View Full Version : anxiety about health related things keeping me from sleeping at night
This has been a reoccurring theme for me lately so I had to make a thread about it because it's a problem for me. Whenever I have a health related problem, it can be stomach cramps at night, or an ache that's not fully going away, I get anxiety that I won't be able to sleep because of the problem happening. This all stems from one particular night a few years ago where I literally was up ALL NIGHT writhing in pain from some kind of stomach issue. The problem did resolve itself but not until that morning where I had to strain to crap. I got relief from that and was able to nap during day to recover sleep.
Flash forward to now, I have a dull upper arm ache that seems muscle related. It hurts when I flex those upper arms muscles like pushing off the chair to get up from sitting down. I've tried acetamenophren and pain cream. Currently trying Ibuprofin as it's been a while since I tried the other stuff. Nothing seems to work so far though.
I'm just really worried that I won't be able to sleep if this dull ache won't go away. What I am supposed to do? It's not a serious thing health wise but I only worry about it because I fear it'll keep me up tonight. I already have bouts of insomnia as it is. Though, things have been better for me as a whole in that regard. But still, things like this make me worry.
Unfortunately, my worst fears are happening. The pain in my left upper arm/shoulder is very intense and I cannot sleep as a result.
I went to the ER at the hospital and they diagnosed the pain from it being Calcitic Tendonitis. They gave me OxyCoton, just a single tablet, and discharged me. They didn’t seem concerned about my worries if not sleeping.
Well, the tablet didn’t work and I’ve now been up for 30 hours as of now because of the pain. I’m scared and don’t know what to do. If the hospital won’t help, idk what I can do then.
I’m currently taking Asprin and it seems to help a little but pain is still mostly there. I don’t know how much hope I have of sleeping. I know the urge to sleep will get stronger but with the pain, I doubt I’ll be able to doze off like I need to.
Guess my days are numbered…
nomorepanic
01-02-23, 20:09
Why are your days numbered?
Well, based on the fact that no medicine that I've been taking is helping ease the pain at night to sleep, it's only logical to conclude that I won't sleep anytime soon. I'm already over 32 hours awake and the pain hasn't really eased up. I've been prescribed some medicine the doctor says will help but the ER docs said that last night and it didn't help at all.
I just don't know what to do if tonight goes like last night did. Just in agonizing pain and crying because I can't lay there and sleep. There wasn't a single position last night that helped ease the pain any. Even when still, I was in pain with the upper arm. I've been diagnosed with Tendonitis of the shoulder from ER. I've seen my primary doctor. I'm trying to prescription meds tonight. But I'm not optimistic I will sleep unless the pain quells down.
But my days are numbered I fear because the longer I go without sleep, the worse things will get for me.
nomorepanic
01-02-23, 22:23
I broke my shoulder 2 years ago and didn't sleep much for a week.
I am still alive
I think you are massively overthinking this one.
Your body will sleep when it has to
Yeah, I mean, that's what it supposed to happen. But, the pain has been really bad for me to the point where I'd consider it impossible to sleep through, regardless of how tired I might be. I've only gone whole night without sleep so far. I have noticed Asprin helps ease my pain a little bit but I don't the ease of pain lasts long enough for me to truly benefit from it.
I've tried laying down at times today to try to nap and just couldn't do it. With me not sleeping at all last night, I would have thought sleep would have been easy for me by now. Makes me nervous it won't be easy to get sleep.
You are most likely sleeping and don't realize it. It is truly possible to sleep lightly without knowing it. Try not to worry, your body takes care of sleep, you will sleep as much as needed for health.
ankietyjoe
02-02-23, 09:20
Guess my days are numbered…
You could cut the stupid doom talk out for a start.
You have an ouchy, and need to get past the massive over reaction you're having to it.
You are suffering because of your own behaviour and reaction to something benign, this is a self created problem.
The FACT is, the pain will eventually pass and you will be able to sleep again. Until then, just cope with it. No need to become hysterical about something so trivial, right? You are experiencing something millions of people experience every week.
WorryRaptor
02-02-23, 11:03
That kind of tendonitis is truly painful, I'm sorry you're having to deal with it. The good thing is, it goes away, you just have to let the time pass.
You will sleep eventually. Your body will just decide to when its had enough, agonising pain or not.
I dislocated my shoulder and tore something in my neck at the same time a couple of months ago. I was awake for four nights with bouts of 10 min dozes here and there only to be woken by the pain. Like you, it felt like sleep was never going to happen for me, but one afternoon, while my shoulder, neck and head throbbed with pain, I just slumped over on the sofa and slept for a solid 10 hours. You will eventually get to a point where your body just sleeps. You will be ok :)
Have you tried heat/ice? That can help with rotator cuff pain.
ServerError
02-02-23, 11:33
I'm currently dealing with achilles tendonitis on both sides due to my inconsistent exercise regime. It's so painful I've been struggling to walk and I can feel it when I go to bed. I'm not worried about it though. I'm having physio and have been told they will gradually get better. It's a design flaw in the human body that tendons don't get as good a blood supply as regular muscle, so they can take much longer to heal. It can be painful but it will improve in time.
Your level of fixation on this is truly extreme.
Of course pain makes it difficult to sleep. Why are you so worried about it? Missing a few nights of sleep is no big deal. Who cares if you have been awake for 30 hours? Are you dying? No... Yeah, you may feel like shit but you just have to get through it.
If the pain continues, your brain will get used to it and you will go back to sleeping.
