Awake, exhausted and anxious

[lkdugg2]

I am dead tired due to my simply sleeps that I take every night. I cannot sleep though. My heart begins racing and I get extreme anxiety the minute I close my eyes. My left arm is aching which of course makes me think heart attack but I am trying to stay positive and talk away the anxiety or give in to it. It's 330 here so I'd prefer not to give nito it alone. I am so afraid I am going to stop breathing. I just closed my eyes during typing and had a weird breath inhale and it freaked me out. I am so freaking tired though and scared to fall asleep!! I dont know what to do!

I took an Ativan last night due to some high anxiety and I take my ativan's as needed but I wonder if tha tis what is causing all this anxiety tonight. thoughts?

[phw]

I am sorry to hear that you are feeling so poorly. I have been through the same and am still not sleeping right through. I have found that abdominal inhaling at bedtime helps a lot. Also, give some "sleep" music a try. You will find loads of "tranquility" type music on the net. It helps to make you sleepy and helps regulate your breathing. As for the breathing and left arm; Remember that you are trying to control what your body does naturally. If all else fails, your body will re-program your breathing by itself. Just leave it to be. You are doing fine, even if you think you are not breathing. As for your left arm, always remember that panic / anxiety is linked to strange "feelings". That's all it is. Feelings. Again, even if you are feeling all the symptoms that make you think of a heart attack, it is not. It is quite normal to have those pains in your arm, neck and chest.

Try to do as much as possible to fall asleep peacefully. That is all you have to focus on. The rest will happen naturally.

Hang in there. This too shall pass!