Waking up super early and super anxious

[Nervybella]

Hi all

sorry if this is already a thread but I couldn’t quite find what I was looking for.

background: I started a new job about four weeks ago. It’s a bit overwhelming and I’m quite anxious as is.
then for the past two, maybe three weeks I have been waking up at around 4am every single morning with a racing heart, sweats, tight anxious stomach. It’s exhausting. I then find it hard to go back to sleep and I find it puts me in a bad mood to start the day

im also finding now that I dread going to bed because I know this is how I’m going to wake up

has Anyone else experienced this? What did you do to help it? I currently take herbal sleeping tablets but falling asleep isn’t my problem

-Bella

[Amanda2000]

Hi Bella,

Yes I'm with you! My trigger is both work and family. Just wish I could escape from the entire world.

I also dread going to bed, knowing that tomorrow will not be any better than today.

What helps me to get up and face a new day is to think of something small that I can look forward to. Chocolate is my anti-depressant. I look forward to eating my coco-cereal for breakfast so that gives me some temporary comfort. Then I have a daily ritual of eating chocolate snacks for morning-tea and afternoon-tea. I know it's not exactly healthy eating but it's the only "happy thought" I can manage at the moment. I enjoy watching tv but lately I have not been able to concentrate so end up feeling frustrated that I'm only seeing images without taking in the story-line.

Hope this can make you feel a little better today. Take care.

[Sophie_M]

Hi Nervybella,

We are really sorry to hear that you’re struggling with sleep, especially when making the adjustment to a new job. It’s really great that you’ve been able to share here, it’s a really good space to share with and hear from our community, many of whom face similar challenges.

We wonder if you’ve found any advice on helping you to achieve a restful state? Sometimes it can be helpful to value rest, in lieu of deep sleep. There are lots of areas on our forums which discuss methods of resting and distracting your mind from racing thoughts, such as listening to audio books or sleepscapes.

There are lots of places you can go to get great information on sleep including our website, maybe you could check out this link?
When does poor sleep become insomnia?

It’s important to be kind to yourself, and to ask for help from your GP, or from our kind counsellors at our support service (1300 22 4636) if you feel like you need it. 

Kind regards, 

Sophie M

[Stefan164]

Hey Nervybella,

Congrats on the new job! And sorry to hear about your troubles sleeping.

I have at times in the past woken up at similar times in a panicked state and getting back to sleep can be pretty difficult. Some things that have helped me are getting out of bed to grab a drink of water and wash my face before returning to bed. Or I have a clock radio which I will turn on because I find that listening to people talking on the radio gives me something else to focus on. Audio books are also a good idea.

Hope some of this helps and all the best

[Nervybella]

Hi everyone

Thanks For the replies… it’s comforting knowing I am not the only one experiencing this

I listen to sleep stories via the calm app every night which is very good but find it doesn’t help me when I wake in the early hours with this terrible anxious feeling

maybe getting out of bed to grab water or something to break the thought cycle might be helpful! I’ll try that out next time

Amanda, I think if chocolate helps you get through the day then you need to do it! I used to be the same and swapped a block of Cadbury for a good quality dark chocolate so I felt less guilty about the “healthy” side of things. In saying that, don’t be too hard on yourself either!

[Alannah57]

I have something I used a few times when I was feeling anxious, or upset. Just breathing in and out deeply until all the uncomfortable feelings dissipated - I had to do it for an hour each time, but it worked even for a few hours to release that anxiety. I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing anxiety how you are