bed time....

[miss worrier]

i no this may sound rediculous but i am so afraid of bedtime, i feel like a child.

im fine till i turn out the lights then i become aware of my breathing i had nightmares and the other night was the worst i experianced sleep paralys where i woke up but for a couple moments couldnt move, im at the point where im afraid to go to sleep and wondered if any 1 has experiances like this.

[snowdrop]

Miss Worrier

I get this every single night to the point I dont want to go to bed anymore, I turn the lights off its all dark and that when I feel the most anxious.

I have nightmares so bad I will wake up climbing the walls (literally!) I see figures, I hear noises but worst of all like you said hearing myself breath or feeling my heart beating freaks me out.

I am worse since my uncle had a stroke in his sleep, luckily my auntie was there in the morning to help him but I sleep alone and it frightens me so much.

I have started to drink horlicks (with milk) just before I go to bed and take a nytol tablet a few nights a week otherwise I would be exhausted. I find i get the best night sleep after a hot bath (with sleepeasy radox bubbles), horlicks and a nytol...they seem to make me go straight off without the worry.

I know how you're feeling and its horrible, part of the day I dread!

x

[snowdrop]

PS I also find being on the net until too late makes me worse, so I try to switch it off at least an hour before I plan to go to bed!!

[lesleya]

Hi miss
Sorry your still having probs sleeping hun.
I found putting my lappy away earlier helped too. I get those awful jolts when im dropping off which puts me off lying down but radox bubble bath does help me relax too (pink one) smells nice too.
Maybe it might help if you spoke to your gp about it hun.
Hope it gets better for you there nothing worse than lying awake.

[miss worrier]

thank you all for your replys its nice to no im not alone x
i wish u all well

[sunshine-lady]

I am the same. I need very little sleep. I hate bed time and also I am afraid of the dark! I have to leave the landing light on and the bedroom door open to a certain point. When my son was young I used to say that I left the landing light on in case he needed to go to the toilet during the night. lol can't use that excuse now as my son is 23 and has his own place. Think my hubby just accepts it as one of my quirks.
I delay going to bed and even though i take medications which have sedative effects, I also take sleeping tablets. I am often up until after 4am (I am part of the chat rooms night shift!), but am always up with my hubby at 7am. I don't like been left in bed alone.
Lesley has mentioned a few great tips.
Hope things get better for you soon, take care xxx

[ElizabethJane]

I suffer from sleep paralysis and terrible nightmares. I am worse when my husband is away on business. I have sleeping tablets but rarely take them. The nightmares are always the same theme and I'm usually choking or fighting for breathe. I know what they are about but I still have them. My psychiatrist pen goes faster when I tell him. He is sympathetic though. My rational mind keeps those feelings in check during the day. At night I'm prey to night terrors or succubus and incubus as my husband calls them

[snowdrop]

Sunshine Lady which sleeping tablets do you take, are they prescribed? I take nytol but dont really like taking them every night...anyone know of any more 'natural' alternatives that actually work??

At least we all know when we are lying awake that we aren't alone! not that thats much consolation at 4 in the morning!!

x

[xfilme]

I totally understand your feelings about bedtime. Having Health Anxiety completely messes up my sleep. I have nightmares and often become too sensitive to my body's natural functioning. I have an iron deficiency, which means my blood has to pump harder to get round my body, so not only do I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears) constantly, as soon as i lie down I can also hear my heartbeat as my ear lays against the pillow, which triggers panic attacks. I have had many experiences with sleep paralysis. It is the scariest thing ever. Unfortunately, the harder you try to resist sleep, the more tired your body comes despite how alert your mind may be, and it makes not only the twitching more pronounced, but also the sleep paralysis more likely. Personally, Ive come to the point now where I have abandoned my comfy bed to spend EVERY night sleepin on my sofa because Im near the tv and phone and feel less vulnerable. But now I have also progressed to sleeping with the tv on low and the colour/brightness taken out so it looks just like dark shadows and a quiet mumbling of voices. This calms me enough to sleep most of the time, even though I find a lot of the time I routinely get up after every couple hours to make sure there is nothing going wrong with me. Body checking etc. Health Anxiety is destroying my life. I would love to feel normal again.