Hello
after a panic attack i cannot sleep for like 8 hours straight(deep sleep)
My sleep cycle is this:i sleep for 2 hours than 3 hours than 2 hours .
So i think i have lost my deep sleep, do you recommend sleeping pills
i don't have insomnia .
No you don’t need sleeping tablets. Subconsciously you are thinking of the panic attack and it’s making you more anxious and that’s why you keep waking. I don’t sleep well and wake constantly in the night but people with true insomnia hardly sleep at all and can be awake all night night after night. Even though your sleep is broken you still seem to be getting 7 hours sleep which would be heaven for someone with insomnia. Rather than sleeping tablets try Nytol one a night which you can buy over the counter. Just take them if you have a particularly bad night until you get back into a regular pattern of sleeping through the night.
Panic attacks are horrid I have had them in the past and they can upset your whole sleeping pattern.
Best wishes. Angie
If you use sleep medication you will loose feeling of peaceful natural sleep.
Hi Rafik, You haven't lost your deep sleep at all, and you certainly don't need sleeping pills. If you want to have real problems with sleep that will last a lifetime, then start taking sleeping pills immediately!
We all go through several cycles of sleep during the night. These consist of a period of deep, dreamless sleep followed by a period of lighter REM (stands for rapid eye movement) sleep, during which we dream. And we all dream, regardless of whether we remember it or not.
If you observe someone who has normal sleep patterns in a sleep lab, you can see that they wake to some extent after every sleep cycle. The degree of awakening varies from one person to another. Some individuals may be aware of waking, others not, but we all surface briefly between sleep cycles.
I'm one of the ones who tends to wake completely several times a night. Like you, I'm aware of waking up, then I go straight back to sleep. There's nothing whatever abnormal about this.
I suspect that what's happened in your case is just that you've suddenly started remembering your awakenings throughout the night. They always happened, but because of your current state of heightened anxiety you've become more aware that this is going on. It may be age-related too. Those of us who are aware of waking fully between sleep cycles usually find it starts happening in our late teens or early 20s.
The best way to handle this is to ignore it and get on with your life. Your sleep pattern hasn't really changed at all, and you don't need sleeping pills. You may find you no longer remember your night-time awakenings once you calm down anyway. In the event you do continue to recall them - like me and many others - well, that's OK too.