Anxiety about sleep

[Damien]

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.

It's not easy. Especially with a 4 year old, and a newborn.

In some ways, I wish I could take meds, but then I get even more anxiety knowing I'm taking something, so that won't work for me.

I just have to keep going through this, hopefully I can build up some confidence and some resources, and I might get to the other side of this as I did in 2014.

Funny, in 2014, I thought all of my struggles were because of the side effects and withdrawal effects of the meds. Now I realize most of this was just my own anxiety. Scary actually!

 

[ManaClash]

It's not easy. Especially with a 4 year old, and a newborn.

In some ways, I wish I could take meds, but then I get even more anxiety knowing I'm taking something, so that won't work for me.

I just have to keep going through this, hopefully I can build up some confidence and some resources, and I might get to the other side of this as I did in 2014.

Funny, in 2014, I thought all of my struggles were because of the side effects and withdrawal effects of the meds. Now I realize most of this was just my own anxiety. Scary actually!

Yeah I have a lot of anxiety about taking medication but if I don't things get really bad. It's hard to tell if it's my mind or the medicines causing problems.

 

[Damien]

I found that the sleeping pills (benzos) helped me sleep for a while, but then I needed more and more.

I guess if an initial dose works for someone long term, they'll be fine. My father-in-law has been on the same dose of Ambien for 10+ years.

I just have to work on controlling my anxious thoughts. I have a lot of intrusive thoughts scaring me about not being able to sleep on the upcoming night. Really have to figure out how to deal with this.

 

[avocado]

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?

No I don't take sleep meds. Right now I'm trying magnesium and a weighted blanket. The problem is, I fall asleep rather quickly, I just wake up after 5 hours. It is consecutive 5 hours which isn't bad, but I have extreme difficulty falling back asleep. So what I'm doing now is just going to bed an hour or two earlier so I can have the chance of falling back asleep after waking up and getting around 7 hours a night. It's weird cause I'll get up after exactly 5 hours every night.

 

[Damien]

No I don't take sleep meds. Right now I'm trying magnesium and a weighted blanket. The problem is, I fall asleep rather quickly, I just wake up after 5 hours. It is consecutive 5 hours which isn't bad, but I have extreme difficulty falling back asleep. So what I'm doing now is just going to bed an hour or two earlier so I can have the chance of falling back asleep after waking up and getting around 7 hours a night. It's weird cause I'll get up after exactly 5 hours every night.

I've had that waking up pattern before and eventually it seems to even out.

but are you experiencing nights where you cannot fall asleep at all? That is still my main battle.

 

[ManaClash]

No I don't take sleep meds. Right now I'm trying magnesium and a weighted blanket. The problem is, I fall asleep rather quickly, I just wake up after 5 hours. It is consecutive 5 hours which isn't bad, but I have extreme difficulty falling back asleep. So what I'm doing now is just going to bed an hour or two earlier so I can have the chance of falling back asleep after waking up and getting around 7 hours a night. It's weird cause I'll get up after exactly 5 hours every night.

What's the benefit of magnesium ?

 

[ManaClash]

I found that the sleeping pills (benzos) helped me sleep for a while, but then I needed more and more.

I guess if an initial dose works for someone long term, they'll be fine. My father-in-law has been on the same dose of Ambien for 10+ years.

I just have to work on controlling my anxious thoughts. I have a lot of intrusive thoughts scaring me about not being able to sleep on the upcoming night. Really have to figure out how to deal with this.

I'm in the same boat benzo work good for awhile but like everything else the seem less and less effective. I worry a lot about sleep during the day but I worry a lot in general.

 

[Damien]

Damn it, I'm back in a low place again. For 12 days starting from July 2, I was sleeping well and managing my days with very little anxiety. And now, I'm back to feeling on edge all day, and not being able to turn my mind off at night.

Yesterday I went to help a friend move in a heatwave, and figured I'd be exhausted at bedtime. Chatting on the couch with my wife before bed, I was completely nodding off. Went up to the bed, lay there doing some breathing exercises, and next thing I know, I'm completely wide awake!

3 hours later, I'm still there, and sleep just doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight. Took a Melatonin, and ended up sleeping about 4 hours.

I just don't understand this. Not sure how I'm supposed to deal with he anxiety about sleeping, when I'm not able to sleep!

And you'd think I'd be exhausted right now, and could just shut down for an afternoon nap, but I'm nowhere near feeling like I can sleep.

It's so frustrating! Not sure why i go for almost two weeks feeling good, eating things I like to eat, doing things I enjoy, and then I end up here, where I'm terrified to make a bad decision that could affect my night of sleep!

PLEASE HELP!

 

[ManaClash]

First step which I know is gonna sound impossible is to stop worrying about sleeping. I do the same thing everyday worry about sleep am I going to sleep tonight or if I lay down on the couch to watch tv am I not active enough in the day to male me sleepy. The catch 22 is you'll never get good sleep if it's on your mind.

 

[ManaClash]

I'm averaging 5 hrs a night with Xanax and I'm tired of talking that **** because it barely work and makes me groggy all day long. But here I am right now worrying if I don't take enough I won't get even 4-5hrs. It's a cycle of worrying you can't sleep and then you can't sleep because you worried about it all damn day long.

 

[Damien]

Hey everyone,

For the last couple of months, I've started sleeping in another room, and I've been doing much better.

I went from having a few bad days a week, to having a few days per month in July and August. I've also only missed one complete night of sleep in 2 months which is definitely an improvement.

But I've been nervous that I can't sleep in any other room or bed.

And for the last two nights, I'm unable to sleep after 3-4 hours in bed, and after taking melatonin, I only get 3-4 hours of sleep.

I lay there in bed, mind racing, heart pounding, and body heating up.

I'm so frustrated, and scared this is never going to end.

Please help!

 

[AiThink]

I feel your pain. I tell you my situation. I have generalized anxiety disorder with panic attack disorder. At first it was a day time problem. But it quickly became a night time issue as well. I started getting palpitations right before bed. Those of you who know what that feels like know it is not fun and certainly not a runway for a good night sleep. Once i got past the palpitations, i would manage to dose off but would wake up gasping for air. As if i was holding my breath for a while. Now the fear to fall asleep took over. I was afraid i would suffocate if i fell asleep. Finally around 4am, my body would reluctantly shut down. And i would get up 3 hours later for work. This went on for months. I tell you what I tried. No pills helped. I tied NyQuil but that made things worse because they made my brain sleepy but my heart was beating like if i was running a marathon. I tried melatonin, same symptoms. Alcohol works really well but next day would be full of panic. Sometimes it was worth the trade. I tried cbd. Its helped with the palpitations not much for sleep. Here are a few things that help me out. I YouTube sad commercials. Strange, i know but i would let a good cry out and let me tell you, nothing worked better. We as men hold way to much inside and sometimes we need to open the faucet to relieve some pressure. Another help was, i would lay on a hard plastic right between my shoulder blades. Could be anything hard, i used my babys toy. It was a lid to a container with the basic shapes cutouts. 6x4x1. So the pressure applied to that area on my back would allow me to breathe better somehow, i guess i carry allot of stress in that area and this provided enough relief to get my sleep juices going. I cant tell you how much I relate to all of this. I wish all of you well.