Anxiety in sleep

Oh, I can absolutely relate to this!
I am so sorry you feel this way, from my personal experience this is dreadful.
What I feel is the same as you but my heart got affected at some point because I had too much stress. When I wake up I am often already stressing but lately this starts later; while I slowly get more awake the stress rushes in, it's like this massive way of General Angst. It's terrible. I often get very sweaty, heart races, I feel such fear. This can be after a simple thought as 'I will do the dishes first', anything will set this in motion.
Months ago I would also get serious fears right before falling asleep. I would get vivid and incredibly scary thoughts such as going outside and being killed by a wrecking ball, or stabbed.

This was all due to multiple traumatic events from which I didn't recover before the next arrived. After a very sad childhood my life didn't get a lot better. Bad experiences finally ended up as this massive mountain of problems for which I finally sought help after talking to a specialist.

I had EMDR for the most acute fear. We're working through therapy for the rest now. I notice I get far fewer attacks but the mornings are still tricky and I often get up earlier than i should to not feel the fear; being busy during the day helps. Maybe this all helps you, let me know 😊

I can relate to the anxiety at night; I have it too. I have no real answers except maybe cognitive behavior therapy and Xanax or similar medication.
My question is, have either of you been tested for sleep apnea. I also have these symptoms if I’m awakened by an apneic event.

I'm having similar problems and have Xanax on hand but hate to use it. Does anyone have suggestions relevant to nature based sleep aids like vitamins, herbs, etc? I'm not a "big pharma" fan and know that Xanax is a short term fix, but can develop into a long term huge problem.

@johneckenrode11 Have you tried Melatonin? I take either 1 mg or 3 mg but in larger dosages it causes horrific nightmares. Good luck.

I have found that my topomax used for migraines and my antidepressant really reduced my anxiety so that I didn’t need to use my lorazapam at all. I’ve been pulling back on the topomax with my doctor to test my migraines. It hasn’t been successful and migraines are coming back and the anxiety has been coming back at night as well. Lorazapam just wrecks me - I think it reacts worse when taking these other medications so I really try never to take it. I wanted to get off the topomax or at least reduce it but I’m not on a high dose. It’s interesting the side benefits of some of these medications. I wouldn’t take it if I didn’t have to for the migraines, but am grateful for less night anxiety.

I have night anxiety when I’m taking prednisone.
For some reason it messes with the brain…

Would like to know more about your reaction. I am in process of weaning off corticosteroids after over 12 years on them. Working with endocrinologist on this. Don't know how rheumatologist is going to react when I see her in October. I have been resisting methotrexate and humira and that doesn't leave many options but need to get off corticosteroids. Thank you for a reply. I have sleep anxiety and take ativan otherwise.

I find myself awake yelling quite loud about who knows what…typically I’m arguing with myself. My mood is different when I’m on prednisone. I tend to be quite irritable, and sometimes downright awful…
Currently, I am in the process of weaning down from 70mg. I have an autoimmune disease that is lethal if I don’t keep it under control with this stuff…😾

Thanks Marjou, I've found Melatonin helpful in the past and have been using it recently but it is not as effective with this bout of restless sleeping. Maybe I should try another brand.

Thank you for letting me know how you react. I just get awake and panicky thinking of the future and how I will take care of myself. I live in a full range CCRC so the services are here when I need them but I just don't want to have to need them.

When my husband was alive and I would get testy he would say "your stinger is out" to remind me to pull back on the irritability. Now I have to self-regulate my moods. I can't imagine being on your level of prednisone and the toll it takes. You are really challenged for sure and I wish you well. I have r/a and post polio syndrome and other issues. Basically I look ok from the outside but like to say about myself, "I have termite damage, it's all on the inside". Mary Ellen