Why you're waking up in a panic attack

One question we get a lot has to do with wanting to know the reason behind waking up in the middle of the night, or waking up in the morning, with full blown panic and anxiety. Usually when this happens, people will report there was no story, no memory, no desire to run, shake, cry, or move. There is just a high heart rate and a sense of terror. In this video, I talk about what this can be and why we believe it happens at such times of the night. (Hint: It has to do with stored up survival stress bubbling up to the surface)

Some good resources to follow up on for this topic are:

► 3 things to know when healing anxiety:

► Do you feel like fleeing ..when practicing mindfulness?

► What do you do when you have unresolved trauma? Two types of orienting

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Please know that…

The statements on this YouTube channel or in videos are simply opinion. Content presented or posted on this channel is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment or a professional therapeutic relationship. Content presented or posted is intended to provide general health information for educational purposes only and you should contact the appropriate healthcare professional before relying on any such information.

[healingnow]

Yes! So many people beat themselves up for feeling panic, anxiety.. then it repeats :(

[LateNightChess]

It always happens to me within 1.5- 2 hours of falling asleep. I suddenly wake up, sometimes not even knowing who I am, with fast heartbeat and trembling from the inside out. I feel the urge of standing up, and there’s when the panic kicks in. I feel claustrophobic, like trapped in my body. Everywhere I look triggers me more panic. Feel like if I want to escape but I can’t. Feels like the feeling is going to last forever. No coping mechanism works. Feels like I can’t see, but I can see. Feels like eternal suffering. But then it goes away, and I feel stupid. However, it becomes my greatest fear to go to sleep. I can control and avoid anxiety and panic attacks while awake. I learned to do it without medications, since I was 11 years old. But I can’t control it when it happens while I’m asleep. It’s horrifying. It’s like im not part of my body and everything I look makes me suffer, even my hands.

I hope everyone gets healthier and happier by the day.

[karencolmore-williams]

Yes I have been having these morning adrenaline rushes for 18 months . Starting with palpitations, sweating and uncomfortable wired nerves. But thanks to Irene’s teaching it has been invaluable. As I have put into practice befriending my rush it has been dissipating away. Now they have been starting to diminish .My remedy has been to give thanks to God for a peaceful night and have acceptance going through this . AS I KNOW I WILL RECOVER. MY BODY FEELS SAFE

[chinookvalley]

Finally! I asked my therapist about this for years, with absolutely no suggestions, no ideas, just "hmmmm". Learning WHY our bodies sweat, why our eyes dilate, why our hearts pound out of control - all of the "normal" physiological reasons our bodies react to panic, but for no actual current cause... but "survival stress"? Thanks!!

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Thanks to my sister, Amy, for sharing this with me!
I don’t remember life without panic attacks. I had several early traumatic experiences and never had the chance to numb out.
I now, at 46, understand the physiology of what happens and am able to sit with the fear of the fear. My connection to my inner “watcher”, as I call her, has helped me tremendously in being able to allow the chemicals to run their course.
This was a great video to watch and really listen to. I really appreciate someone compassionately discussing the matter of fact realities of anxiety and panic attacks.
It’s a horrific “thing” to feel, but the fear of the fear is what I’ve begun to understand as my signal to go into the process of feeling, observing, and releasing pent up trauma.
Thank you for this. I really needed to hear this as a reminder to keep facing and feeling my reality, my experience, even though I’m terrified of the feeling.
The warmth of peace and joy of blessings to you, Irene!
And more than ANYTHING, thank you to my biggest supporter, cheerleader, and inspiration... my sister, Amy.
I love you so much my heart could burst, as I write this with tears in my eyes. Happy tears. I’m so blessed to be so completely and compassionately loved by you! Today, you’re definitely the big sister! 😁💕

[ThaMecca]

sometimes this will happen when I wake up I’ll have a panic attack and I feel so scared and just try to catch my breath

[jendesign]

Bingo! You nailed it! I feel like this is probably what is going on with me. For a year now I have been waking up 1-3 times per night / maybe 10-12 times a month with my heart racing. Sometimes I wake up, then my heart starts to race other times it is already in race mode. Terror sets in because I don’t know what’s happening. The more afraid I am the faster it races. At one point I was at 253 beats per minute as I looked at my fit bit I was wearing. At that point it went faster but I could not look again out of fear. Almost always this happens between 1:30- 4am. Went to cardiologist and checked out great he said it it physiologically. I did have daytime panic attacks when I was in my twenties and I managed to get rid of them on my own. I am now 60 and the panic has decided to revisit me unfortunately. This comes at a time when I am now under the most stress i have ever had coming to me from all directions and though I am tough during the day time evidentially I am not shutting it off as I sleep. This is truly one of the worst things I have experienced in my life. Fear and dread of going to sleep because it could happen. I will fix this and the best way to do that for me is to understand why and to know that I am not alone and others are also going thru this. Thank you for this video. Have you ever heard of anyone else going thru what I am? Any comments you could share would greatly benefit me. Thanks again.

