Phaeochromocytomas seems super extreme for these symptoms only being specifically at night.
I also had some success here with the main things everyone lists. I halved my caffeine, I cut my drinking down to once a week, and I think most importantly changing my diet helped. Tried to cut down mainly on bread and pasta and completely eliminated sweets. I've found it to be the worst after a heavy carb dinner.
You can eliminate the diet as a source of problems pretty quickly by trying some fasting. Maybe fast after breakfast or starting after lunch or have a really light dinner. Might be a bit painful but you can eliminate this as a reason pretty quickly.
hi you could request your gp to do a 24 hour urine metanephrines or catecholamines test. your symptoms could be caused by way to much adrenalin in your system. its caused by a tumor of the adrenal gland called a pheochromacytoma its extreamly rare so doctors do not think to look for them the other tumor that can do this is a paraganglioma. they pump out hormones a pheo os always in the adrenal medulla but a para can be any where else between eyes and thighs so if your levals did come back high you would then need a ct or mri with contrast but needs to be eyes to thighs not just abdomen.
the reason I know this is because I have pheo and it took years for them to diagnose previous to it I was fobbed of as depression and anxiety most pheo patients are. these episodes at night are a big symptom of it it's to do with ether lying on the tumor and compressing it so it pumps out more or the sleep wake cycle. there is a very good support group on face book for this I am one of the admins on it.
if you read on line about it you will find it just gives you the basics it dosent shoe all the symptoms and a lot of the info is wrong and outdated one of the websites to look at is the pheo para allience they work with endocrinologists from all over the world. if your leavals did come back high you need a referl to a endocrinologist and it's important that they are experienced In pheo.
I think I've honestly solved this. It's around eating **refined carbs. **
Refined carbs raise blood sugars quickly, your body reacts by releasing insulin which drops your blood sugar. Dropping blood sugar triggers release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to deal with this. The access of adrenaline and cortisol really really affect your sleep, they try to keep you awake, and make it really hard to fall asleep.
I tested it on myself. I took out all refined carbs (bread & pasta mostly and switched to beans, quinoa, sweet potato, etc.). On Day 1 I fell asleep much faster. On day 2 I fell asleep immediately. Problem is legitimately solved. In general, you may be a bit over your best weight. I know covid has me weighing a good 10-15lbs more then my natural weight, which heightens the problem.
Some scientific evidence as well: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191211171335.htm
It also may be a sign of pre-diabetes, so you should take it seriously.
This is such a simple answer and links together so many of the links together in this thread. The most simple answer is usually the right one... Best of luck everyone!!
Hello Ruthi!
i have the same problem since four weeks now. Did you find anything? Do you still have these adrenalin rushes? i am so frustraded i only want to sleep again.
Best regards
Hello Chris!
did you find something? How was the appoiment with your doctor? i have the same problem since four weeks.
best regards
florian
Replying to an old thread here in hope to get some answers, I found this thread because I googled "adrenaline rush when falling asleep", it's the exact same problem I have.
Everytime I'm just about to fall asleep I get an adrenaline rush as if something terrible is about to happen, like my heart would stop (it doesn't, my heart has been checked twice already).
For me it can continue the entire night: 1) just when I'm about to fall asleep a huge adrenaline rush 2) awake for at least half an hour because of adrenaline 3) relax / calm down again 4) repeat 1-2-3
This kept me awake for weeks until I completely crashed, lost a lot of bodyweight, couldn't stand any noise or bright light anymore, it was pure torture. I'm have meds now, I meditate, I don't drink alcohol or cafeine or soda's, I exercise during the day and read before sleeping ... but still have this problem every few days and it interrups/destroys my life completely.
Ruthie143 did you find any solutions?
"The Sleep Book" from which author please?
exact situation for me. I have had it defined as Sleep-Panic Disorder. it drives me crazy. it happens while trying to fall asleep at night...my mind doesn't want to let go of control and surrender to sleep. I believe the subconscious orders the phenomenon. I have been through many trying times in life. faced a few violent and hostile stresses. I believe I still see possibilities of threats. just have to live as simple as I can...in a very stress free way. has there been any progress in treating this?
