# Nighttime Anxiety/Insomnia. HELP!



## h8ibs

Hi everyone,Here's my story:I have struggled with anxiety/panic off and on for the past several years. For the past year and a half, I have been doing fine. (no panic/anxiety.) Well, about a month ago I had to wake up early (4:30 am) for an early presentation I had to give for my job. When I went to bed that night, I was anxious that I had to wake up early and was worried that I wouldn't get enough sleep for my presentation. The anxiety continued to build throughout the night and barely slept. I gave the presentation anyway and it went OK. Should be the end of story, right? Wrong. Ever since then, every night when I go to bed I get very anxious about falling asleep. Even when I do not have to get up early the next day for anything. I'll lie there, will just be nodding off when WHAM, I wake right up with heart pounding and feeling very anxious. I'll try to fall asleep again, and again, right when I start to doze off, I wake right up feeling anxious again. Then the anxiety just keeps up all night and I end up not falling asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. Sometimes even later. It's almost like I'm afraid to fall asleep or something, wich is illogical, and doesn't make sense to me.This has been going on now for one month. I went to my regular family doctor today. He gave me samples of Lunesta (one week's worth) to help with the sleep and also said that if I feel like I need something on-going for anxiety, to take Lexapro (which he gave me a month's supply of to start.) I'm very reluctant to take ANYTHING, so I don't know what to think about this. The problem is that family medicine doctors don't take the time to really understand everything that's going on. All he heard from me was "blah blah I can't sleep and blah blah blah feeling anxious." How do I know? I wasn't even able to finish my story before he gave me these samples and sent me on my way.Anyone have any advice for me? What should I do? Take the pills? Not? See a different type of doctor other than a family medicine doctor? If so, what type of doctor? Therapist? Or? I just don't know. Please help!Thanks for listening.....I'm afraid that the pills he gave me might not even be the right choi


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## sickofsick

I have anxiety and panic probs along with the insomnia. The doc put me on paxil cr for ongoing anxiety and it pretty much gave me my life back. Still have insomnia though. For me I think its the menopause thing not anxiety so not sure if an anti D will help with that part. He did give me something to help me sleep but I only take one maybe once every few weeks.


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## Guest

Oh god bless - did this post ring a bell with me. Insomnia is a totally horrendous thing and the cruel thing about it - is of course - the more you think "god I'm not going to sleep" of course, the worst it gets - so before long - its a self-fulfilling prophesy. It seems to be so easy to spiral into that state of mind but without scaring you - thats how my depression started. I think waking early - say 3.00am or 4.00am is a classic sign of depression and I think probably your family doctor has given you something now to try and nip this in the bud - which it may well do - once you get into a healthy sleep pattern again - these feelings of anxiety might well disappear.I'd be inclined to take whatever he/she has prescribed for the insomnia (I'm sure I've heard one of our Mod Cherrie talking about what you are taking - forgive me, I'm a Brit so these names aren't right familiar) - give yourself a week or so to see if you can sleep healthily - and hopefully then you might not have to take anything else - if you find yourself (as I did) starting to dread bedtimes from about 9.30pm onwards and the medication doesn't help - I'd go back to the doctors and maybe also try the anti-d.One thing to bear in mind here is that anti-d medication may take as long as 6/8 weeks to work - so you'd have to be patient there.Obviously its important that your family doctor takes you seriously - and perhaps you might need to see somebody else within the practise. I'm very lucky and have a good working relationship with one particular GP who has overseen my treatment (except when I had to be hospitalised 2 years' ago).The prognosis is really good - I'm sorry you have hit a rough patch. In the meantime - try all the usuals - hot bath, warm drink etc and avoid stimulation (like going on here!!!) before bedtime.Do keep in touch - you are more than welcome to PM me if I can be of further assistance.Sue (Manchester, UK)


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## h8ibs

Sue -Thanks so much for your reply. I think I will take the anti-anxiety meds. I took the sleeping pill last night. It worked, but today I feel completely groggy, so maybe I need to either cut the pill in half or see if it's available in a lesser strength. I can't make it back to my doctor for at least one week due to my work schedule, so I'll have to hang in there and hope all goes well. Thanks again for your kind words.


