"jolted", Tremors, Mostly When Attempting Sleep.

[Andreas Andersson]

Hi!
The name's Andreas, I'm actually from Sweden, and I've got Aspergers, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and suffer from depression. I've had anxiety and panic attacks for 8 years now and about 2 years ago they got a lot worse, due to reasons I shall not get into. But anyway, the last few months I've occasionally had a problem, most of the time when I try to sleep, where it feels like my heart skips a beat (something that I've had before, but mostly during daytime, which is now almost completely gone) and like I get a surge of adrenaline. My heart races for a moment. A few minutes later, I will start going to the toilett frequently from an extreme need to urinate and some times number 2. I attribute this to the adrenaline, that it feels like I have. At the same time, or a few minutes later still, I will start having tremors everywhere, mostly in my stumach and arms.

This is somewhat relieved by an oxazepam pill (Stesolid) I can take when I need it. But not completely gone. Usually it's gone after an hour or a few hours. But it's damned taxing, because I just want to sleep, but can't. It's been hmm, over 2 weeks since last I felt something like this.

I had one of these moments about 40 minutes ago, but I wasn't in bed, I was sitting at my computer. I'm quite calm, but I still have the occasional twitch in a muscle here and there and my hands and feet are cold. I attribute all of this to anxiety, though I can't find any pattern in it so as to prevent it.
Perhaps it's because I didn't sleep enough last night, perhaps it's because I had too much sugar during the day, or that I ate unevenly, perhaps it's because I'm anxious about some changes in my life at the moment. Or perhaps it's all of the above.

Have any of you felt this problem? Kicks/jolts like your heart skips a beat, followed by frequent urination, tremors and cold extremities?
I think that I might find some comfort in sharing the experience with others and hearing from others that might have the same problems. Perhaps even to share methods to prevent it, because I might be triggering these occurances by doing something wrong, such as irregular diet.

 

[Chava]

I'm not sure it's exactly the same, but I've had adrenaline/panic surges that come out of nowhere and I also feel my heart skipping beats (it's exhausting because it's not beating efficiently). Mine was diagnosed as PAC...a benign arrhythmia that is stress-induced. What helps me when I have this kind of feeling (it's like serious inner buzzing) is pushing against something heavy with my legs, like a piece of furniture, my car, whatever. Or doing some resistance type exercises....stuff that I can do slowly (and exhale) but let a lot of this energy exit.

I also need to go really low on sugars and stimulants when I feel any of this because my blood pressure and blood sugar also spike (normally they are quite low). I've been to ER twice to get this stuff checked out and they kept me a while until stuff went down...told me no more cigarettes! So go easy on anything that might increase heartrate, blood pressure, or blood sugar. Regular healthy diet could help a lot too, especially if you aren't eating in a regular way.

Make sure you run stuff by your doctor too. I have to be careful because, while so much is stress-related for me, there is also diabetes in my family.

 

[Senecia]

Hi Andreas! Nice to meet you. :)
My anxiety gets worse when I have coffee or other heavily caffeinated things. You might be referring to heart palpitations? If so, I think I have them too. It's like a sudden, irregular beat and sometimes it continues for a short while longer. They used to freak me out a lot more and happen very often when I'm panicking. I've learned to tell myself "It's the panic", take a deep breath and say it's okay. It helps if i stay hydrated and avoid caffeine...maybe it could for you too?
I've had the "Oh no" moments where I have to run to the bathroom, and it's typically when I'm stressed out. I've always attributed it to undiagnosed IBS though, I've always had digestive issues... As to the cold, I always feel like I'm FREEZING after I panic. It's such a weird trend I've noticed! Like I shake, and feel as if all the blood has drained out of my limbs. Like a mini shock.

I hope that helps! You aren't alone

 

[Andreas Andersson]

@Senecia

I've got palpatations as well, but the feeling I get with these jolts is different. It really feels like a surge going through my body.

I've had my heart checked and all that stuff, I'm perfectly healthy with nothing remarkable. I have what I refer to as an electrical wiring issue with my heart, but that causes extremely noticable heart racing as is unrelated to this.
I've had skipped beats and double beats, I recognize them when they happen. I had a month where it happened a lot, but I haven't had much of it at all since. Again, this feels different.

