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Waking up in a panic not being able to comprehend

Posted , 4 users are following.

Sleepterrors
Sleepterrors

Made this account to try and see if anyone has felt the same thing as me before. 

About once every 8-9 months I'll wake up in the middle of the night absolutely freaking out. When I try to think I can't access the parts of my brain I need to, to calm myself down. I can speak but only in incomplete sentences. Feels like I'm literally about to die and I go sprinting around the house trying to regain control. From what others who have witnessed this have told me I've tried to explain it when in the moment as "circle not complete, it's only a little, can't complete circle." That's referring to a mental aspect. Not that I need to run in circles... the most recent one happened last night and it was by far the worst. When I tried to explain it I said "4 doors, I need the doors open. Only one is open. I can't open the doors". 

This will continue indefinitely until I fall asleep. I can't escape it until my mind resets by falling asleep.  The only way I can fall back asleep is with someone holding me and calming me down, if left to my own it will not stop and I can't fall back to sleep. 

Meanwhile my body is dumping adrenaline and I've got the strength of ten men. Out of confusion and terror I lifted my queen sized heavyweight oak bed and threw it by the end a few feet across the room, something I could never do normally. 

Never aggressive just terrified.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this or know what it is? 

I don't think my brain fully wakens and that's why I'm saying things are incomplete, I think my mental faculties are running on 25% or less like only a small mass of my brain actually exits R.E.M. Sleep. 

Any help would be great!

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • LovelyRyan
    LovelyRyan Sleepterrors

    Posted

    My grandmother did something very similar to this.  She was diagnosed with sleep apnea.  Sometimes she'd loose so much oxygen while asleep that her brain would click into fight or flight and she was trying to fix something or complete something to be safe again.  She had to go to a sleep clinic to be diagnosed and things got better with a special machine they gave her.

  • craig84609
    craig84609 Sleepterrors

    Posted

    Most likely some kind of sleep apnea. I would get evaluated by a sleep specialist. If you have it there are things that can be done to help. If you don't get enough oxygen you can go into panic mode real easy. Apnea can reduce your oxygen levels significantly. It can even be fatal. Get it checked out.

  • Sleepterrors
    Sleepterrors

    Posted

    Sleep apnea actually makes sense, I didn't think of that as a possibility. Both my parents have it and all males on my mothers side that have been through a sleep study have been diagnosed with that.  Looks like it's time to schedule an appointment! Thanks for the help! 

  • ellebi
    ellebi Sleepterrors

    Posted

    I wake up in the night, bolt out of my sleep, heart palpitations, sweating, fear of god in me but have been told its panic attacks
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