Dark circles/fatigue

[nokindofhero]

I feel I sleep enough. Roughly 6-7hrs on average has always been plenty. I do wake up a lot tossing and turning in the past month or so but I go right back to sleep.

Recently, I'll wake up, feel decent and actually go out but just a couple hours into whatever I'm doing, I start feeling drained quick, rather anxious, develop dark circles under my eyes and don't feel much better any later in the same day.

I'm just scared. I feel like I look sick.

I struggle with agoraphobia and have been housebound for the last six months, so this is the most social activity I've had in a long time but also I just feel like I can't handle any tension or high emotions from anyone else as they just drain me so fast.

[anthrokid]

Anxiety uses a LOT of energy. Your body is on 'high alert' when you are anxious, and it takes a lot of energy to keep your body on high alert. This may be why you are feeling a lot more tired than usual. More energy used = more energy required = more sleep needed.

The average recommended time of sleep for anyone is 7-9 hours. If you're only getting 6 you're already under what is recommended. With anxiety you may require more than what is recommended to feel fully rested. Perhaps try to get an extra 2 hours per night and see if that improves. The tossing and turning is probably contributing to this fatigue you're feeling because you may not be reaching a deep enough stage of sleep.

If you're still feeling scared about it, it may be a good idea to talk to your GP. They may be able to recommend some remedies to improve your sleep and help you feel more rested.

Remember, if you look at anyone who hasn't had enough sleep they tend to look pretty poorly. When I don't get enough sleep people always tend to ask me "Are you ok? You look awful!"

[Carnation]

I get bouts of this and I too average 6-7 hours of sleep. I have noticed that I look and feel worse if I wake several times in the night. I can have 5 hours sleep, but if it is continuous, I look and feel ok. If I have disturbed sleep, then I look and feel awful. I have a friend who is a lecturer at Cambridge who has studied sleep behavior. She says that once you wake from your first quota of sleep, the rest is not so good for you and that is normally when you dream and dreams can make you feel anxious even though you are asleep. You will feel like you a have a baby in the house where parents get up several times in the night to tend to their baby, they are completely done in throughout the day. She also says if you alter your sleep pattern, do it gradually. Say if you want an earlier night, then don't go more than an hour and the same for getting up or going to bed later. The dark circles which I suffer with because of disturbed sleep can be a combination of bad sleep, dehydration, stress and lack of fresh air. Hope this helps.:):)

[nokindofhero]

Thank you, guys.

That helps a lot. It makes some sense, as I have been more on edge the past few months and I have been trying to get good sleep but I actually wake up a lot and I can't sleep more than 6-7hrs usually.

I am very health conscious, eat pretty well, take tulsi supplements, plenty of water and even 15mg melatonin nightly for the past few months or more.

I'll continue trying to address the anxiety. It's only when I decide to do anything outside the house hough. Maybe it's just too much, too fast from my 6 months of being housebound.