waking early morning with anxiety

[jillybean]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone else out there wake in the early hours with feelings of agitation and anxiety? Its been happening to me for months, twice spilling over into a full blown panic attack. The first time I put it down to a reaction to meds I was on for a bad back but since it happened again early this morning, I know it wasnt. I wound up in A & E after panicking into oblivion! Only to feel real embarrassed as I calmed down and was told I was fine! Im in bed as we speak afraid to go to sleep. Im already on a low dose of betablocker, the doc told me to increase and take it at night. Does all this sound familiar to anyone?

Thanx for listening! :bighug1:

[LucyR]

Hi, Yes I have this quite frequently lately waking with a start and all the anxiety symptoms. Luckily, I have been able to calm myself down in about half an hour without phoning anyone to help.

[Ella_Jayne]

I always wake up feeling anxious at about 4am, I have like you gone to the hospital on a few occasions because of it but now I seem to be able to calm myself down. You're not alone.

[jillybean]

Hi,

Thanks so much for your replies! Its 3 50 am noww here in the UK, Im wide awake too scared to go back to sleep in case of a repeat of yesterdays performance! Reading your replies is a great comfort, my doc isnt particularly sympathetic, it takes aperson who has gone through the same to understand. Thanks again.

:hugs:

[jackie26]

i have the seem problem at least once or twice a week. i have a relaxation cd on my ipod and also a bookdownloaded on there and i find that if i stick that in my ears i can usually block off the intrusive thoughts and drift off to sleep again, may not work for everyone but it usually helps me at least grab an extra few hours sleep. :)

[Joexgee]

yes i have had this problem too! just this morning i woke up with that edgy feeling, but as jackie 26 said, if u do have an ipod u should get some of the relax apps that are on there! i have a couple and i put it on loud with my headphones and i feel alot better now :) if u havent got an ipod u could still get cds or books, i find them a great help just to relax and breath! :hugs:hope u feel better soon xx

[jillybean]

Hi Jackie, thanks for the reply. I have got a relaxation cd, ill try that tonight, I dunno why but it seems particularly bad at the moment. I also recently started with tinnitus which adds to the sleep problem (or lack of it!), so the cd is a good idea! I think I woke up every hour during the night, feel like c**p
this morning. Just wanna feel normal.

Hang in there all fellow insomniacs. :wall:
Jillybean x

[jillybean]

Thanks also Joexgee! Only just read your post. So good to know we re not alone in all this. Thanks for the tip. Tried the TV last night but in the middle of the night theres not much to keep you hooked!

Jillybean x

[westofengland]

The early mornings suck, they are terrible, but you're not alone in this. It's to do with a whole heap of things, but low blood sugar plays its part too, I believe

I keep a HA self-help book next to my bed and try to read that, and then just get up. I don't tend to wake up till about 6am though

Good luck and don't panic

[fightingmyself]

Mornings are terrible for me too. 4am today, and started to pick up about 10

[s11fyx]

this happens to me to i can get so wound up that i start to shake and cant calm down its awful i do relaxation before bed and use lavender oil also try and go for a short walk ever day but i just fall asleep praying i wont wake up anixious in the middle of the night all these things do help x

[jillybean]

Thanx everyone for sharing your experiences, I woke twice in the night waiting for the heebie jeebies to kick in. Its turned into a bit of a sleep phobia for me now, im scared to go to sleep for fear of waking with these terrible feelings. Never thought id become an insomniac, sleep has always been a sweet release until now. I'll just keep on with the relaxation every day until my body learns to stop fighting itself.............zzzzzzz....i wish!

:weep:

[Gaza]

Not seen any recent posts on this subject, but I would like to add the early morning waking is a sign that the anxiety, for me at least, has risen to a signifcantly high levels that it has begun to effect my sleep patterns. After many months of research I have come to understand that the cortisol levels as we sleep increases (released response to stress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_%28biology%29) and low blood glucose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose)) when combined with our already increased anxiety state makes us awaken very agitated and nervously stimulated and afraid. Many support the use of headphones and relaxations music which is definitely a very good aid to help distract the mind away from the negative frightening thoughts and feelings.

