night time waking- help!

[sunflower lady]

Hi everyone. For the last few months I have been waking most nights at 3am. When I wake I feel very frightened and anxious, even when I've had a good day previously. It makes me dread going to bed. Has anyone experienced this please?

[Sam Winter]

i used to get this all the time a few years ago but now these days i just struggle falling asleep but when i finally do(which is like 3 am lol) i stay asleep,
i'm not sure why but i used wake up anxious in the middle of the night all the time x

[flannel]

I know how you feel. I sometimes wake up with my heart pounding at night, even if I don't really have any anxiety triggers on my mind. Keeping a sleep journal helped me, though I'm still not sure what causes mine I found going to bed and waking up at the same time helped it happen less often.

[Blinkyrocket]

Low blood sugar, during the night you aren't eating and your stress hormones are burning through your energy reserves, the low blood sugar can cause tachycardia and anxiety. You don't have to dread going to bed, try either eating something heavy in calories before bed time (not fool proof) or straight when you wake up have something to bring your blood sugar back up. Curiously, there is a spiritual meaning attached to 3 AM, but I think this is because a bodily process (I think the liver) is least functional around that time.

Oh and I'm not implying your stress hormones are higher than anybody else's, just that you don't have as much glycogen in your liver and tissues or that your body can't get sufficient access to said glycogen.

[sunflower lady]

Thankyou so much Sam Winter,Flannel and Blinkyrocket! You are very kind to reply so promptly. Will try all the suggestions. It's so helpful to know others have experienced the same thing as me and you are all still here!

---------- Post added at 10:11 ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 ----------

I was awake at 1.38 too Blinkyrocket- it's good to know that there are others awake around the world!