Picture this…
You are lying down to go to sleep. Things are progressing well. You close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You try to think of happy things instead of the stressful things that you need to take care of tomorrow. After a few minutes, you’re just about to slip off into happytime dreamland and BAM. Suddenly your whole body jolts for no reason. Well that was weird. Why did that happen? You start scanning your body for signs of trouble, because that’s too weird to ignore. Sure enough, there’s some weird shit going on. You notice your heart feels like it’s beating faster and faster. Uh oh. But wait, now it skipped a beat. Oh god… Now your breathing is starting to catch up with your heart, but no matter how hard your breathe, you can’t seem to get enough oxygen. Your fingers and toes feel tingly and you are getting weird random pains. Putting two and two together you think that it has got to be a heart attack, right? Hurry, take an aspirin and call 911! Whoa whoa whoa… slow down. You aren’t dying. You also aren’t the only one who has gone through this sort of progression before.
There’s a name for it
Technically what you are experiencing is called “misattribution of interoceptive cues” and it’s not something that only happens during sleep. That’s a bunch of psychobabble mumbo jumbo B.S., so let me break that down for you piece by piece. Interoceptive means that it’s a physical sensation within your body. Cues imply that they clue you in to something else going on. Put them both together and you have particular physical sensations in your body that tell you what is happening. Or at least they are supposed to. When we know what to make of interoceptive cues, the process is easy. When you look too close to the sun and you get those prickly tingling feelings in your nose, you know that a sneeze is coming. When you aren’t sure what to make of them or they feel similar to cues that imply scary shit like heart attacks, you run into trouble. If you aren’t actually having a cardiac event, that’s what we call misattribution.
This is a big contributor to anxiety and panic attacks for many people. If you live with anxiety, it’s in your nature to get “in your head” and turn little deals into huge catastrophes. The bitch about it is that even if you were wrong about whatever crazy health concerns you concocted in that brain of yours, getting so worked up about it can still throw you into a panic attack that sucks majorly in its own right.
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So What Can I Do About It?
Well there are several things that you can do. First off, being equipped with the knowledge that this is a somewhat common source of difficulty for people with anxiety can help you better recognize when this is happening and mitigate the discomfort that you might feel. You should also figure out whether you have anything to actually be concerned about. Go to your doctor and tell them your concerns. Here’s the thing, though. You gotta believe what they tell you. Finally, you can work on better recognizing your anxiety triggers and where your douchebrain is throwing you off track, by engaging in some simple exercises like the ABC thought log that I talk about in Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety.
What to learn more about how to battle that beast called anxiety?
Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety is for those of us that find the prospect of reading a traditional self help book to be way too boring. How are you supposed to make positive change in your life if the book itself feels like a chore? This book is definitely not a chore.
In Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety, I talk to you like a friend. There is a lot of swearing and humor along with loads of helpful and actionable information. You learn about anxiety and how to find the weapons within yourself to slay it for good.
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I genuinely agree with what you are saying, but I have one issue… It isn’t JUST anxiety. I’d almost rather have a heart attack or some other medically “normal” diagnosis because I feel like the word just minimizes the struggle I go through lying on the bathroom floor alone irrationally afraid if or who will find my body and praying that my dog is saved and my family knows how much I love them.
Maybe being a psychology major and long-time sufferer of anxiety has given me a better understanding of the mind body cycle a panic attack throws you into. I’ve been taught so many coping mechanisms that I know immediately to start my progressive relaxation, etc. but I would consider perhaps refraining saying it is JUST anxiety because I honestly feel like anxiety is just as scary and unpredictable as death.
Just throwing that out there. I found you through following your wife on Twitter, and I absolutely can’t wait to read your book. You seem like a super chill guy that tells it like it is which is refreshing (for the most part). Thanks for tackling the tough issues that so often get glossed over! I can’t wait to learn more!
That’s valid! I don’t mean to minimize it at all. Anxiety is really scary and painful. At the end of the day I will hope that you have an anxiety attack and not a heart attack every time, because you will definitely live through one of them.
As i’m experiencing the things you’re talking about, I decide to search on the internet and happen to come across this article, it sure helped calm me down in the time being. I appreciate it. Hope all is well.
I’m scared i’ve been so scared for the past few days and small pains on the left side of my chest i keep panicking I don’t know what to do, and my appetite been so small as well.
I too suffer from these attacks. Typically I will wake up during the night my heart racing, nauseated and basically feel like I am slipping away. I get in the tub and try to breath praying it will be over soon. I throw up and have diarrhea. People minimize these attacks. It is so incredibly scary. I have read so much on this but cannot seem to stop them when they start. I wish I could.
