startled awake...help me!!

Hi.

I have been dealing with depression and anxiety and been on meds for about 20 years. I am 36. I am taking lots of meds for a variety of health problems, and side effects of some of them include tiredness/sleepiness. So, I do end up taking naps during the day almost every day. Docs and I are working on keeping me awake, etc. But lately, it seems like most of the time when I awake from a nap, I'm almost panicked or startled when I wake up. My heart is pounding, I'm sweating. I cannot figure out why this is happening. Doesn't appear to be related to a medication or time of day or anything I can think of. I'm not using an alarm, so there doesn't seem to be a noise that startles me. I'm puzzled.

Anyone have this happen? Do you know why? Or how to prevent it?

When it happens, it makes me all upset and worked up even more. I get so tired but really dread falling asleep now because of the startled feeling. It really doesn't seem to happen when I go to bed at night. I usually wake up several times during the night--no problems--and then when I get up in the morning, it's ok too.

Now that I think about it, maybe some med is to blame. ??? Any ideas?

My take on this is you are having an adrenaline surge while asleep it in turn causes the rapid heart beat and this wakes you up in a feeling of flight or fight, hope you are ok. Peace

Larry ***