Sleep Anxiety

[Orlando85]

Does anyone else have trouble sleeping because of anxiety? I will end up falling asleep but then 1-2 hours later I'd get woken up with a Rush of anxiety and tingling feeling all over my head and then I'm awake for another hour until I knock out again and the process will repeat

[SolidSteak]

Absolutely! I had insomnia terribly when my HA first started. I was too scared to go to sleep in case anything happened and I didn't wake up. Then when I finally fell asleep I'd wake up sweating or with a racing heart or sometimes my palpitations would even wake me up. I hope you conquer your sleeping anxiety soon as rest is so important to helping us cope with everything through the day and a lack of sleep can be just miserable!

I sleep much better now than I did and it really benefits me throughout the day. Now when I wake up I generally do so with that strange foggy, tingly feeling in my head but otherwise feel much better for the sleep I've had.

Hope this helps somewhat!

[ocdbaking]

Yes, often my anxiety begins a big flare up, sleeping issues are one of the first things to start up again. Things can get better though - I was having panic attacks in my sleep last summer, but these have now stopped and my anxiety around going to bed is much better than it has been over the last year. I found positive routines and medication (not sleeping pills, but instead mirtazapine) has helped massively.

[AsianFidgetME]

@solidstate and @ocdbaking,

What did you do in coping up with sleep problem? I am really having trouble dealing with it. :weep:

[ocdbaking]

Nothing special. I was using a lot of avoidance behaviours, which I thought were distraction techniques. Now if I feel anxious, I acknowledge the anxiety, accept it and continue to try and go to sleep. It wasn't easy at first, but I go off to sleep quickly now. I also take mirtazapine, which aids sleep as well as helps with anxiety.

[Orlando85]

It's so hard to ignore it all. Since I've haven't slept well the past week I've had these weird head sensations 24-7 all over my head that's freaks me out making me think I have a tumor in my head and I also have this tension around my neck and head and constant headaches so I've been worrying and freaking out 24-7 now and still can't sleep

[Annaboodle]

It's so hard to ignore it all. Since I've haven't slept well the past week I've had these weird head sensations 24-7 all over my head that's freaks me out making me think I have a tumor in my head and I also have this tension around my neck and head and constant headaches so I've been worrying and freaking out 24-7 now and still can't sleep

I've had insomnia since I was a teen (I'm an ol' lady of 43 now). I get the weird head sensations you're talking about. I also get visual disturbances and hearing ones - everything sounds echoey and too loud. One thing that reassured me recently was talking to a couple of friends who are severely sleep deprived after having babies. They describe the same sort of sensations and the whole wading through treacle feeling you get when you aren't sleeping. Everything is under fog. It's awful I know.

[snowghost57]

I was hoping for some suggestions as well. I started a new job and I am scared of over sleeping so I wake up every hour to two hours looking at the clock. Needless to say this makes me tired at work :(

[ocdbaking]

The only suggestions I can are simple sounding, but hard to do!

1. Avoid caffeine if you're not already
2. If you are anxious before bed, calm breathing exercises help. Accept that you are anxious.
3. If it wakes you during the night, repeat step 2. Acknowledge, accept and breath. You need to remember that it's happened before, and that you've always been ok - so you will be this time.

Avoid complete distractions - this tends to make anxiety worse in the long run. If I'm really struggling, I will allow myself to use a distraction technique, but I have to talk through the anxiety with myself - the physical symptoms, what's happening over the next few days/weeks/months that is causing the anxiety, what happened last time it happened and how I got through it etc.

After a few days of doing these, I was sleeping much better. Honestly.

[SolidSteak]

Sorry it took me so long to reply to your earlier question!

Basically I've done a couple of things to help me sleep through the night.

Generally I will listen to something soothing, I use a mindfulness app on my phone that has lots of different white noises such as rain fall, waves etc. Sometimes I will listen to podcasts to help me drift off too.

I also do breathing techniques to help me drift off. So just before I go to sleep I'll lay in bed with no distractions, light off and concentrate on my breathing. Deep breaths, holding for 3 seconds and then breathing out. Try to concentrate on the different parts of your body being supported by the bed and just zone out. If you start having negative feelings or thoughts acknowledge that they are there but don't focus on them (much easier said than done). I have found this to be really helpful with conquering sleep anxiety.

hope this helps even a little bit.

Good luck!

[axolotl]

Hide every clock in the room from line of sight from the bed so you don't spend the night watching the minutes to morning ticking away. A small thing, but really helped me.

[Wooster]

This site is very informative and made me feel a lot better about having insomnia - http://www.insomnia-free.com/what-to-do-when-your-negative-thoughts-sound-more-true-than-your-rational-positive-thoughts.html :)
For me, sleeping through any sort of noise is often impossible. However, I have a white noise app on my phone now which is good for blocking low-level noise, called "Relax and Sleep". Definitely worth downloading!
Other than that, try not to use any electronics up to an hour before bedtime, or if you do, install "redshift" - this removes the blue light on your screen which keeps you awake. Obviously no caffeine, make sure to do some exercise every day, but not close to bedtime, try and keep to the same bed-time every day and get up at the same time every day, don't work or use your laptop in bed.
You might also find something like Nytol or herbal medicines are helpful. Old-school antihistamines (hayfever tablets) such as Piriton can make people drowsy, though obviously don't use them all the time!
I have been prescribed Zopiclone for the moment, though this is only for two weeks and because I have had particularly bad insomnia coupled with a dissertation to write, so my usual techniques aren't working so well. At any rate, I hope this helps!

[Darksky]

Agree about the clock thing. Mines behind the curtain so I can't see what the time is. If I do wake up, I can't fixate on it.