The situation you described just happened to me. I definitely freaked out upon waking up. I already suffer from health anxiety and now with the coronavirus pandemic occurring my level of anxiety has definitely heightened. Reading this article made me feel much better. I have to remind myself the body is weird and these things happen and I’m okay.
This changed everything thank you
Thank you for this. I have weird panic anxiety attacks almost exclusively when i go to bed. especially if good things are happening in my life.more so if I’m alone.
Im afraid to go to sleep because I cant not focus on my heart beating. As soon as I start falling asleep and stop hearing it,I jump awake because I think Im dying-and it triggers again.
I went to the e.r @4am the first time because I thought I was having a heart attack- they did ekg,xray,toropin tests,blood work- they said your hearts fine. You had an anxiety attack.
This was 5 months ago-and I know its not my heart-but I cant stop it. I just want to sleep like real people again ahhhaha.
I didn’t realize someone else had this problem too. Sometimes I jolt up awake in the middle of the night and also feel like im dying when i cant hear or feel my heartbeat. At the same time i also get anxious hearing my heartbeat too. Consciousness is a blessing and a curse lmao. I hope yours has been better and just knowing someone else goes through this too makes me feel less alone.
I have constant chest pains, and as soon as my body feels the slightest bit off im jumping to the biggest of conclusions about whether or not im dying. I used to have anxiety and i was completely normal but now all of a sudden i feel like a heart attack is constantly around the corner and im scared every single day. I also somehow developed a sever case of Driving Anxiety because ive almost convicned myself that it will happen to me in a car. I am trying everything i can to get over this part of my life and move on to better things. Ill make it and i hope everyone else can too.
That’s me, Tyler. I hate it. You will get through it.
Very informative, thank you…
I can relate to the situation you described currently and I have been experiencing it for the better part of this year, right now even I woke up about 2 hours ago and I cant find my way back to sleep. My heart feels like its racing, my breathing feels weird and every time I lay down and try to sleep it feels like I just ran a mile and have to breath really hard. I went to the doctor and she said everything is just fine with my heart and respiratory system. I still freak myself out, reading this article temporarily made me chill out and relax but when I reached the end of it I started noticing my heart racing again. Thanks for the 3 minutes of relief, it actually was so nice considering that I felt normal for just a few minutes as I have been constantly anxious for the past 2 hours now.
There is seriously other people like this? I currently am on here researching why I always feel like i’m dying and this is the first thing that popped up. My older brother died a year ago at 23 and that changed my life forever it changed me overnight I now suffer severe anxiety and depression and I can be sitting here watching hannah montana and my heart beats so fast out of nowhere so i go to the ER bc I thought I was having a heart attack. They gave me an ativan and said I was having a sever panic attack bc once I don’t feel right I instantly think i’m dying and before he passed I used to never think about death or why my heart is beating a little funny or wake up and my hip hurt and the first thing i think is bone cancer. I start to have anxiety attacks and panic attacks and before I realize before how far i actually am in the attack it’s already so bad that my chest is tight and i’m like ok what if i stop breathing in my sleep.
I can’t believe others suffer from this to, it makes me feel a sense of relief. I have been to the emergency room at least 3 times during the nights in fear that I was having symptoms that would trigger a heart attack. My poor boyfriend gets so scared. I do have underlying issues like high BP And I’m overweight, which contributes to my fear…but every time they do the ekg and blood work, my heart is normal. This article put a name to this condition that’s consumed My past few years, so thank you. It’s pretty crippling. Just tonight I’ve taken my BP twice and it’s normal, but my heart is 100-110 and that’s sending my anxiety through the roof, because I’m resting and it should be lower right? I took an aspirin in case but anytime thoughts of going to the hospital or waking up my BF pops up, I try and remind myself that I’m fine. A heart attack isn’t gentle cues, but more like an elephant sitting on your chest…so basically unmistakable (that’s what a doc once told me) Darn this anxiety and fear of dying!
I have felt this before just now when I was trying to go to sleep I thought I was dying and that I was fading away I mostly have these attacks right when I’m about to go to sleep at night and it scares me so much to the point where my mind races and I can’t fall asleep but thank goodness I was able to read this article because to me it sounds like I was having an anxiety attack and hopefully after reading this I will be able to relax more
Thank you for everyone who was brave enough to share how you feel. I also to feel like most of you. I am struggling to keep it under control. I feel like my anxiety has taken over my life especially because of covid. If you ever need someone to talk to or want to share tips I’d love to hear from you guys. My Instagram name is ventwithmel. Hope to hear from some of you guys soon
I just googled why do I feel like I’m dying and I came upon this article I feel slightly better after reading it
I’m tearing up as I read this and the responses. It feels good not to be alone but this is such a crippling condition to live with and I feel like medication might be my only way out.
