Anxiety and insomia

[K1489]

Hi everyone,

My name is Kate, I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety late last year. Unfortunately this has been difficult as it also regularly causes me inosomia. The doctor gave me melatonin to help me sleep and medication for anxiety as well as sleep disorder. Towards the end of 2018, I’ve been feeling better, actually I only take medication when my anxiety and insomia are really bad. I also saw a psychologist last year to help me understand why I am going through this and why now. Since beginning of 2019, it seems like my anxiety and insomia are worsening, I am now taking medication average of 2-3 nights a week instead of ‘when neede’. This causes me to gain weight approx 5-6 kgs which worsen how I feel and now causing me to feel more depressed and anxious. I have anothe psychologist appointment on the 13 of February hoping we could try other meds without the side effect of gaining weight as well as better management of my anxiety.

Could I please ask for helpful advise to help me get through with what I feel?

thanks,

kate

[Doolhof]

Hi Kate,

Anxiety and insomnia are difficult to cope with. Do you think something has happened to trigger how you are feeling?

It may help to write down when you are feeling anxious, there may be some pattern you are not fully aware of. Your psychologist could help you understand what is happening.

It may also be beneficial to write down any hassles or issues in a notebook after dinner, getting all possible negative thoughts out of your mind long before you go to bed.

You might also like to write down three things you are thankful for each day and think about those as you go to bed.

Some of the side effects of medication can be disappointing! It may be a case of deciding what is more important, sleep and less anxiety or putting on a little weight? A hard decision I know!

Hope you find some answers.

Cheers from Dools

[White_Rose]

Dear Kate

Welcome to the forum. Good to have you here.

I thinks Dools has covered most of the ground with you so I will try not to say the same things. I do however want to reiterate her comments about medication. It really is unfortunate that some meds can make you sleepy and/or put on weight. Speaking as someone who has recently lost a great deal of weight, finally, I can understand how frustrating it can be to keep your weight under control and still take meds.

I wonder if a different medication may help. How often do you see your GP? I presume he/she must be prescribing your various meds as psychologists cannot do this. Can you see your GP and discuss the weight vs sleep question. There may be something else you can take. I think it is important to get proper sleep but the thought you may be putting on more weight may reduce your sleep time. What a difficulty.

May I ask about your sleep disorder? I have sleep apnoea and was told by my doctor I may be able to stop using my CPAP machine if I lost 30 kg. What an incentive.

There are all sorts of reasons for becoming more anxious. I find the weather can do this. I am not a fan of hot weather and find it quite debilitating. So that drags in all the tasks I should be doing but cannot find the energy to do. Followed by losing sleep because I tell myself to get on with it. I expect you could write the script yourself. I think it's really good you can talk to your psychologist about all this background stuff. It's not until we start talking that we realise what a huge problem we have.

I like Dools suggestion about writing down how you feel when you have an anxiety attack or feel something is not quite right. Also her suggestion about three things you are thankful for. We do tend to let the good things slip by and concentrate on what is not working well. I am equally as guilty about this. Going to bed in a more cheerful frame of mind may be very helpful.

Going for a walk before bed seems to help some to sleep better and certainly helps with keeping fit. I'm not much of a walker so I do not know if this would help. Perhaps it is worth a try. Hopefully we have been of some help.

Mary

[K1489]

Dear Dools and Mary,

Firtsly, I would like to thank you both for taking time to read my post and for your very helpful advise. The past few months, I think I was in denial that I have anxiety problems. I was thinking that maybe I was just going through a phase but now that it’s affecting my health I seek help and was able to find beyond blue’s page.

I was raised and grew up overseas, I lived a very challenging life. Before when I was younger, everything I face a big problem or issue I always have my family and friends support. Now living far away from ‘home’, I find it harder to cope when I face bigger challenges. There are some things that triggered my anxiety and insomia which started last year, every so often I’ll have better weeks/months. It comes and goes, I think Doods your right, there must be something that trigger the way I feel which lead to anxiety and later cause insomia. I will start writing tonight, I’ve prep my pen and notebook beside my bed side table. I have my second appointment with psych and GP appointment on mid Feb, which I am looking forward to.

Mary, I am hoping they could recommend something helpful as I think gaining weight adds to my stress too as it bringing my self esteem down. I think there’s some underlying stress/issue that I have buried all these years and I am hoping that the psych could help me manage my anxiety and cure my insomia.

Thank you both so much, I really appreciate your time.

Kate

[Doolhof]

Hi Kate,

It can be hard to be away from family and friends, an environment we are used to and then try to look after yourself in a different place.

It can also be hard to acknowledge you have a problem or an issue, so congratulations to you for accepting there is something wrong and you need help.

Please know you are welcome to share here as often as you like.

Hopefully you will be able to recognise what has been triggering you. Sometimes we may never know. Finding ways to minimise the stress and anxiety you feel helps as well.

I have had huge issues entering the employment agency office. It causes me to have panic attacks. I have realised I am relating back to experiences years ago with a nasty boss and Work Cover. I need to remind myself this is a different situation. I now have a worker who is trying to help me, so I need to accept that.

When I am stressed I binge eat and I know that is not at all good for me and puts on weight. Have a chat to a Dr about this and maybe the pharmacist at the chemist as well. They may have some ideas for you.

There is a thread here called "Sleep" which may have some ideas for you. It is quite long though so may take a bit of reading to find solutions.

Reading at night helps me to sleep as well.

Cheers again from Dools