It's now over an hour since I took my oxazepam pill and I don't have any tremors and my hands and feet feel normal. So I just write it off as an anxiety issue. Still, it's unpleasant and much worse if it happens when I've just fallen asleep.
But yeah, I can begin to violently tremble, as if I'm deeply sick in the flu. A few times I've even vomited.

I think I should stay away from sugar alltogether, but some times the cravings come back and it's impossible to resist... I've managed to lose 9 pounds in about 3 months from cutting down severely on my sugar intake, so I best keep that going :p

 

[Andreas Andersson]

Yes, definetly gonna work to eliminate my rather stupid sugar "binges" I can have every other week, where I eat sugary things that often make me miss a meal.

 

[Born to Run]

Welcome Andreas! All the symptoms you describe seem anxiety related to me: cold extremities, the heart beatings, frequent urination, stomach and trembling. I recognise the heart racing and skipping beats upon trying to sleep; this only started for me while working on very early trauma. It is nothing to worry about, as I discussed with my therapist, who is also an MD. I wonder what you do, when the tremors start? Do you try to stop them? I do Somatic Experiencing as trauma therapy and when tremors or shaking whatever comes up, it is the idea to let your body complete the shaking. The shaking is interpreted as processing old impulses that could not be completed. For arm shaking, what is often described, is that as a child you wanted to defend yourself with your arms, but could not do so. Still you had the impulse as a child, but had to suppress that impulse. To process such an incomplete defense impulse your body needs to complete them now, as it could not do so in the past. It is simply still stuck in the past. It sounds like your body is telling you that it wants to release that by trembling. So maybe you could let the trembling just happen, and once the body completes what it has to do, they might just end right there. Of course, if you are afraid of this idea or that this may trigger fear or other emotions then you should not do that on your own. I do not know if you see a therapist and what sort of methods you are using, and if this would be something to discuss. I have had a lot of different body parts shaking out stuck fight/flight/freeze impulses, and also been doing this at home. I am always exhausted after, but it never brings up much emotion. It is a big relief too, because so much energy goes into a lifelong suppression of those stuck impulses.

 

[Andreas Andersson]

I generally try to keep myself calm, recognize that it's anxiety happening, wrap myself in a blanket, have something to drink and take 1 of the oxazepam pills to help bring it down. Takes an hour before the pill takes effect, but it works well at minimal dose.
It's a problem because it can trigger more anxiety, so I take that pill to help me relax. It's also a big annoyance when I actually want to sleep, so the pill helps there as well, so I dont sit there for hours, waiting for it to stop.

Most of the trembling is my midriff and belly, which generally makes all of me shake because those muscles are big and kinda in the middle of everything else.

 

[crystaltear]

Very much YES. I feel like m whole body is vibrating and that it's originating in my core (my lower gut). It feels at times like pressure is building up and needs to escape and that it's going to kill me if I don't figure out how to stop it. It's awful. The feeling started a couple weeks before Christmas when I was house-sitting alone and I ended up having panic attacks for a week and becoming incredibly hypervigilant, exhausted and overwhelmed because I thought something was seriously wrong with me and nothing seemed to help. It seemed to eventually get better after my parents got home from overseas and I focused on my breathing, took time off my various life commitments, and pretty much read novels and slept for 3 weeks. Now its happening again. I'm no longer panicky as I accept its probably (hopefully) a normal part of my healing journey, and I have noticed that the feeling dissipates for awhile after I have a good gut-wrenching cry. But it's still super uncomfortable, is causing me to feel out-of-it at work, and is generally interrupting a potentially awesome life I could be enjoying. I'm currently feeling pretty angry that trauma caused by other peoples senseless actions has caused me such pain and has derailed my life. GAH. WANT TO BREAK SOMETHING.

 

[Born to Run]

Most of the trembling is my midriff and belly, which generally makes all of me shake because those muscles are big and kinda in the middle of everything else.

Why don't you let it happen? Your body wants to release some of the anxiety through trembling and as long as you stop and interfere with it, it will keep doing it. Our body is a superb self healing organism and reminding us by these signals how to heal ourselves.

 

[Born to Run]

@crystaltear I think it is great that you found out that you could release those emotions through deep crying; yes it is a normal part of the healing journey.
I think that many of us, including me, have put the 'potentially awesome life we could be enjoying' on hold as long as the ptsd keeps us hostage of living a normal life.