Anxiety about sleep
- Thread starter Damien
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With interval counting I never try and visualize because the brain is busy enough calculating the numbers. I am sure you could do it though too if it helps.
Here is an example. I start at 200 and go down by 7. So
200
193
186
179
Etc.
It challenges the brain to think about something boring so it puts you to sleep. If I get to 0 I will start again using intervals of 8, then 9, etc. I avoid intervals that are too easy like 2,5,10 but I don't get too complicated either. You want it in the sweet spot of challenging but not making you think too much. I am really good at math and patterns though so maybe easier intervals would be better for some.
Usually I am asleep before I get through two or three count downs.
It is my preferred technique if I wake in the middle of the night. If I don't do it I start focusing on the fact that I am wake and not asleep.
I tried just straight counting down the other night from 200, and I felt that it was waking me up. Maybe I started getting anxious as I got closer to zero, knowing I wasn't getting tired.
Last night, I decided to just bring a book to bed with a small reading light.
By the third page, my eyes were closing. I put down the book and fell asleep for 6.5-7 hours.
Felt a bit anxious, and was hoping I could get a little more sleep, but it didn't come. Immediately started thinking about tonight, and how I may not be able to sleep.
It's always that worry. I think I have to practice more mindfulness and CBT to deal with these worrying thoughts.
Anyone else have this worry?
Last night, I decided to just bring a book to bed with a small reading light.
By the third page, my eyes were closing. I put down the book and fell asleep for 6.5-7 hours.
Felt a bit anxious, and was hoping I could get a little more sleep, but it didn't come. Immediately started thinking about tonight, and how I may not be able to sleep.
It's always that worry. I think I have to practice more mindfulness and CBT to deal with these worrying thoughts.
Anyone else have this worry?
Hey Damien, at least you’re getting some sleep. I can still relate to the worry of the next nights sleep and it’s so hard to not think about it.
Since I’ve talked to you last, I started taking seroquil. It’s been working wonderfully as I’ve slept more in the last two nights that I have over a few weeks combined. A bit groggy the following day but my doc says eventually it will level out. For myself this medication with help me sleep but also treat my bipolar disorder that I found out I have. I’m also on an ssri to treat my anxiety and panic disorder. Also starting back in therapy and it’s helped in the past. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t do this without drugs but I tried everything from good sleep hygiene to meditation melatonin etc. hopefully you find some relief soon and try to remain proactive and positive- joe
Since I’ve talked to you last, I started taking seroquil. It’s been working wonderfully as I’ve slept more in the last two nights that I have over a few weeks combined. A bit groggy the following day but my doc says eventually it will level out. For myself this medication with help me sleep but also treat my bipolar disorder that I found out I have. I’m also on an ssri to treat my anxiety and panic disorder. Also starting back in therapy and it’s helped in the past. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t do this without drugs but I tried everything from good sleep hygiene to meditation melatonin etc. hopefully you find some relief soon and try to remain proactive and positive- joe
Hey Joe,
Glad to hear it's working for you.
I'm going to try to practice mindfulness and CBT and see where that takes me.
I flushed the melatonin, so I'm going to have to be strong.
If I get to a point where I'm not doing well, I'll need to look at other options.
Let's wish each other all the best on this journey
ftbalgirl79
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I can have similar issues. Heavy exercise, l-theanine, and meditation can help. Melatonin has a rebound effect and I don’t use it. I use Benzos when absolutely necessary but I get that isn’t maybe a good idea for your situation. Sometimes finding the right med combo can be helpful along with keeping up the therapy and actively working it
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I think my OCD makes it hard for me to be out of control of things and that is probably why I had so much anxiety around medication.
If I am feeling nervous about taking melatonin I don't know that I'd be able to wrap my head around taking a psychiatric med.
I was reading my diary from 2014 and I am writing and saying almost the same things today. So even though I was on sleeping and anxiety medication then it really all boils down to the fact that I was just anxious. I don't think sleep was ever the focus. I just thought it was because my anxiety made the insomnia flare up.
Two nights ago I tried to relax in bed and read and I fell asleep for 7 hours straight. then last night I decided to read in the spare bedroom and when I moved into my bedroom I was completely awake. I think I need to calm down about the whole bedtime wind down.
I have to get to a better place here.
I wouldn't consider melatonin a "med." It's a naturally formed in your body as it gets dark outside and time to go to sleep. Honestly, it doesn't do much for me. But I have a sleep maintenance problem rather than a "falling asleep" problem. One thing I'm trying out right now is sleep restriction therapy. For the past month I've been only able to sleep for three or so hours than waking up multiple times. Past week though I've been able to get a straight 5-6 hours and its felt pretty good. Hopefully I'll be able to work up to 7-8 hours in a few weeks!
Losing sleep is really hard to get over, I feel ya mate. I've noticed decreased performance at work because of my insomnia. Have you thought about listening to podcasts while in bed instead of reading? It has helped me a lot to focus on something else rather than just my thoughts.
Losing sleep is really hard to get over, I feel ya mate. I've noticed decreased performance at work because of my insomnia. Have you thought about listening to podcasts while in bed instead of reading? It has helped me a lot to focus on something else rather than just my thoughts.
I went about 12-13 days straight with falling asleep in good time without relying on anything to put me to sleep.
I started feeling like I might be putting this anxiety/insomnia nightmare behind me, and then last night, I just couldn't fall asleep. Ended up getting filed with anxiety, and at about 5am, I took a Benadryl and I think I briefly went in and out of naps and dreams. Woke up feeling that dread and fear I do when I get scared that I'm not going to be able to sleep the next few nights.
It's such a shitty feeling. I don't know how I can get almost two weeks of feeling good, and then have that all erased by one bad night. I just fear that I'm going to be in a stretch of bad nights, and then it basically just becomes self fulfilling.
