Expert: Jeanne Rust, PhD - 10/13/2011

Question
I kept waking up at night with my stomach burning, heart racing, sweating, and feeling like I was going to die. Once in in a great while it would happen while I was awake. After having a sleep study, ekg, holter monitor, blood work etc my family Dr decided it was panic attacks. He gave me xanax to take when these episodes occur. When I became pregnant with my son the attacks stopped and I havent taken the xanax in almost a year because I didnt need it. The OB advised me I could take it if absolutely necessary while pregnant for one of these attacks, but I never needed it. My son is now two and a half months old and I am starting to get symptoms again. I laid down for bed tonight and my stomach was on fire and my heart rate was elevated, though not real bad like some of these have been. One time my heart was beating 140 beats per minute and I thought I was going to pass out. I dont understand how you can have an anxiety attack while you are sleeping and why they happen even when nothing is bothering me and why they stopped when I was pregnant. Can you help?

Answer
Dear Chris,

It seemed as if your pregnancy protected you!  I don't know a lot about the physical causes of panic attacks because I'm not a physician.  I personally look upon them as some kind of chemical imbalance.  There are many medications that can work other than Xanax which is not my favorite because of it's addictive qualities.

If you can, see about seeing your regular doc or a psychiatrist for a full workup.  I do believe that when we're asleep that we access memories or events in a different way than when we're awake.  It feels sometimes like we live in an alternate universe because of the things that happen when we're asleep (a very woo-woo thought).

Here's some interesting information:

Anxiety attacks that take place while sleeping, also called nocturnal panic attacks, occur less often than panic attacks during the daytime but affect about 40%-70% of those who suffer from daytime panic attacks. This symptom is also important because people who suffer from panic symptoms while sleeping tend to have more respiratory distress associated with their panic. They also tend to experience more symptoms of depression and other psychiatric disorders compared to people who do not have panic attacks at night. Nocturnal panic attacks tend to cause sufferers to wake suddenly from sleep in a state of sudden fear or dread for no apparent reason. In contrast to people with sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, sufferers of nocturnal panic can have all the other symptoms of a panic attack. The duration of nocturnal panic attacks tends to be less than 10 minutes, but it can take much longer to fully calm down for those who experience them.

I hope this helps!

Warmly,
Jeanne Rust, PhD
CEO/Founder
Mirasol
www.mirasol.net
www.edrecovery.com
888-520-1700