Thank you all who have posted. This is helping me to see that I am not alone. I've struggled for a couple of years with waking up about 20 minutes after I go to sleep--with a start, "popping up" in bed, sitting straight up--feeling afraid, for unknown reasons, and feeling hot and/or breathless, feeling crazy. Panicky feeling. Sometimes go back to sleep easily, usually too anxious to sleep again right away.

LONG story short-GERD and resulting asthma played a role, acid was affecting me when I was laying down, and that caused asthma. Feeling not able to breathe. Have received medical care, lifestyle changes, and now not having asthma or GERD anymore. Not getting good sleep was wreaking havoc on me at work, trying to stay awake during the day, afraid I'd lose my job.

Most of the symptoms seem to be better now ("dreaming while awake," falling asleep at my desk, being in-between sleeping/dreaming and still being able to hear the person speaking in the staff meeting, the dream where I can't move).

However, the going to bed ritual seems to be coming back--waking up 20 minutes after I go to sleep. Wondering if this is more anxiety than physical now, i.e., during all the medical stuff I "taught" myself to be afraid to go to sleep--got in the habit, so to speak, of doing this?

Read about somniphobia (fear of falling asleep) and now wonder if that's what this has been. The symptoms sure match. Great to be able to express this somewhere that people may understand. It feels so out of control and alone, good to know there's others out there--not sure why I'd have shame about this.