Dr Gary Danko

You’re finally in bed. The lights are off. Your body is exhausted.

And just as sleep starts to arrive, a sudden surge hits—your heart speeds up, your body feels alert, and adrenaline floods your system as if an alarm went off.

It can feel like a guard dog that suddenly jumps to attention the moment the house goes quiet.

If this happens to you, hear this clearly: this does not mean anything is wrong with you.

An adrenaline rush at bedtime is not a sign of danger, illness, or failure. It’s a learned nervous system response—and learned responses can change.

Read More

It’s late. The lights are off. Your body is exhausted. And yet, instead of drifting into sleep, something inside you stays on duty.

Your mind may feel ready for rest, but your body feels alert—almost as if a guard dog has decided this is the exact moment to patrol the house. Not because there’s danger, but because it hasn’t learned that night is truly safe.

If this is your experience, it’s important to hear this first: nothing is wrong with you. This isn’t a failure of willpower, discipline, or “doing sleep wrong.” It’s a nervous system pattern—and patterns can change.

Read More

You’re drifting toward sleep. Your body feels tired. Your thoughts are slowing. And then—suddenly—there’s a rush. Your chest feels alert. Your body snaps awake. It can feel like a system slamming the brakes just as it was about to coast.

If you’ve experienced an adrenaline surge at night when trying to sleep, you’re not imagining it—and you’re not alone. Many people feel confused by how quickly the body can shift from calm to charged in the quiet moments before sleep.

This experience is not a sign that something is wrong with you. It’s a sign that your nervous system is still responding to learned patterns of alertness, even when rest is available.

Read More

You finally lie down. The lights are off. Your body is tired. And then—almost as soon as you start to drift—your heart becomes impossible to ignore. It feels fast. Loud. Unsettling. Like an engine revving when it should be idling.

If you’ve experienced heart racing at night when trying to sleep, you’re not alone—and you’re not broken. This experience is surprisingly common, especially for people whose nervous systems have learned to stay alert long after the day has ended.

What you’re feeling is real. And it’s not a sign that something is “wrong” with your heart. It’s a sign that your body is still responding to internal signals of alertness—even when your conscious mind is ready to rest.

Read More

You’re just starting to drift.

Your body feels heavy, your thoughts blur, and there’s that brief moment where you’re no longer fully awake — and then suddenly, your body jolts. A sharp twitch, a gasp, a surge of alertness. You’re wide awake again, heart beating faster, wondering what just happened.

For many people, this moment feels startling and confusing — like a system checking itself at the last second. It can interrupt sleep night after night and leave you feeling tense or wary of drifting off again.

If your body jolts awake when falling asleep, you’re not alone. This experience is common, especially in people whose nervous systems have learned to stay alert. And while it can feel alarming, it’s usually a sign of how the body transitions into sleep — not a sign that something is wrong.

Read More

You wake up and notice it right away.

After a hard night — the kind where your mind wouldn’t stop scanning, your body felt too alert to rest, and anxiety seemed to take up the whole room — morning arrives and something shifts.

The fear isn’t gripping you the same way. Your chest feels lighter. Your thoughts feel less urgent. It can feel like fog lifting after a long night.

That relief is real. And the confusion that follows is real too.

If anxiety felt so intense a few hours ago, why does it disappear in the morning? Did you imagine it? Was it “just in your head”? And if it can vanish, why can’t you make it vanish at night?

This pattern is common, especially for people who function well during the day but get hit with anxiety once the world goes quiet. And it usually has less to do with willpower and more to do with how the nervous system changes state across the night-to-morning transition.

Read More

If you move through your days feeling mostly capable — maybe even calm — but notice anxiety, fear, or emotional intensity rising once night arrives, there is nothing unusual or broken about you.

Many people experience anxiety that seems delayed, held back during the day, only to surface when the lights are low and the world grows quiet. This can feel confusing, frustrating, and sometimes frightening — especially when you can’t point to a clear reason.

Nighttime anxiety is not a failure of coping. It is often a reflection of how the nervous system processes safety, vigilance, and unresolved emotional load.

Read More

Waking up in the middle of the night with a racing heart, a surge of fear, or a sudden sense that something is wrong can feel deeply unsettling. One moment you’re asleep, and the next your body is flooded with alarm.

If you’re experiencing nighttime panic attacks while sleeping, you’re not alone — and you’re not broken. This experience is far more common than most people realize, especially among individuals who appear calm, functional, and capable during the day.

Nighttime panic is not a failure of sleep. It is a nervous system response that deserves understanding, not fear.

Read More

You finally lie down. The day is over. Your mind knows it’s time to rest.

And yet your body feels wide awake.

Your muscles won’t soften. Your chest feels alert. There may be an internal buzzing, a sense of vigilance, or a feeling that your system simply refuses to power down — even though you’re exhausted.

If you’re searching for why your body won’t shut down at night, it’s likely because you’ve already tried the usual advice. You’ve rested. You’ve slowed down. You’ve told yourself you’re safe.

And still, your body stays “on.”

This experience is far more common than people realize — and it is not a personal failure. It’s a nervous system pattern that can be understood, softened, and gradually retrained.

Read More