Other people dont understand... It's sort of like if you woke up with a gun to your head... You can't just shake it off so easily.

I get night terrors often nowadays. Sometimes mini terrors in quick succession when I am first trying to get to sleep, like my brain is trying to make sure I'm just sleeping and not dying, but when you come out of DEEP sleep instantly with a terror, it is horrifying. It's not like waking up from sleep, people don't get it. It's like waking up from life itself. A world where you are completely alone, completely helpless. Lasts for me, about 3 minutes, before I can get up and do something else to take my mind off it. Trembling, unbalanced, very nervous and jumpy. If I don't take a pill of some sort I can never sleep after that.

Usually I wake up just thinking that I'm crazy, or that I've thought something that I shouldn't have and I'm ****ed just for thinking it. But once I actually felt like I was being attacked by someone. Ended up swinging punches and hit my girlfriend while I screamed. I honestly thought I was protecting her... very weird... That's how these night terrors are. A lot of people think of it like a nightmare, others think of it like a mental disorder.

Just remember when you go to bed, that the clock doesn't exist. And you are in fact sleeping because you are tired, not because you have work in the morning or whatever. Those kind of thoughts keep you from sleeping.

[Aunt Donna]

I hate the night terrors. I am all out of sorts when they happen. I have to remind myself it is just a panic attack. I can't go back to sleep afterwards afraid of another one happening. I tend to get up and do something which annoys my husband. I am working on it.

[sundog]

I get panic attacks and something strange at night too. I've googled sleep paralysis and night terrors and it doesn't totally fit what I experience. I can't really find words to describe the experience I have because it's so strange. It's a totally altered state of consciousness and the sensations in my body are really weird and distressing. Kind of like these really strong tremors inside my body. I sometimes wonder if I've had some type of brain seizure, or if I'm about to. And when I try and get up and walk, my legs are literally like jelly. It's definitely different from the panic attacks that I get during the day.

With my night "episodes", they always happen within one hour of falling asleep. Now when I wake up in that state I pretty much know exactly what time it's going to be when I look at my watch. It's always about an hour after I feel asleep. Thankfully these episodes are usually over quickly. Within a few minutes. And now that I've had a few of them and kind of know what they are, it's easier for me to deal with them.

It helps to talk about it too. Thanks for starting this topic, mistyeyed. I'm glad you're able to calm yourself when you have your night terrors.

My son had night terrors for ages....as he got older he experienced severe anxiety ...then developed chrones disease...an anxiety related form of IBS...severe enough to keep him hospitalised for a month or so at a time....but that was him.Back to the "night terrors"...he'd awake and look as if he was awake...(actually still asleep).But you know ...not to be odd...I always associated them to past life memories.Because to my knowledge he had never been traumatised.Yet ...the stress induced chrones...I mean he was THE most popular kid.Highly intelligent...and I wonder in retrospect...was it that he held all his regular stress(at school ect) within...and developed the later disorder...?Night terrors...still not sure what I think of that as a bottom line.It may be that he...and you are simply terribly deep sleepers?...I feel compassion about it cause...it is like being in a nightmare and ...man...his behavior was completely wild...and I'd have to wrap him in a sheet and rock him...cause he did various things that could harm him during these episodes. Ugh I ranted...I sorry lol.~W~

[OrangeMoira]

Wow, that's really often. I feel for you.

I get sleep paralysis and terror, especially in the morning. I don't think I'm going to die; I think someone is in the room. It seems to go on forever. I eventually realize I'm not all the way awake and try to force myself awake by thinking "Wake up wake up" really loudly in my head. Sometimes I have dream within dream experiences. Ugh. I have to get up and move when I'm actually up, or it sucks me back in again.

My husband knows not to lean over me when I'm half awake because I will freak out. I think someone's trying to smother me. I've knocked him on his back a few times--I'm really strong when I'm still asleep!!

I also get the tremor feeling, Sundog--that's so weird! I always wonder if it's because my heart's racing so fast, or if it's some muscle thing. I woke people up before because I was confused and thought there was an earthquake! It's kind of a fluttery, vibrating feeling.

It does help to talk about it. I never thought about trying to think my way out of it by realizing it's a panic attack--thanks!

[sundog]

Originally Posted by OrangeMoira

I also get the tremor feeling, Sundog--that's so weird! I always wonder if it's because my heart's racing so fast, or if it's some muscle thing. I woke people up before because I was confused and thought there was an earthquake! It's kind of a fluttery, vibrating feeling.

Yes! That's exactly it! It's like an earthquake in your own body!!!! It's so strange! But that's a great way to describe it!! Sorry you have this too! ((((((OrangeMoira)))))))

Gosh...somehow I reeely love that name you have orange....>.< off topic...yes?