rottdane
Nighttime panic is about the worst since we are sleeping when it hits and it disrupts any rest we were seeking in sleep. I used to read alot of self-help books before sleeping and I think that helped to trigger alot of my nitetime attacks.
I think the trick is to do calming stuff before you go to bed, once you get a routine established of calming before bed for me anyway, the nighttime attacks have been greatly reduced.
[b]I'm super disappointed in myself, and the more I look up my syptoms on the internet the more I diagnose myself with something new that is out there that fit my symptoms[/b]
DONT beat yourself up, disappointment is natural to feel, but it contributes to feeling overwhelmed and hopless.(I know I feel like such a failure everytime I "give in" and call someone to talk me thru an attack)But these thoughts just reinforce the feeling of helplessness. Instead of saying/thinking that I lost another battle to panic, I am trying to tell myself its OK, i am under alot of stress, it will get better, anything positive I can think of.
And stay off the net looking up symptoms, if anything bookmark some sites that have helpful info that you can go to when panic hits. We become introspective and turn on our alert system always looking for some disease to be making us this way when it is our Fear of the symptoms that is keeping us in panic.
I used to dread nighttime because I never could know if i was going to wake up in panic. After months of struggeling with it I finally had to change things I did before bed to be able to get some sleep.
Breathing exercises, meditation, reading, any form of distraction that calms your mind.
There are no easy answers, it all comes from what we are thinking, so turn off the radar and distract your mind with calming things.
