I sincerely sympathize with what you're going through. Like you, I deal with nocturnal disturbances, although in my case they are very occasional night terrors. I'm not sure if it's similar to your panic attacks, but it's truly terrifying.

In my experience, these episodes usually occur after particularly stressful periods, marked by changes and a tendency to overeat. Overeating seems to be a trigger in my case.

What makes night terrors particularly frightening is the very intense sensation of presences or visions during these episodes. It's a really frightening and destabilizing experience.