Urgent Reassurance Please

[magicbullet86]

Hi folks,

I've developed this fear of not being able to fall asleep. It's a self-fuelling fear because worrying about not falling asleep is what's keeping me awake.

I understand this and can rationalize the problem.

However, I suffer from bouts of intense anxiety.

It's like my mind is stuck in a loop, trying to solve the problem yet can't. It's like the effect you get when you put mirrors infront of mirrors... the effect goes into infinity. That's what my brain feels like.

I'm worried that my brain is trying to solve the problem but can't, and will eventually flip and leave me constantly mad, disjointed from reality.

Does anyone else get this? Because I have this problem on a near-enough daily basis, I feel at more risk than others.

Please help!

Many thanks,

- Luke

[skye338]

Hi There

Im sorry to hear of your distress. Its sounds an obsessive disorder dont have any wonderful advice other than discuss this with your GP if you havent already done so.
Hope you feel better soon.
Jx

Accept the things you cannot change and have courage to change the things you can.

[chop]

It is like I said on other post. I went thru it too and it is self fuleiling like all anxiety.

Get checked out by gp for any disorders of sleep but more than likely anxiety.

I went thru it and its one of ht emost distresing things but as I say you dont go mad at all or your brain wont explode. Worst thign is you feel crap!

I ended up taking a sleep pill after all else failed and that got me back into routine. I also started anti depressants again as they beleived it was depression/amxiety doing.

I went on 1.5 hours sleep for 2 weeks or so. I tried relaxation and all sorts ans felt non sressed. I tried everythign from exercise to tapes to preogressive muscle relation to yoga. everything and ntohign worked so they put me on some pills.

However most likely if its anxiety, its hard but you can relax eventually thru mthods above and get soem sleep. Its hard but it works for most but if there is an underlying issue or you just cant shake the anxiety, then you may need a pill short term as your anxiety wont get better with no sleep as you know. So a pill in last resort is not a bad thing at times imo.

My sleep is OK now.

P.S. My main trigger for anxiety apart from stress is lack of sleep and I went two weeks of sitting in bed tryiong to sleep and getting none mostly! I didnt go mad. Got bad anxiety - but didnt go mad. It will get fixed mate! It gave me morre confidence in the end because I realised it did nothing but make anxiety worse at times but I didnt go mad.

Chop

Learning to under react

[magicbullet86]

Thanks for the replies!

Hey Chop! :D

Well the good news is that I can actually sleep without medication. Have achieved about 4-5 hours a night since I last contacted you in absoloute hysteria! [:P]

It's just this horrible sensation I get during the day. I know whats wrong but it's like my subconcious feels the need to analyse it too but cant, resulting in a horrible mental explosion.

Freaks me out! Was wondering if anyone else gets this / is it dangerous / will my worst fears be realised?

Many thanks,

- Luke

P.S Feel really guilty for not helping others at this great place.

[Jason37]

Hello Luke,
I can say with some certainty that your worst fears WON'T be realised! Neither will the worst fears of most of us on here (or indeed most people in general). That's because our capacity to fear is way bigger than the capacity of fears to materialise.
I don't even think your fear is particularly irrational. I have recently got into a routine of waking up much earlier than my alarm, in the early hours of the morning, and not being able to go back to sleep. This has become almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the sense that, I anticipate that every night now, and therefore am worrying about it, and therefore am the less relaxed, and more prone to waking up worrying!
I know it is irrational, but I cannot (yet) control it, for whatever reason. Sometimes the brain is dealing with things in its own way, and you just have to let it work through whatever it's dealing with, until it has worked through it.
You can't always consciously "work through it", because it's not always on a conscious level. So sometimes it is worth going with the flow until it gets better. As you seem to be doing with some success - and congratulations to you for that.
As to helping others, well that's what we're all here for - mutual support, encouragement and assistance. You will find people in time who will benefit from your experiences, and you will help them on their journey.
Wishing you peace, calmness and strength going forward,
Jason

[sal]

Hi Luke

It becomes a viscious circle and we get dragged round and round. It is breaking the cycle and even if doing so for a few hours to start of them building up to longer periods when you can look back and focus on the fact that you managed to break this continual pattern up.

Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.


"Life is a distance and to travel that distance you were given the strength and guidance to do so".

[magicbullet86]

Many thanks guys. I always seem to create situations like this.

As long as I won't self-destruct, I'm more than happy to work at this problem and get better.

I just fear that it's going to leave me screwed up and beyond help.

[sal]

It wont leave you screwed up or beyond help. I thought that when i was in the midst of this viscious circle that i couldnt break. Once you get through this or even half way through this you will look back and see how much stronger you are than you ever thought you could be.

Here for you.

Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.


"Life is a distance and to travel that distance you were given the strength and guidance to do so".

[Karen]

Hi Luke

It is the anticipation of not being able to sleep which makes falling asleep naturally such a challenge.

Try to establish a routine for going to bed. Doing some form of relaxation a while before going to bed can help.

Give yourself a set amount of time and if unable to sleep, get up and go to another room. Do something quite boring until you feel tired again. Then head back to bed.

If worries are preventing you from sleeping, try writing these down before going to bed as this can help prevent you from going over and over these in your mind which will make it very difficult to switch off enough to sleep.

Keeping to a routine of going to bed at the same time each night and getting up in the morning each day can also help re-educate your body to sleep naturally.

Also have a read of these previous topics to see whether any information could be useful for you:

Sleep help
Sleep zzzzz (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5413)
insomnia, insomnia, insomnia etc.... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6002)
Sleep problems (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6260)
HELP! Problems with sleeping. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7144)


Karen



Happiness is not a state to arrive at but a manner of travelling.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough ~ Christine Cagney, Cagney & Lacey

[magicbullet86]

Many thanks, folks!