Also, guess what.... DON'T THINK ABOUT SLEEP!
You are screwing yourself if you spend a single second worried about sleep. Like everything else you cant control, theres no reason to even think about it. Your brain does it for you. At certain times, you wont sleep well because your brain is disturbed by something unusual happening. Thats how its supposed to work... when something unusual is happening, your brain wants to stay awake in case there is danger. But as soon as your brain gets used to the weird thing, or it passes, you will go back to sleeping.
I also recommend this program for anyone with the tendency to obsess over sleep. The program itself is expensive (around $100 I think) but you can get the book for cheap (like $10) and its basically the same thing. It really helped me.
https://sleepforlife.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Sleep-Method-Incredible-Insomnia/dp/1456492543/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+effortless+sleep+method+by +sasha+stephens&qid=1675351760&sprefix=the+effortless+slee+%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1
I really appreciate the replies and giving your experiences and perspectives. Yeah, I think I did fall asleep last night because I was up till like 1 am, and before I knew it, it was almost 5 am. It must have been sleep because I was agonizing every hour of the night and I definitely would have known it if I was up anytime from 2 am through 5 am.
I'm just a bit concerned that pain killers just don't seem to help me regardless of what I try. When I was in the ER, they gave me a single pill of Percocet but it didn't help me at all. I wasn't prescribed anything either. I took Ibuprofin 600 mg as prescribed by a doctor and that didn't work either. Only thing that seems to help a little is Excedrin, which is Aspirin. But only a little bit.
I'm trying to see a specialist to see what the course of action is but of course, no place will take same day appointments. Might have to wait till late next week which is rough.
At what point does the pain ease up? I'm about at the end of day 2 and nervous about how my night will go. I have no idea how I fell asleep last night because I was constantly changing positions while in pain.
You've had this problem for literally a minute. Chill out. Forget about it for, like, 2 months, then revisit the problem and see where you are.
"I have no idea how I fell asleep last night" ... ?
Because the brains fall asleep at night. That's just what they do. People can fall asleep while having a migraine, while at a rock concert, while in the middle of a war zone.
Try to challenge your irrational fixation on very minor things. The only thing that is disturbing your sleep is your fixation on how well you are going to sleep.
If the pain wasn't so bad, I'd be more calm about this. I'm in constant pain and it's driving me crazy. I was up like all hours of the night last night. The only times where maybe I slept was after 6 am because i don't remember anything until close to 9 am. Ive been prescribed medicine for the pain but it's not helping at all.
I just don't know what to do if tonight goes like last night did. Just in agonizing pain and crying because I can't lay there and sleep. There wasn't a single position last night that helped ease the pain any. Even when still, I was in pain with the upper arm. I've been diagnosed with Tendonitis of the shoulder from ER. I've seen my primary doctor. I'm trying to prescription meds tonight. But I'm not optimistic I will sleep unless the pain quells down.
Get your pain under control, so see your doctor or a pharmacist for this. Using heat helps. Sleep sitting up, supporting your affected arm on a few pillows.
But my days are numbered I fear because the longer I go without sleep, the worse things will get for me.
You were coming out with this narrative last year but you're still here. Dialogue like this is unhelpful..
yeah, what i'm experiencing now really makes my past gripes with sleep troubles look dumb. Honestly, I don't know what to do about the pain anymore. Nothing seems to help. I've tried all kinds of pain cream, OTC pain meds, prescribed stuff from doctors, and was given stuff at ER for pain. None of it worked.
Even tried pillows and such but nothing really helps. I did notice this afternoon that I can sit in my desk chair better than I could all week. It still hurts to move the arm but maybe it's a small sign of improvement.
I literally laid in bed last night in constant pain, from 10 pm till 7 am. I got up at few points to just do something because why not? I just could never get comfortable or find a way to limit the pain.
The only thing that I don't remember is the 5 am hour and I remember getting up at 6:30 am confused for a minute as to what happened as I picked myself off the bed. I guess that was the only sleep I got last night. Nothing else. I feel like crap but honestly, I guess I have to take what I can get. I'll eventually crash if it ever gets bad enough to where I'm not sleeping at all.
I would suggest not lying in bed awake for hours on end. If you get up and do something instead, you'll get tired and be more likely to fall asleep later.
I'm really sorry about all the pain, I'm sure there's a solution out there or that it will go away relatively soon. Hang in there. <3
I have been trying to do other things. Honestly, I take whatever sleep I get and just try to roll with it. A recent development making things tougher for me is I have a slight fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, and cough. I tested for covid but came back negative.
I was around my dad who recently came down with Strep throat. Idk if that's what I have because coughing and stuffy noses aren't symptoms of strep throat. But yeah, it's making things tougher on me to sleep and the cough hurts the shoulder a bit.
I'm high risk for severe covid outcomes but if the at home test didn't show a positive test, then I guess I won't worry too much. Temperature mostly is at 98 most of the day. But late at night it gets up to 100 and idk why. I check later and it's 99.4.
To say i'm a mess right now is a understatement but I'll try to be calmer. I did notice I got off to sleep quicker last night so that's a positive. Hopefully it can continue.
Why are you high risk for covid?
Overweight/high blood pressure. I took a at home test for covid and it's negative. I guess I can be sick with something else. It doesn't always have to be assumed to be covid. I'm just worried if the test is wrong and I do have it. Because it might get real bad for me if so.
The persistent cough is highly annoying. I had trouble sleeping at night because nothing I took helped calm the cough enough.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.