Adrenaline rush as I fall asleep, been happening for 8 years now. What is this?

HI Ruthie,

I have always had this at times of stress/anxiety but have it much worse atm after a period of prolonged stress related insomnia/coming off Benzo's.. so yes my understanding is that it is essentially stress/anxiety related.. "The Sleep Book" also talks about this phenomena.. for me right now it comes and goes.. and the more stressed/anxious I am about it the more it stays.. so I try to be very accepting about it.. control my reaction when it happens, i.e. take some deep breaths, tell myself it's no big deal and even smile at it.. reacting to it in a catastrophic "oh no!!" way just makes it worse.. I am not sure how old you are?? but as we get older our cortisol levels tend to arise making our nervous system more trigger happy.. and I agree that adrenaline fatigue could be an issues.. there are various things we can do to reduce calm our nervous system such as yoga/meditation etc.. black/green tea.. I would google how to reduce cortisol/adrenaline.. magnesium might help also.. it's a horrible thing to have but I think it can be managed

I've been having the same problem for 5 weeks now it's not just falling asleep it's while I'm asleep and I can't lay in in the morning either. It's like i'm fast asleep and then suddenly have an adrenaline Rush over and over again that wakes me up constantly.

Hi All,

I get the same thing, had it off and on over a year now, falling asleep and i get a wave of adrenaline come over me, sensation in my chest, sometimes a body movement with it, other times just the wave of adrenaline, it can happen multiple times through the night until morning arrives and I'm truly exhausted.  I have been to the doctors about it and he said its basically a mini panic attack thats happening between being awake and drifting to sleep.  I think it happens to me due to two things. Firstly, underlying anxiety about something (I have GAD anyway but that is getting better) something playing on your mind that your anxious about but maybe not so on the surface.  Also, once it happens a few times I think my brain gets the wrong idea and thinks that me falling asleep must be dangerous! So, as a result keeps doing it to keep me awake just in case, I think that is a large part of it as well, once the cycle begins its very hard to break it that very same night, the next night might be fine, but the night its happening it can be hard to get yourself out of the cycle.   

Going to bed early has helped me, not watching films late at night, no email or work after 6.30pm, we have a dog now(last few months) and she helped me so much with my anxiety and everything, she has made me get out more, push myself more and she distracts me from everything else, she has become my best friend. 

Also, I found this advice on another website or perhaps here, its sounds crazy but works to some extent, just talk out your issues or thoughts with yourself during the day and convince yourself that everything is fine or will be fine or that whatever it is you will find a way to come that does not mean the end of the world.  Do this its almost like talking to your sub conscious mind and amazingly for me it has worked a number of times, not every time but quite a few.  Oh, no alcohol, drugs, cigs, coffee etc before bed obviously. I am 40 and have had this for over a year.

Hi Ruthie! You are definitely not alone in this!! I go through the same exact thing, and I have seen a psychiatric nurse practitioner for this who told me that I have major OCD.

Now before you say "How is this related to OCD?", I'd like you to think about what you do in the day before you try to sleep. If you have been trying to do something, but keep forgetting to do it due to someone or something distracting you from it, it will lead you to feel incomplete, right? If so, then you probably have the same type of OCD issue I have. And if not, then you should still consider asking a professional who works in the psychiatric department for your help. They don't have to force pills on you, so you can just get a therapist if that helps.

Anyway, I was just having a rough day today and I thought I should see if someone else has this issue. And luckily I have! Hope you get the help you need, regardless of my 10 month late response

Every time I drop of to sleep at night, 10 minutes (more or less) later I wake up with a start.  My heart is racing and I feel a sense of dreadful depression and fear.  This only last a minute or so and I realise it’s just that ‘thing’ again.  The realisation reassures me and I usually drop off to sleep again after 10-15 minutes, though sometimes it wakes me completely and I get angry with it all.   It never happens a second time and even if I wake in the night it doesn’t recurr.  Eventually I’ll drop off again. 

I eat reasonably well, am not overweight, have no major health problems, post menopausal, don’t drink or smoke, I do moderate exercise.  Nothing has changed in the past 4 years to trigger this.  I have no idea why it all started.   I’ve never suffered with OCD, anxiety or depression, or any other mental health issue.  I also am not currently having any worries which cause insomnia and never have had insomnia apart from an odd poor night.  

So basically no reason outside the unexplainable spurt of adrenaline.

Does it affect me?  No, because I won’t allow it to.  I’ve never bothered seeing the doctor or having tests.  I know my heart is fine and my general health good, so what’s the point?  There’s not going to be a treatment that doesn’t leave me drowsy or medicated 24/7 for something that lasts a few minutes.  

I could very easily become wound up and neurotic about it.  It sometimes feels like a torture to know you are nice and cosy and drowsy and about to drop off to sleep but know you will jerk awake 10 minutes later.  However I know it won’t kill me and I know I will eventually go to sleep for the rest of the night so I won’t allow it to cause me any more trouble than it already does.  

Hi all, I get this problem every so often when I'm stressed. Just as I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I have a big adrenaline rush that makes my heart jump out of my chest and I kick myself awake, this would happen all night and I'd literally get no sleep for several days. Of course once you have this issue, it's a cause of stress and anxiety in itself, so you can get stuck in a vicious circle where your anxiety is causing you a sleep issue and your sleep issue is causing your anxiety. For anyone else who suffers with this I'd recommend asking your doctor for propranolol (a beta blocker that blocks adrenalin) I have to take 40mg because my symptoms can be quite severe. They have worked wonders for me.

I have this as well! its been going on for about 2 years now. Almost every evening before going to sleep, I sit in bed with my iPad, either reading, watching YouTube, or Netflix. At around 10 pm, all of the sudden I feel totally exhausted, and I can barely keep my eyes open - I often fight the feeling but at some point I have to give in, put the iPad down, and sleep. I start to drift off right away and then right at the point where sleep is upon me, I wake up with a jolt, that is usually accompanied with a sense of dread or doom and gloom. Sometimes right before the jolt, I have what feels like a dream where i am not quite awake and not quite sleeping, and its always a disturbing dream, with more thoughts than images, and sometimes with the sensation that I am sinking or falling, with a tinge of nausea. Like i am going a bit nuts! After the jolt, I feel totally awake, zero fatigue, like its 9am. Then i read for another 30 minutes, and when I go back to sleep I easily drift off, and often have a lovely sleep. The odd thing is that this almost never happens when I am in a hotel or visiting relatives. I think this is all stress related. I have a demanding, stressful job and I think my body has forgotten how to turn the stress trigger off when the workday has ended. This all used to freak me out but now I just find it annoying.

As for how to deal with it, i have noticed that it is less likely to occur when I dont have anything that heightens the stress, like coffee or chocolate, before dinner, when i have an active day with lots of physical movement, when i have a relaxed day, when i meditate regularly, and when I have taken a magnesium tablet. I actually just ordered a magnesium lotion that you rub into your skin before bed - its supposed to help with sleep. it arrives tomorrow and cant wait to try it.