I would also support the use of one of Dr Claire Weekes prescribed therapies and float towards panic (this releases some of the pent up body tension) and sink into the anxiety. We have to be careful as if we keep pumping too much cortisol from our flashes with panic we effect the adrenal gland and function (this is the control center in the brain that regulates the release of cortisol and is released when we are anxious) and we can over stimulate this function and cause fatigue. I believe this is where we begin to experience chronic episodes of stress that effect our daily (and nightly) bodily functions. We need good sleep patterns to maintain a good healthy body, higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress and anxiety) have been shown to have negative effects upon our system. Lets not let this happen ok! :shades:

I do feel, as I am experiencing myself at times, it is very difficult when on your own, however it's not impossible to grasp the understanding of what is actually happening. When you begin to have some glimpses of this you at least get some relief that your body is not breaking down and your losing the battle, as so to speak, but your more out performing yourself, if that makes sense to you. Your over-reacting to lifes stimuli, you have powerful protective mechanisms built into your system that help you stay safe and portected, but because you have over-stimulated that function your body is on the highest alert levels it can be. The panic alarm button is always depressed, and you need to just lift your finger off the anxiety button. :flowers: Let go for a while and see the difference!

We also need to let time pass so we can keep cortisol levels healthy and deliberately induce and trigger the relaxation response after the excitory nervous reaction has settled using any meyhod that feels comfortable. I would suggest a full review at this point of life habits and conditions, and ways to change the daily aspect of your life that could be bringing the tension and stress levels higher than they should be and need to be. :yesyes: Take time out for YOU!!!!

Good luck guys, you can do it....we are all the same. God bless. :hugs:

[JustJoe25]

Interesting post Gaze. I wake up anxious every morning for the last few months. At first I would wake up with the urge to deficate, gas, or s stomach ache but now I just wake up even if I have none of those things and then without 10-30 mind I usually will experience gas or the urge to go but I think anxiety is waking me up before I'm ready to get up and then I can never fall back asleep. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed this happens. Any advice?

[Gaza]

Sorry for late reply. One of the key indicators of anxiety is the body mind connection, and the shutting down of the stomach function and the desire to defecate does relate to this. When anxiety grips us (awake or asleep) it goes through a procedure that the body 'activates' and then 'deactivates' certain function as the fight or flight response has been stimulated (the subconscious button has been depressed) and evacuation of the bowels is one of the primary reactions to this automatic response. Or more plainly put, as you have dropped off to sleep initially, you have had some unconscious concerns or free floating anxiety that has not been processed throughout the day. This slips into you subconscious as you attempt to sleep and relax, being this is unresolved your alerted in the night that you have not expressed this fear. The body automatically shifts into the fight or flight response and you wake feeling over stimulated with the a desire to use the toilet or have gas or wind, or things involving the digestive GI tract, as acid secreted function are ceased and bowels are activated to be released. Your body is preparing to combat the situation in an urgent heightened manner. You need to use deep breathing exercises to bring down the fear response and proclaim 'I am fine' and 'feeling ok' so the message can translate to the subconscious and cause the over stimulated response to reduce and to settle. (Sometimes meds are needed, like light sedation to calm the mind and subsequently calm the body responses). Using deep breathing exercises can take some time to master, but repeat the process regularly to bring the anxiety back under control. If there are things within your day that are raising the anxiety and that are attributing to the heightened levels then you need to become aware of 'what the triggers are' so you can nip them in the bud and prevent this from disturbing your sleep patterns. Look closely at the prior daily events and what you perceive is troubling you, this could be home life, money situations, marital and/or relationship worries, etc, they all add up in your 'anxiety bank' and the deposits your making on a daily basis. When this reaches a particular plateau, then this will affect your night time relaxation periods. This can affect you also in your waking hours, but you do need to figure out what the biggest culprit(s) are that have over-stimulated this response within you, take care and hope this is of some help to you. :)

[GingerFish]

This happens to me a lot. I have always put it down to low blood sugar as I usually feel better as soon as I eat something after waking up.

[julieannboo]

I have got muscle pain in my back at the moment. I am not eating or sleeping. Very anxious.
Had an afternoon nap for an hour and woke up shaking.
I took two tramodol yesterday.
I wonder if it is side effects or if it is plain anxiety.

It not fun.