[chamiracampos]

Im dealing with anxiety panic attack at night n GOd'smercy...God bless

[sweetlaughter]

I was having these a lot when I was under a tremendous amount of stress. I have CPTSD. Meditation, yoga, and getting rid of toxic people i my life helped a lot.

[WhoIsKateWest]

So absolutely grateful that you are in this world and playing this part in our collective waking up process.

[deannadevaney]

Just discovered your videos @IreneLyon . Amazing stuff. My problem is that having wake up anxiety and terror in the middle of the night then waking up in terror NIGHT AFTER NIGHT it's really hard bc my lack of sleep impacts my days. I can't function or do daily activities and end up exhausted. I also then go into FREEZE for DAYS AT A TIME. I can't do anything when that happens. I forget to feed my pets. I'm afraid to do ANYTHING: shower, make food, get water, go to the bathroom or accomplish ANY tasks. I'm terrified to go outside and walk my dog. I just sit frozen in terror on my couch for days, weeks at a time. When I do come out of it I have so much TO DO, just ADLs and tasks that weren't done. Going to watch more of your videos. THank YOU for putting these up for free.

[annyspb]

That's tremendous news, Irene! So I must be doing something right! I found myself trying to account for it by picking various issues that might fit, but there was nothing to account for that degree of fear, so then I started comforting myself and telling myself that everything was in fact all right, and hugging myself - but I knew this video was here to explain it for me, Many thanks indeed.

[fleafly]

I absolutely LOVE the work you're doing! A few years back I experienced a traumatic event that triggered an avalanche of suppressed trauma & coincided with a spiritual awakening. I scoured through published research, books YouTube videos ect to find some of the information you share on your channel about panic, trauma stored in the body & rewiring the body & nervous system. I have healed 90% since that time through a variety of techniques including Yoga Nidra. I'm thrilled to see your channel, I know it will help so many people to heal & gain a life they want! ❤

[sylhomeo]

Thank you for this. Nobody has made this much sense. I wake up with dizziness and that brings more fear to me. It messes me up. I’m drowsy and lightheaded but I don’t know where it’s coming from. I also wake up in the middle of the night in a restless anxious mode. It takes the whole morning for me to find a little relief. I absolutely love to listen to you speak, it reassures me because I wonder if I have a neurological disorder sometimes. Always in an anxiety mode big or small. I hope you continue to make these videos, they are helpful. God bless you for this.

[rachelb]

Even while watching this I felt myself have the panic start to fade and start to pass out. I do this most days. I pass out even if I ride the wave, but now I know closer to what it is, thank you.

[valerieeshelman]

I remember the first time I had a nocturnal panic attack. It was a little less than a year ago and I never experienced one before. I was half asleep and this strange feeling woke me up. As I was laying there I felt my heart speeding up and my left arm felt weird. Then I noticed my left arm was going numb. I then woke up my husband and told him that I didn't feel right. As we were sitting on the edge of the bed, the feelings intensified. I couldn't lift my arm, my head was spinning, my heart was pounding, and the room started getting darker and I knew I was going to pass out. So I told my husband to call 911 cause I thought for sure it was a heart attack or a stroke. I wobbled down the hallway to sit in the front room. As I sat down, my body just started trembling and shaking as if I were freezing and shivering. The ambulance got there and did some tests to rule out stroke and heart attack. They mentioned a panic attack and i said no that's impossible I've never had one before. They were right and I should have listened cause that would have saved over $4000 in hospital bills 🤣 I had experienced a lot of life changing experiences over the past couple years and dealt with past trauma that I didn't face until so late in my life. My brain is changed from the anxiety and trauma I've endured and now I have nocturnal panic attacks regularly. I still wake up thinking it's a heart attack and feeling like this is it, I'm going to die. But if I catch it early and know what's going on, I wake up my husband and take him to the bathroom with me and sit in a warm/cool bath and just have him talk me through it. I don't want to ever be put on medicines. I think sometimes, depending on the person, medicines make them not them anymore. I would love to be "normal" again and not have this constant feeling of fight or flight, but just like depression, it's all about learning to control it instead of the other way around.

[christinekaye]

Just listening to this and thinking of sitting with the panic is making my heart rate increase. I know I'm stuck in the freeze. I feel trapped. I would love to find a somatic therapist, but even if I did, I couldn't afford the sessions. I just recently found your videos and am hoping I'll find something I can do to help myself. Thanks for all you are putting out there.

[a.k.]

It's making so much sense. This video is so helpful. I feel it right now it's responding, reaching out for my inner adult selfs hand. Wanting just to be held. Thank you for your teaching.

[pillarsoflight]

My morning episodes are often triggered by dreams. When this happens, it takes me forever to get accumulated, and a part of me still thinks I'm in the dream, and that's when the panic begins.

[jessicarabbit]

Honestly, when I first started this video I was totally annoyed by you ( it wasnt you, I judged you knowing what you were talking about) but I stayed and I'm glad bc you really do have a gift.