I have suffer'd with anxiety/panic disorder for 13 yrs now and the last 2 yr's have been the worse as I have severe physical symptoms that scare the hell out me and on top I have the chronic attacks, even today I cannot get use to them or control them. As for the adrenalin like rushes as you drift'd of to sleep I have had these in the last 2 yrs and they are terrible, they leave me with a headache and very tired and twitchy/scared. My Dr and Psychologists have done nothing for me in the last 13 yrs, as I am worse as ever, even within the 13yrs I have only 1 whole session of Psychology and that's all they will not give me any more as all they want to do is ram medication into me that have never work'd in the 13yrs, I personally am stuck for what else to do and I know I'm not alone out there, there has to be more help for any type of what they call mental health, but especially the panic disorder type as you have no life with it.
have had this exact same problem for the last week. i will be trying many things I've read of here, for this is truly debilitating
Thank you for posting this. I am definitely going to read up on this and try eliminating the carbs from my night meal. I've only been experiencing these nightly adrenalin surges for about 1 week and my worst night was last night. My Fitbit tells me I only slept 3 hours out of the seven hours I was in bed. My heart rate was up around 80bpm at times and amongst (after) the countless, frightening adrenalin surges which woke me from my half-sleep state, I experienced an internal murmering/trembling or quickening/shaking in my chest and shoulders. These kept me awake until the next surge. In addition to this, there were sporadic sharp twinges in my feet and my hands were tingly. I actually had my phone ready to call an Ambulance as I was sure a heart attack would eventually follow. Today, I feel physically and emotionally destroyed. I have booked a doctor's appointment for today and will be asking for some blood tests to establish the pre-diabetes possibility. My (trembling) heart goes out to anyone here who has tolerated this dis-ease for an extended time. I am a very healthy weight, do cardio and weights 4-5 times/wk, love my job, have healthy relationships and have never had any issues with anxiety or depression or high stress. If it's not (as a post suggested) an adrenal tumour, it has to be my body reacting to food.
Hi! ive just come across this and wanted to know if youve solved the problem? do you get it every night? im experiencing the same thing
Hi just wanted to ask, what are your symptoms??? what are you experiencing . Would be nice to know im not the only one!
Hey kate, i loved your reply. i get these jolts sometimes and struggle with going back to sleep. Your way of looking at it is amazing. why to be afraid of something which we know isn't gonna kill us anyway. let it come and let it go.
3 years on and I still get this every night. They seem less but I think I may just have got used to it. I just wake with a start after ten minutes and feel like someone died. Then I realise its just the same old feeling, nothing new, I'm fine, the world's fine, so I put the radio on for ten minutes and I go back to sleep.
I've been dealing with this issue for about 3 years now. It comes and goes, and seems to be at its worst when I'm in a highly anxious state or mood. Sometimes it just happens. There are nights I don't sleep at all, and it's not for a lack of trying. My body/mind just won't let me. It happens when I'm just about to drift off. I'll nearly be asleep when surge of adrenaline shoots me awake. It's hell, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I haven't found a solution unfortunately, but I believe it is caused by a malfunction in your brains wiring. There is a lot that happens when we fall asleep. Your brainwaves slowdown, ect. Normally we don't take notice of this. During a bout of trauma, illness, anxiety, worry, or even insomnia you became hyper aware to those changes. It probably scared you. A Lot. And you jolted yourself awake. It also probably happened more than once during that time. Your brain doesn't like to feel scared, so it stored that information. Every once in awhile when your highly stressed, anxious, or too focused on sleep your brain thinks "Oh no. I remember this was scary. It must be a unsafe situation. I better do what I can to keep you alive". What's happening is an over active brain with faulty wiring. There isn't much you can do. I've noticed though that when my anxiety is lower, and I'm in a healthier mental state I sleep better. Focus your mind on the positives, keep busy, de-stress.
Look into sleep apnea, when I was having this horrible condition I was combining clonidine, one of my blood pressure meds, at night with the beer I drink at night to get sleepy. Combined with a moderate case of sleep apnea, I would wake up not breathing, when your brain thinks you are going to stop breathing if you go to sleep, it will prevent you from sleeping by surging adrenalin and cortisol hormones into you. These are the "fight or flight "hormones, very powerful. And even when you change what you were doing it takes a while for the brain to readjust to the fact that your ok and not going to stop breathing when you enter sleep mode. Look into apnea, don't drink alc before bed, and look for prescription pill interactions at night.
This happens to me all of the time now. I start to doze off and all of a sudden I will get a massive adrenaline rush and it will keep me awake. Have you found anything to help you since you posted this? Anything you recommend?