Night Panic Attacks - Stop the Terror in the Night
Although it rare for someone to have panic attacks only at night, it very common for people with anxiety attacks during the day to have night panic attacks as well. Most of the treatments of these nighttime episodes are the same as for panic attacks in general. As the daytime attacks come under control, the night time episodes cease to be an issue as well.
However there are a few differences someone with nighttime (also know as nocturnal) panic attacks should know about.
As with all panic attacks, it important to have a thorough medical evaluation to rule out other causes of your symptoms. For example, people can develop a racing heart beat from cardiac problems. It might mimic panic attacks.
Of particular importance for someone who has night time panic attacks is to be sure that they don have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can cause a wide variety of symptoms. Anxiety is one of them. If this is the case, treatment of the sleep apnea is the best treatment for the night time anxiety.
If there any possibility of sleep apnea, you should be evaluated in a sleep lab.
Once other problems have been ruled out by a possibility evaluation and you know the diagnosis is anxiety or panic disorder you can think about treatment.
Although drugs are sometimes used as a short term measure, I think it best to use behaviorally based therapy that eliminates the real cause of the problem rather than mask the symptoms as many medications do. Here are some treatments specific to nighttime anxiety and panic attacks.
One problem with nighttime anxiety attacks is that they lead to a loss of sleep and all the problems that can cause in a person life. Studies repeatedly show that no one performs their best if they don get a good night sleep.
In severe cases, physicians may prescribe a sleeping drug like Ambien. This is a short term measure that should only be used under a physician direction as a last resort. One difficulty with these types of drugs is that they interfere with normal sleep patterns. In other words, the sleep you get with these medications isn as restorative as normal sleep.
The anti histamine Benedryl has a mild sedative effect. Some people use it as a sleep aid. If it works, it is preferable to the more potent sleeping pills.
Better yet is to practice good sleep practices (no caffeine in the afternoon, avoid vigorous exercise before going to bed, keep regular hours etc), perhaps coupled with natural sleep aids. Natural sleep aids are gentler than drugs and disrupt normal seep cycles much less. Also, they usually don have a residual effect so you won feel groggy the next day.
