Weird buzzing excited feeling when sleep deprived.....worried I can't sleep!

[Sharon123]

I have recently been having a bad flare up of anxiety and now I have contracted COVID. The two together are making it awfully hard for me to fall asleep. I keep noticing that on the nights I am sleep deprived I have this weird sense of jittery excitement that jeeps jolting me awake each time I try to sleep. My mind also feels a lot faster and I feel kind of excited but terrified at the same time?

The anxiety flare up that I have been having actually had to do with a fear of developing Bipolar Disorder. I keep reading that a lack of sleep can trigger hypomania in some people and I am really scared that that is what is happening to me. I notice that I have this excitable jittery buzz feeling in my mind when I am not able to sleep and it's really scaring me a lot. I feel a lot happier too. I am so scared right now.....I am worried I won't be able to sleep again and it will push me into a state of mania. I have not been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder but it is something I have feared for many years now after witnessing my friend develop it very suddenly at a young age. Her disorder was activated by just one night of no sleep.

[ankietyjoe]

I have recently been having a bad flare up of anxiety and now I have contracted COVID. The two together are making it awfully hard for me to fall asleep. I keep noticing that on the nights I am sleep deprived I have this weird sense of jittery excitement that jeeps jolting me awake each time I try to sleep. My mind also feels a lot faster and I feel kind of excited but terrified at the same time?

The anxiety flare up that I have been having actually had to do with a fear of developing Bipolar Disorder. I keep reading that a lack of sleep can trigger hypomania in some people and I am really scared that that is what is happening to me. I notice that I have this excitable jittery buzz feeling in my mind when I am not able to sleep and it's really scaring me a lot. I feel a lot happier too. I am so scared right now.....I am worried I won't be able to sleep again and it will push me into a state of mania. I have not been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder but it is something I have feared for many years now after witnessing my friend develop it very suddenly at a young age. Her disorder was activated by just one night of no sleep.

The part in bold is a textbook reaction to lack of sleep, and something I have experienced many times myself. It has nothing to do with bipolar disorder.

Your thoughts on 'catching' bipolar disorder are actually a trauma reaction. Seeing your frined when you're young IS traumatic, and has stayed with you. You say her disorder was activated by just one night of insomnia, but I can pretty much guarantee you that's not how it works. The predisposition for her condition would have already been there.

Just one night of no sleep would (and sometimes does) make me feel absolutely horrendous, to the point where I can't sit still. If it does happen, I usually get in the car and just go and drive. The required focus of driving is the only thing that makes me stop feeling like I'm about to explode. What you're feeling is normal with anxiety+insomnia.

[tan235]

I have this and I have covid .... OMG it's horrible, I get a buzzy head and then as I fall asleep I feel like I"m on a boat and then I drop and wake up - I hate it so much - going to see my Dr today to get some help sleeping.

[serith]

Everyone feels excited and jittery when they miss sleep, especially if you usually sleep well and then suddenly have 1 night of little or no sleep. It's the adrenaline rush.

I've literally never heard of any insomnia triggering by bipolar disorder, let alone 1 night. The thing about your friend was just a coincidence, or perhaps the onset of bipolar disorder caused the night of no sleep, not the other way around.