Anxious about sleeping

[Kriddy24]

Hi

This is my first time here so please bear with me

Ive only just recently in the past 2 weeks starting having anxiety attacks due to beginning a keto diet becoming dehydrated,then getting a head cold causing more dehydration and verdigo! Which now has trigger anxiety attacks!I've taken a week of work to work on myself which is helping as I start a new job on Monday ( which actually excited for) My problem is that I can talk myself throught these period of anxiety and generally get on with things but I'm worrying about going to sleep each night which is then causing me not to sleep then giving me worse anxiety the next day! My sleeping pattern this week has been as follows Sunday now sleep at all ( as I was anxious about having to go to work) then I just rang up and took the last week off, Monday 40 mins sleep, Tuesday 5 hrs sleep, Wednesday 8 hrs sleep woke up feeling amazing and had a great day but then began worrying that I might not sleep again then couldn't fall asleep until 1:30 this morning and awke at 5:15am. I'm starting this new job on Monday and I'm worried I won't be able to sleep properly the night before 😭 I'm taking alot of herbal remedies that have been put together through a herbalist just for my situation and I've just started taking melatonin to help put me to sleep. I need advice on how to help with teating my anxiety about going to sleep! Please help ☺️

[99isthebest]

Hi Kriddy,

I experienced exactly what you went through for quite a long time I think it was about 3-4 months and it felt like I was getting maybe 2 hours of sleep a night. Insomnia from anxiety is no fun.

Truth is though looking back on it it was one of the most stressful periods of my life ever. My 6 year relationship was falling apart and I have a young son who was unfortunately stuck in the middle. When people stress sleep is always affected.

I read a book, I can’t remember the name so I will try to find it for you. It was awesome because I read accounts of people that had been through this to extremes. Such as people who had been through this for 10+ years and guess what! They all survived and are ok. There’s a lot of talk around how if you don’t get enough sleep you’re going to die prematurely etc. but the truth is there’s not a huge amount of evidence to back this up. The book also described a man who put it to the test: how long could he stay awake for. I believe he lasted 11 days before he couldn’t resist anymore. He then slept for 15 hours woke up and his normal sleep resumed and he was fine.

I guess the thing I’m getting at is you need to try and not worry about the lack of sleep because trust me eventually your body will give you the sleep. If you have a restless night try and go to work and act as if it were a normal day, work as hard as you can and try not to focus on the symptoms.

I know how hard it is because what I’ve just told you is the same thing everyone else will tell you especially people that haven’t gone through it. So you feel alone but you’re not! Basically you need to try and get to a point where you don’t care if you don’t get 8 hours sleep. Once you stop caring about how much sleep you get you’ll start to sleep again.

Im not sure if any of this is helpful. But hopefully it won’t feel so bad knowing heaps of people go through it.

[AuroralNebula]

Hey there Kriddy.

99isthebest there is kinda right in a way. lately I've had issues with the sleeping again, never really overly concerned me over the years as it came and went. Personally, I found that if I worried and thought about it too much, it would only cause me to be anxious about what is wrong, why its happening again now, and can it become an issue. While yes, it does influence my thoughts ect and is extremely frustrating, it'll only make you more anxious about it and make it harder to actually sleep.

I can offer a suggestion though if you'd like to hear it.
When it is becoming far too much and driving me so crazy because of extremely long periods of idle time I have with nothing to do and with being bored in the mix I take a nice long walk in the afternoon, just before dinner or the likes.
Generally I'll go to the furthest shops from me in my local area (within reason ofcourse), just get some things and maybe a treat for the way back, carrying it that distance aswell as the two long walks will be tiring that would make me want to just sit and relax. Have a nice dinner then just watch something calm.

Personally, I've found "mud larking or metal detecting" videos from youtube serve this purpose well for multiple reasons.
typically, they're either in nature with all its glorious sounds ect or in/near water, mostly gentle streams ect.
They tend to be soft spoken people with really calm tone in voice.
it's kinda boring and slow, but just interesting enough for it to hold your attention.

eventually, I just find myself beginning to nod off, bearing in mind though, the point is try not to fight it, just concentrate enough on the video to drown out the loud silence and my noisy thoughts.
And ofcourse you can put your own twist onto it, exercise or just really tired from work or for some of my cases, the fact that I've been awake 3+days at a time. Maybe take a tea or a herbal tea with you, whatever you like that is calming to you.

I've always struggled with my sleeping, even during the good periods, I'm an extremely light sleeper waking to even the sound of the beams supporting the roof shifting waking me. Mostly remember every movement I make during each night after I wake, even half the time when I do move, it wakes me up. Naturally, I cannot snore! one thing that will wake every single time.

I thought maybe you'd like an idea. I understand worrying about sleeping to the point of being anxious about it but hopefully, this might help you in some way.

[Kriddy24]

Thank you for your advice and support 99isthebest I really do appreciate it,it's reassuring to know I'm not alone and that this will pass! also I'd love to read the book you were talking about if you do remember the name ☺️

[Kriddy24]

Thank you so much for your reply! I will definitely take your advice on board and check out those YouTube clip if needed! it's so reassuring to know I'm not the only one going through this and that it will pass in time! cheers 👍

[Midean]

If it helps, ASMR videos help me too.

I still struggle to sleep due to anxiety, however i have found that watching massage videos or listening to storm sounds helps a lot, like Aurora said, these videos have a calming effect and can assist in drifting off.

I also recently read about a navy seal trick that worked while those guys were deployed, and getting any sleep at all was important on the job.

They would strip down to their underwear and stand out in the cold for 5 minutes, then get straight into their rucksack and get all cosy. They say it helps you to feel much more relaxed when you finally bed down after the cold.

[44Max44]

Whenever I'm feeling anxious about going to sleep, I usually put on something to listen to just to get my mind off of things.

- Put on a 'sleep sounds' track from YouTube or download an app to make your own sleep track. Usually, something like rain, waves, rainforest sounds, is what I put on. I find that when I have these on, I'm focusing more on the sounds I'm hearing rather than my thoughts. ASMR videos like some others have already suggested could also work well, but for the full effect of ASMR you need to be wearing headphones/earphones which usually aren't the best to sleep in.

- Put an audiobook on. I usually listen to books that have something to do with Anxiety so not only am I learning new things and strategies for my anxiety, but it's distracting me from my thoughts at the same time. The one I'm listening to now is 'The Power of Now' and some of the things he says in that book will just click in your mind and you'll feel a sense of relief, going "wow... I never thought of it that way but he's right!"

- Livestreams. Pretty much for the same reasons as the soundtracks, just something to keep your mind focused on while you're trying to get to sleep.

- Natural sleep aids. There's so many of these out there, but the ones I use are Valerian Root extract and Melatonin. I'm honestly not too sure if they actually help me sleep or it's just placebo, but I still take them nonetheless.


A few years ago I literally could not get to sleep without my computer being on and playing some sort of video. I spent probably a good year getting to sleep to something playing on my computer because the thought of being alone with my thoughts for several hours trying to get to sleep was not a pleasant one.
Now, I can get to sleep without anything playing, but when I'm feeling particularly anxious I always chuck on an audiobook or Livestream and listen to it for half an hour or until I fall asleep.

I hope any of this helps

[99isthebest]

Hi Kriddy I’m pretty sure the book I read was called say goodnight to insomnia. I can’t be 100% though as I had it on my computer and it seems to have gone missing.

But the name and description of what’s in the book rings a bell.

hope things are getting better, and if not remember eventually they will!