[SpaceCadet]

Since I've been taking Gabapentin, my anxiety and panic attacks have gone away. But lately I've been having trouble sleeping and it was the worse it's been tonight...

Tonight, I was exhausted so I decided to lay down a bit earlier than usual. Every time, right before I fall asleep, some random thought will be drifting through my head and I'll suddenly jerk and have what I guess is a "mini" panic attack. My body jerks, my heart rate increases, I feel dizzy/light-headed and scared. It happens like right at the moment I'm drifting in to "dream land". Anyone else having this problem?

I'm new to all this and still trying to figure out how to deal with this stuff...Any advice/tips would be appreciated. I'm gonna try putting some kind of easy-going movie on and see if that helps me fall asleep without the attacks.

[Mark in Idaho]

I have struggled with this 'just as I start to drift off to sleep jerking' problem for years. It is one of the reasons I take gabapentin and why I had to up my dose to 900 mgs. I am up at 1:30 am because I was starting to jerk and twitch.

I find that my only solution is to get up and change environments for a while then start to going to bed process all over again.

I have never found any consistent solution.

I understand your frustration.

[greenfrog]

NWSmith, this has happened to me a couple of times (including last night, which is weird, as otherwise I've been feeling quite a bit better overall). "Mini-panic attacks" is a good way to describe it. No idea whether they have an organic cause or are simply related to the stress of a prolonged recovery. They do seem to have become less common as I've improved, but I'm going to ask my doctor about them eventually.

[SpaceCadet]

Yeah they are weird. I've had a couple more nights like that since I posted this but it seems like it's going away. It's probably been about a week or so since I've had this problem. Hopefully they are gone for good!

[wtrpk]

i've had them too...its awful.

[postconcussion]

I have them too... usually when I'm worried about something.

[Lagr]

I've entered month 4 of pcs and I've just begun to have these. They are awful! I've noticed in the last week or so I've felt more nervous and trembly than I ever have. Now these things are making it harder than ever to get any sleep at all. It sounds like this may be another phase that passes (hopefully). Has anyone had a medication that helped? I was just prescribed 10mg of nortriptyline to help me sleep. It has reduced the tremor-like feelings, but hasn't increased my sleep. Might need to up to 20mg tonight to see if that helps.

[greenfrog]

I am at 7.5 months and am doing a lot better (but still have some ways to go in my recovery - it has been a very gradual process). I'm not on any medications.

The mini-panic attacks have pretty much subsided. They were mainly an issue in the first few months, although I had the odd one after that. Time + consistently doing all the other "do's" associated with PCS recovery (day in, day out) has helped bring my anxiety levels way down.

[SpaceCadet]

I just started getting these again last night. They are scary...

I noticed when I was taking Gabapentin they weren't happening as often.

[SpaceCadet]

So now these mini-panic attacks are back full force. I seem to be having them every night now, but they seem...worse. Last night I was up until at least 4:45am trying to go to sleep..but right as I'm about to fall asleep my body jerks and I get this scared feeling. Sometimes I'll have a weird vision of getting hit or falling or something bad happening. Very strange. Going to mention this to the psych when I go on Wednesday.