Sleep awful again!

[Mojo61]

My sleep was improving, but since I've been in this particular 'blip' for 2 weeks it has gone haywire again. I tend to fall asleep on the sofa at about 10.30pm because I'm so exhausted, then I wake again at about 11.30 and go up to bed but I can't get to sleep again. When I do eventually doze off it is only for an hour or so and then I'm awake again, heart pounding, sweating, racing thoughts.... and so it carries on through the night until the bloody birds start twittering at about 4am. I'm so exhausted but sleeping tablets don't work and just make me feel hungover the next day.

I think if I could just not think about the anxiety when I wake up I'd be able to get back to sleep again, but I wake up with a start, and I'm WIDE awake too, then I immediately think about the anxiety and get the 'adrenaline rush' come over my body the moment I think about it. It gives me a stomach ache and a pounding heart and my mind is going a million miles a minute with stupid thoughts and images. I took 2 diazepam last night because I couldn't stand it any longer - I just want to go to sleep at a reasonable hour and sleep through the night without keep waking up every hour or so. I'm absolutely exhausted, and that's not helping my anxiety at all.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

[Chocolateface]

Try a brisk walk in the fresh air before I got this blip I found I was doing great and a lot of that was due to joining a running club and being outside

Hope you find sleep soon

[Buster70]

Hi , you just described my sleep pattern to the hour I could have written the same post , half ten just gets dark so I nod off an hour or so wake up crawl up stairs to bed , start worrying about how I'll sleep then nod off again and wake up soon after with a jolt out of breath heart pounding , back to sleep several nightmares and waking up then 4 o'clock it's getting light so back awake , it absolutely drains me , I used to take zopiclone but they scared me how they would knock me out but it's not a good full nights sleep you get just a few missing hours , only advice I have is no internet late it wakes the mind up , warm milk helps , and I take an antihistamine doctor said it was ok and they are not so harsh as a sleeping pill , asda do there own brand sleeping pill at the pharmacy only a short term thing , if I do ever find the answer to a good nights sleep without feeling hungover I'll let you know , take care .

[Mojo61]

Thanks buster, I will try the warm milk and antihistimes. I forgot to mention the nightmares - last night it was the whole Oscar Pistorius/Reeva Steenkamp thing, and then I remembered that I'd watched his interview earlier so must have been playing on my mind.

[Buster70]

Somtimes mine arnt nightmares as such just very vivid dreams that I wake from in a real panic , Ive down loaded a couple of sleep apps on my phone some are quite good a sleep hypnosis app that I've never heard the end of always gets me to sleep I also listen to a rain app a bit of background noise helps .