Sleep anxiety

[Cookie60]

Hi am new to this , I am struggling with anxiety bar the moment and can’t sleep more than a few hours a night , i drop off to sleep ok but way 2 hours later in a panic and then am so wound up i struggle to get back to sleep , if I take circadin (melatonin ) I feel horrible the next day like wired , I have tried precription medication but I wake during the night and it feels like I have stopped breathing , now I am afraid I think to sleep

[Ggrand]

Hello Cookie60..

I am sorry you’re struggling with sleep anxiety...

I had a time a couple of years back, when I didn’t want to go to sleep due to nightmares, and waking up in the midst of a panic attack..which is so scary....I used to fight going to sleep and at times went a couple of days without sleep because I was to scared to.....When I did sleep I would often wake up a few times through the night already in a panic attack.... I had to get up and try to ground myself...Slow deep breathing is needed to try to get out of the panic attack as well as finding things to ground you...

Speaking to my Dr..She told me I had to try to calm my chatty mind and negative thoughts before I went to sleep...

I started listening to guided meditation when I first got into bed. I would listen to the voice on the vid from YouTube, put my thoughts into what the voice said..it helped sometimes other times not...sometimes I got bored listening..

Now I listen to You Tube sleep stories...Nice gentle voice, beautiful stories, and mostly I fall asleep before the story ends...and stay asleep...I think because by listening to the story..my mind was calm when I fell asleep....maybe you would like try them...

We have a thread on the forums the title is “sleep”..there are so many good helpful suggestions, and your very welcome to join in the conversation their..also if you google sleep hygiene it may also help you...

Its best to stay away from caffeine for at least 3 hours before sleeping.....Chamomile tea is great to calm us...

Talk here anytime you feel up to it...

Sending you my care, and kind thoughts..

Grandy..

[CyP]

Hi Cookie, welcome to the online forum. Just wanted to acknowledge that you’ve come to a safe place to share your experience. I’m very sorry to hear that your sleep had been disrupted significantly by anxiety. It’s unpleasant when the strategy (sleep in this case) that is suppose to help isn’t.

I understand no one’s experience is the same, but I‘d like to leave a few ideas here that helped me when I woke up to scrambling limbs...

Gentle, steady breathing. Try stay with your breath, keep breathing normal, slow, and gentle.

A good pace would be something like around 15 secs +/- per breath cycle... Counting 1-2-3-4 inhale, 1-2-3-4 hold, 1-2-3-4 exhale gentle, 1-2-3-4 hold, then repeat gentle inhale 1-2-3-4...

It’s especially important to STAY with your breath even when you notice anxiety is there, or is coming back.

Even if you feel the need to move or get up and walk it off, try keep your movement slow, and continue to stay with your breath. Keeping your breathing and movement slow may help regulate your brain from the bottom up.

There are some additional tips you can try to help create downtime too https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/sleep-hygiene

I’m also wondering if you’ve spoken to your GP about your sleep and anxiety? Many GPs offer Telehealth so maybe get a phone consultation to get an opinion?

You’re always welcome back here to talk about your experience.

Sending warm remote wishes ...

[Mattw]

I had the same thing waking up in the middle of the night gasping for breathe, ended up at the sleep apnea clinic and it ended up i had sleep apnea i stopped breathing 80 times an hour or night, cant remember which one but i was 3x over the highest level apnea score, i got a cpap machine now for the last 5 mths and havent woken up gasping for breathe since......BUT the waking up in the morning in a panic and heart palpitation still occur, usually occurs after a day suffering from health anxiety.

Try and get a refferal for a sleep apnea clinic from ur doctor asap