I also can relate to y’all. I’m just 16 and I’ve been having random chest pains for almost a month now. I went to the doctor and she said everything was fine but I’m still not convinced. I used to sleep alright but just a week ago, I can’t sleep anymore thinking something is gonna happen in my sleep. My heart beats fast for no reason most of the time. I’ve never also had any problems with anxiety or somethinglike that. I just don’t know what to do. I’m so scareddd
Was a very interesting read, I don’t know if I have a major health problem or its some sort of mental health issue, recently though I have been getting these head buzzing symptoms, very hard to exsplane but really frightening.
Feels like the inside of my head has some sort of electrical surge going through it, never had this before.
All this started with watching TV with the girlfriend, had a tremendous pain and stiffness shoot up the back of my neck, then the pain materialised into the left side of my head, really thought I was takeing a stroke, one side of my face was froze.
Went to bed tried too calm down, head was racing thinking this is a brain hemrage or stroke, got my shit together and went to sleep, woke up feeling better but felt wired like something had changed.
Wasn’t very good days after that, felt very self conscious, frightened even. No apparent reason on why I would be feeling this way, fast fowerd a week or so later. I decided too go see my father, we have a good relationship had a coffee we where chatting. And the suddenly I felt this buzzing feeling in my head, but tried go keep my shit together.
I couldn’t handle the feeling it became to much overpowering even, through I was going to die. Couldn’t relax mind was in two places at once, I’m OK! & noo something is wrong. Couldn’t sit down but also could hardly stand up. Was the feeling like reality was pulled beneath me, so strange that words cannot do it justice.
That was over a month ago, I went back to my father’s over Christmas, I just didnt want to be there my brain now sends signals too my body that, itis a bad place for no apparent reason.
Every day has been a battle, found a spot on my leg, it won’t heal, panicing about that had blood in my stool haven’t done a solid stool in weeks.
The buzzing in my head every single day, no energy no motivation. This isn’t like me, before these lockdowns life was OK, never had these problems although alot of exstreamly stressful situations have happend over the past few years have been shockingly bad to deal with, I’m the sort of tuff minded person too get over them and onto the next.
Seems like now I have all this free time, I’m getting some kind of mental brake down that’s causeing anxiety attacks, it’s really unbelievable how bad and scary these attacks are, I’m a very rasonal person, but these episodes are like a lsd trip.
As I have said could be a medical problem or mental problem, whatever itis I wouldn’t and hope it doesn’t last for a prolonged time.
I pitty anyone who has suffered this (anxiety) for a long period, I had a ignorance of this mental illness before, but now I respect & fear it.
Will report back in due core’s if symptoms get better or worse, best wishes & kind regards S x
OMG, Finally… Thank goodness….. I am not alone. I have been struggling for a year now with this. It’s good to know and hear others suffering from the exact same things, I am not crazy…
Jolts in the middle of the night, feeling of dying, feeling of slipping away and so on, heart is just going to stop. I have been to ER 3 times, panic attacks. Had tests and everything but I still have this in my head. It’s so hard. I get so upset that I can’t get this out of my head. I am sooo tired. I am afraid of dying, I am scared to go to be because if this.
Thank you all for sharing.
Now what do we do to get better?
Carol
Hi I have had the same problem! I had something similar years ago when I was in my early thirties and I am 62 now and the problem has came back, I feel very scared and yes it does make you get weird sensations, I think it’s definitely got worst during this pandemic!
Hello. I searched, “why do I always feel like I’m dying”, and this popped up. Im so glad it did. Reading this actually made me feel like I wasn’t crazy. I honestly feel like I’m losing my mind all the time. I’m walking on egg shells with my own brain. I feel as if I can’t eat without thinking I might choke, I cant sleep without feeling i might not wake up, and Im scared of any medication I put in my body. These panic attacks have consumed my whole life. I agree with the writer above who claimed they would rather have a heart attack, than an anxiety attack, due to the fact it would be done and over with. You will not be here waiting, terrified, not knowing what’s going to happen for how long? Hours, days, months … I have at least 3/4 panic attacks to the day, where I feel I need to cry my heart out, just so I can fall asleep. I’m scared of everything and I don’t know how to let go. I don’t know how to live like this, but I’ll fight. Today I had 3 vaccine shots. The flu, tetanus, and pneumonia. Yes, I am currently crying in the bathroom feeling I can’t breathe. I will take this day by day, night by night.
I appreciate this article and how it describes what’s going on and what you can do to help somewhat, but when it suddenly turned into an advertisement I was just sitting there baffled lol.