That feeling if dread

[phil6]

I am pretty sure most people will know what I mean when shortly after waking you get that feeling of dread come over you in the pit if your stomach.
I have been having some success at accepting my anxiety and even some associated depression and usually by the evening I can feel quite positive.
I go to bed thinking I will try my best to allow myself to feel whatever in the morning in the knowledge that if I don't react or struggle with it, it will pass. This is my plan of practice.
However, the dread feeling is the one that always gets to me. I am always shocked at the intensity of it and it feels so real. It seems no matter how I try to stop worrying and struggling with it, the feeling drags me down and can get me back in a dark place. I guess if I am honest it makes me feel frightened. It us really holding my recovery back.
I don't seem to be able to distract myself when it comes on and the urge to cry for help is strong.
I almost need a strong thought to hold on to until it passes... What do you do?
Phil

[Annie0904]

This morning feeling of dread is a BIG thing with me. I overcome it by getting out of bed as soon as I wake...the longer I stay in bed the worse the feeling gets. I get myself some ceral for breakfast and a cup of tea, then I sit in bed watching TV while eating my breakfast. Then I get a shower and dressed and go out for a walk. This is the only way I can get the feeling to go. If I stayed in bed longer I would be anxious all day.

[worried 101]

Can definetly relate. Mornings are an awful time for me and my anxiety.Its like you wake up and POW hits you all over again and the panic is hideous and swallows you up.
I can say that I went through the worst time with this a few weeks back when I was in a very dark place, I would wake up not be able to breathe properly, cry my eyes out and sick up in bed and rock and rock, talking to myself, not understanding why this illness was happening to me.
The best thing that I found was that getting out of bed,like Annie said ,was key to me getting through the panic, at my worst I had to be forced out of bed and literally my partner would have to undress me and put me in the shower I was awful.
But after a while I would calm down, maybe not at once but after a while and the fact that you are concentrating on something really does help.
Hope this helps.x

[phil6]

Thanks guys,
You are right... I used to try and rise immediately to break the habit and bring your mind into reality. I am a lazy person at heart and I have been trying to get back to sleep as usually I wake too early and I think the feeling grows when half asleep and in the dark.
I think, even if it is very early, even 4.30, I should rise and put the light on and make a cup of tea. Then when my mind has calmed a little I can maybe return to bed and try a little meditation.When I am better I can then go back to enjoying a lie on.
Thanks for reminding me.
Phil

[bellesmummy]

I have this every morning to, it really is a horrible horrible feeling!! It doesn't help that my kids wake me some times at 4 or 5 in the morning, I can never get back to sleep and just lie there feeling awful! I never want to get up then as I think that the tiredness will effect me during the day so I always hope I will go back to sleep but never do!!

[phil6]

Belles mummy,
I agree it is a nasty feeling.... It is now early evening and that feeling passed off at about lunchtime and what a change it makes in me.
I am going to get up when I wake though... We don't really gain anything by staying in bed trying to get back to sleep do we.
Look forward to an early cuppa tomorrow then!
Phil

[nosweat]

I had it this morning :) Maybe trying to distract right away is good. Getting your blood sugar up ASAP might help too (orange juice or something). I'm thinking about just putting a cd player next to my bed and putting on some music right away if I am going to experience it anyway. I hope you feel better :)

[bellesmummy]

Hi Phil. So what time did you get up? I was woken at 5! Had kids in bed with me though fidgeting around so was distracted by them!!! Got up at 6.30!
I can never eat anything straight away, my tummy is always so knotted up!

[MissW]

Yes, I find I need to get up right away too . If I just lay there, my mind tends to wander into some pretty dark places. I 'm religious, so I like to read my bible a little bit, and then pray and then have that cuppa!

[phil6]

Morning all,
You know, I really did very well yesterday accepting my feelings, and carrying on through the day. And I mean really allowing the feelings to be there without any attempts to think them away. I was rewarded with a good evening and some rest for my mind. I always complained that there seemed to be little reward for accepting but I think I am learning that the need to be rewarded isn't really accepting.... It's a paradox.
Anyway, I didn't wake until 7 am this morning and I am almost a little afraid to say I feel fine!
The temptation is to try and hold on to this feeling but I think this would be a mistake as well... Stupid I know but I almost went looking for the anxiety ... Just enjoy it maybe.
Phil

[bellesmummy]

I know what you mean by looking for the anxiety, I think that's my problem, my mind seems to automatically look for the anxiety and oh suprise suprise there it us just waiting to rear its ugly head!!

[Vonnyj]

Oh I know the feeling well!! I have had this all night waking up every hour or so. Just trying to live with it but how nice it would be to just lie peacefully in the morning. Does this eventually go? My main symptom has been nausea but it seems to have been replaced by this! Does deep breathing help? I think its something to do with a spike of cortisol in the morning that causes this. Does anybody elses symptoms keep changing?

[hadenough]

I have had this for 3 1/2 months now since my latest bout of anxiety and depression started. I wake up every hour or so through the night and have a problem getting back to sleep but by about 5am the anxiety kicks in big time and the panic just seems to get worse from then in. I do try and stay in bed in the hope that I will sleep again but I never do so maybe I should just get up as soon as I wake. Its an awful feeling especially when youre exhausted through lack of sleep. The problem is that I go to bed now dreading the morning which obviously doesnt help with relaxing enough to sleep.

[cmc46]

Oh that makes me feel better, I thought it was just me, I can feel fine one minute and think to myself that I don't feel anxious and when I think that it is there within seconds.

[craigj1303]

Phil, I wouldn't say I get feelings of dread in the morning, well maybe it is i'm not sure. But certainly sleep has been an issue for me in recent times. I wake up regularly in the middle of the night, sometimes several times. It's like my brain is on high-alert and I have woken to check myself. I have accepted this as a symptom of my anxiety now and have got slightly better at handling it.

As for the mornings, I have been waking up with that kind of "how do I feel today?", "has it gone away?" type stuff. it's usually too early to get up in my book so I just lay there, not really asleep, trying to sleep. But this morning I thought, sod it, come on, get up and take the dogs out for a walk before I get ready for work. That really helps my Mrs out as it something else she doesn't have to do in her busy day so it's nice to think of other people instead of concentrating on yourself.

Plus, while I was out I felt so good and positive. It was a nice, crisp winter morning, and the sky was this amazing red colour. It lifted me being out. Then I came back and made beans on toast for my kids which again, is something positive for my partner as she has a nightmare trying to get the kids ready for school. And felt nice sitting and eating with the kids before we all start our days at work and school.

So, in short, if I wake up earlier than usual now and I feel i'm not going to get off again, i'm gonna start just getting up. (As long as it isn't silly o'clock like 3 in the morning or something)!