Not sure what to do. I'm afraid this will not end, and I'll be struggling with sleep for years to come.
In the last couple of weeks, I was falling asleep in our spare bedroom, waking up after 3-4 hours, going to the other bedroom, and sleeping another 3-4 hours. I was starting to feel really rested and calm.
Argh!!!! I hate mental illness!!!!!!!!
I started feeling like I might be putting this anxiety/insomnia nightmare behind me, and then last night, I just couldn't fall asleep. Ended up getting filed with anxiety, and at about 5am, I took a Benadryl and I think I briefly went in and out of naps and dreams. Woke up feeling that dread and fear I do when I get scared that I'm not going to be able to sleep the next few nights.
It's such a shitty feeling. I don't know how I can get almost two weeks of feeling good, and then have that all erased by one bad night. I just fear that I'm going to be in a stretch of bad nights, and then it basically just becomes self fulfilling.
Not sure what to do. I'm afraid this will not end, and I'll be struggling with sleep for years to come.
In the last couple of weeks, I was falling asleep in our spare bedroom, waking up after 3-4 hours, going to the other bedroom, and sleeping another 3-4 hours. I was starting to feel really rested and calm.
Argh!!!! I hate mental illness!!!!!!!!
Hey don't feel so bad! I'm glad you got 12-13 days of decent sleep! That's definitely a victory in my books. It beats not having good sleep for 12-13 days right? I haven't slept well in almost two months haha.
There are definitely good and bad days with anxiety. I've had really good days, and also really bad days. You should just brush off the bad days as what they are, temporary. In the beginning I'd always get frustrated with myself, but that just makes things worse. Slowly, you'll notice that the good stretches get longer!
I have a night where I just can't manage to sleep (or I get a couple hours with Benadryl) and it sends me into a spiral. I start worrying about how long the bad days will linger.
Does you, or anyone else have anxiety about sleeping that literally keeps you up all night, multiple times each month?
ManaClash
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I worry every night that I won't be able to sleep or sleep well. I take two different medications for sleep but one of them is making my head and face hurt all day long so it's gotten to the point where I can't take it. I'm scared I'll be stuck taking xanax to sleep which doesn't give me good sleep. I've tried so many different kinds of sleep aids and most don't work. I wish I could just sleep like a normal person but the anxiety meds keep me awake.
Hi Damien. I'd say it's a couple nights like that each month for me also. Being retired I have the luxury of napping the next day. Just having that option of napping keeps me from worrying about getting to sleep the next night otherwise I'd get worked up enough to have a string of bad nights.
Hi ManaClash. I take a Klonopin before I go to bed. It's in the same family as your Xanax but it works for over 8 hours. The Xanax is good for 4-5 hours which might be why you don't sleep through the night on it. I was on Xanax for 20 years and switched over to Klonopin because it lasts longer so you don't need as much of it.
ManaClash
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Yeah I was taking Klonopin for awhile but I felt that I needed a lot more than xanax to fall asleep and it didn't make me sleep longer. My brian is weird and meds effective me differently than the average person. I think I might be the only person who lost weight on antipsychotics they make me not hungry. I was diagnosed with being medically resistant to medications. Who knows what that really means. Thanks for the info though.
Dam I'm jealous. I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep a night for the past two months. I have no problem falling asleep, I just get up early no matter what time I go to bed. The bad part is that I'm always tired throughout the day and feel kind of sluggish.
ManaClash
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Yeah 5hrs a night catches up to you real fast. I can do it for a few but after that my anxiety gets 10x worse also like you said makes you feel like a walking zombie. Do you take any sleep aids Avocado? Also do you sleep 5 hrs consecutively?
The last three nights for me...
Monday night: Tried sleeping at 1am, but wasn't coming to me. By about 5am, I took a Benadryl, and maybe slept for 3 hours.
Tuesday night: Fell asleep pretty quickly, got up once, and slept for a total of about 6 hours.
Wednesday night: Tried sleeping at 1am, and by 3am I was still awake. Took a cannabis capsule, and started feeling like my eyes were heavy, but then my brain started playing some pretty artistic images, and that didn't allow me to sleep but did reduce anxiety a bit. Took a Benadryl around 5am, fell asleep around 6, and woke up at 9 for a total of 3 shitty hours.
What upsets me more than the 3 hours, is the fact that I had to actually take something to get them.
Previous to that, I had almost 2 weeks where I fell asleep pretty easily, and slept for an average of about 7 hours each night.
The up and down of this struggle is really hurting me. I get excited that I'm feeling better, and then I get slammed with a bad night and loads of anxiety to follow.
Monday night: Tried sleeping at 1am, but wasn't coming to me. By about 5am, I took a Benadryl, and maybe slept for 3 hours.
Tuesday night: Fell asleep pretty quickly, got up once, and slept for a total of about 6 hours.
Wednesday night: Tried sleeping at 1am, and by 3am I was still awake. Took a cannabis capsule, and started feeling like my eyes were heavy, but then my brain started playing some pretty artistic images, and that didn't allow me to sleep but did reduce anxiety a bit. Took a Benadryl around 5am, fell asleep around 6, and woke up at 9 for a total of 3 shitty hours.
What upsets me more than the 3 hours, is the fact that I had to actually take something to get them.
Previous to that, I had almost 2 weeks where I fell asleep pretty easily, and slept for an average of about 7 hours each night.
The up and down of this struggle is really hurting me. I get excited that I'm feeling better, and then I get slammed with a bad night and loads of anxiety to follow.
ManaClash
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Damn sounds terrible I'm sorry buddy. Have you rethought going to a doctor and get some type of medication? I understand your hesitation because I hate taking meds also. Then again not sleeping is horrible too. Hang in there buddy.