More sleep anxiety!

[Andy999]

So for the past few months, since sometime late last year I’ve been getting some crappy sleep anxiety, I would get the this occasionally a couple years back, mainly when I had to be up early, which wasn’t often back then, but Yeeh I felt so pressured to get to sleep early enough to get a good nights sleep, this caused a lot of anxiety and would cause me too not fall asleep for a while and if I did it was pretty disrupted, anyway this held me back from getting a full time job for many years. But that was a while ago since then I did get a job in construction and funny enough I snapped into a good sleep cycle pretty quick, I’d aim to get into bed by 8:30 almost every night and I’d usually be out cold by 9-9:30 and because I’m up at 5am. Was all going smooth for a few years, little hiccups along the way but good.

Since this annoying habit has returned it’s really been putting a strain on me, I’ve since progressed at work and now am a leading hand at work and am In the process of starting my own business, I know I’m capable of all this but my sleep issues are holding me back a bit mentally, I find myself nervous about it every night sub consciously “will I get to sleep quick tonight” seems to be the daily question leading into bed time, some nights I’m sleeping 4-5 hours maybe after tossing and turning for ages, flicking the Tv on and off, then I’m off to and long day of physical labour just for the same thing to happen again the next night, look I know I’ll sleep, it will happen and I generally do catchup a bit of my day off, but yeh it just sucks, I wanna go back to laying in bed and just falling asleep naturally without Tryna force it, I’ve been told to read a book before bed, lay in bed for 20 mins then if you can’t sleep jump out read again in another room and so on, but that’s just not me l, my whole adult and teenage life is was falling asleep to the TV, watching something and dozing off before I could think about it, I guess I can still do that now but sometimes it hits 12 and I havnt dozed off yet and the anxiety just fires up inside and I’m even more awake, I just know how important sleep is for the mind and body, I’m just not sure where to go from here, sorry for rambling on

[Sophia16]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for being so open here. I can see that you are struggling. It is so difficult.

If I'm being honest, I am struggling with that right now. I sleep at 3 am and wake up at 11 because it is my holiday but when uni restarts I get anxious before going to bed. I understand how you feel.

For me personally, I watch some Netflix before going to bed. I don't look at the time. When I feel tired, I just doze off.

Sometimes I call my friend for hours, and I eventually get tired.

Find things that use up a lot of energy. E.g. exercising before bed, doing 50 pushups. Or even relaxing the mind, E.g. mediation, thinking of words that don't relate to each other.

Everyone is different. A habit takes 3 weeks to develop. Nothing will work straight away.

Stay safe and I am always here to chat.

[Gambit87]

Hi Andy!

Sleep anxiety is brutal! I used to get this alot and I thought the sames things you do when it was time for bed (will I get enough sleep etc)

I can barely sleep longer than 6 hours (always the way with me), but I used to wake up 5/6 times a night and would generally used to feel heavy and lethargic through out the day and my mind would amp up before bed with the usual thoughts.

For me, Ive discovered that it was my anxiety in general that was messing with my sleep not anxiety about sleep (if that makes sense) Once I figured out my anxiety, my sleep patterns have got alot better.

Some things I have found helpful
- If you have a clock in your room - don't look at it, turn it around so you cant see it.
- Play some music (I find the 'chill' section on spotify good).
- making sure you room is cool/comfortable
- Dont think about it (Easier said than done I know)
- Acknowledge it. If you wake up after a bad nights sleep - tell yourself 'I had a bad night sleep, thats OK! I forgive myself and ill try again tonight'
- relaxation - When youre wound up due to life things, it makes things like sleep a whole lot harder.
- Exercise! Burn off that anxious energy.

I think the biggest thing that has help me is seeing a psychologist. pin pointing where/what was making me anxious and learning how to get past it has helped me switch off at night. I still only get 6 hours but there are days/weeks where I sleep straight through, some nights I may only wake up once!

here for you!

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

Please read the following thread on sleep.

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/a-good-nights-deep-sleep---slee...

TonyWK

[Andy999]

Hey guys thanks heaps for replying, nice to know I’m not alone in this haha sorry that it’s at your expense.

so Ofcourse I slept well over the weekend, was no pressure to fall asleep it just happened. I am starting to be kinda to myself about it all, I’m trying to be a bit more accepting of what might be a crappy sleep. It’s currently 11:30 now, at 11 I tried to fall asleep, turned the TV off, did some meditation just before but Yeeh idk couldn’t really shut off, tbh I don’t even feel sleepy, another thing interrupting me from falling asleep was my throat feeling tight and blocked up like I need to clear it, possible from the anxiety ? Who knows but yeh that wasn’t much help, I’ve decided to just put the Tv back on and lay down and watch it and well if I fall asleep I will, if not whatever, hard to convince myself this is okay and I’m not a failure but I’ll try.

But yeh right now I’m frustrated, disappointed, very restless and just drained from all this.

I’ll keep trying, thanks again for your reply’s

[Sophia16]

You are not a failure. You are just struggling to fall asleep. You are human and it is not your fault. Sometimes our brains have too much energy in them before going to bed.

[Banksy92]

Hey Andy999

Would you reconsider the reading a book tactic? I added this into my routine and it helped tremendously.

I think you need to find a way to regulate your nervous system in order to reduce the anxiety preventing you from sleeping. You've clearly got a lot on your plate, so it's so important you're well rested and able to enjoy your evenings.

Have you tried guided sleep meditations? These can be really effective. They use tools such as breathing exercises, progressive muscle relation and body scans to bring your focus away from thoughts and external things and into the present moment to ground and soothe you. Very helpful at reducing anxiety.

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3anDh-jxw4

Magnesium can also be a really helpful sleep aid, not sure if you have tried this?