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## Guest

My absolute pleasure - I empathise so much with what you are experiencing. Yeah, I'd be inclined to go back to the docs to talk about the strength - you probably don't want to go "experimenting" on your own - I think the important thing is first break this horrible cycle of lack of sleep.Good luck - stay in touch won't you.Sue xx


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## 23392

OMG this sounds so much like me at points in time:"I'll lie there, will just be nodding off when WHAM, I wake right up with heart pounding and feeling very anxious. I'll try to fall asleep again, and again, right when I start to doze off, I wake right up feeling anxious again. ..It's almost like I'm afraid to fall asleep or something, wich is illogical, and doesn't make sense to me."[still trying to figure out the new bboard system, sorry. ]That feeling of, 'what, is my body afraid to sleep or something???' was a real part of things. Also the wakeups with heart pounding. I did 2 things to get rid of this: 1. I saw an integrative/alternative doctor, who diagnosed me with a vitamin B deficiency. It wasn't caught by blood tests but *was* caught using good old WHO [world health organization] diagnostic skills. Dunno where you are, but I always heard in med school that British doctors are superb diagnosticians; we Yanks rely far too much on lab tests...] I started taking a B-supplement, and that and a lot of other symptoms went away.But what knocked it in the head immediately as far as the heart pounding, etc. was CBT--cognitive behaviourl therapy.After over a year of being clear, a variation came back--I wake and dunno why, no panic, no pounding heart. This seems to be being addressed with EMDR, plus using some of the techniques I picked up in CBT. I'm on *no* medications--only a melatonin supplement before i go to bed. Interestingly, my alternative guy says if melatonin before bedtime doesn't seem to work, some people find a good effect by taking it at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, when it's released.


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## overitnow

I, too, went through a period of that, getting up most nights to play on the computer until I was tired enough to go back to bed. Eventually, it almost seemed to be an expectation that my brain set up for me. I cannot even say why it went away; but seeing a nutritionist is often a better first approach than talking to a doctor who is just listening for the first sign of a symptom he can medicate. I'm pretty convinced that most of us will right ourselves if we receive sufficient nutrients. (You know, the stuff that never makes it into our food, anymore.)Mark


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## Guest

Yeah but if there is anxiety as well - do you think nutrients would address that? I dunno - I'm very willing to be educated. I must say, in defence of my GP - he was incredibly proactive and has always listened to me - yes I'm "medicated" but not unduly so, I know others have not been so well served.Sue


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## h8ibs

Thanks everybody who replied. Angry Optimist, I think I'll start taking B supplements. It's something I heard before, you've reminded me. Thank you. Sue, you're right about the anxiety. For me, that's the biggest thing. In fact, my body feels like a ball of energy all the time because of it. (Always a feeling of nervousness.) If I can get the anxiety under control, everything else should fall into place. So for now, I keep taking the anti-anxiety meds and wait a few weeks and see how it does for me.Thanks again everyone for your replies.


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## 23392

As far as:"Yeah but if there is anxiety as well - do you think nutrients would address that? I dunno - I'm very willing to be educated. "Go have a look-see at all the stuff B-vitamin shortage can cause! Anxiety and sleep disturbances are definitely a couple of 'em!And i was lucky enough to *never* be an anxious person. Bad-tempered, yes; ;-) anxious, never! Yet it certainly brought it on in me--something that felt very 'alien' and i had no idea why my body was doing it!Yep, Mark [I think it was who said], our food is short on a number of things. Medical research shows that B vitamins and magnesium are 2 of the biggies [and i think magnesium contributes to sleep, too.]. Basically the soil is depleted of these things. They really need to re-do RDAs--what's really IN food has changed drastically since the last time those were figured--at a time when food/soil was less depleted! [Somewhere i have the article on this]Go easy on the B supplements. We can only absorb about 100 of BALANCED [you definitely want *balanced* B-complex] per dose [per my doc per the Mayo clinic], so don't waste money on the 150. And for heaven's sake never take the sublingual! Stuff is too strong, too fast, a lot of it! You might want to start with 1, a B-50 or at most a B-100, and only progress to twice a day--at least 2 hours apart, i've found, or i'm 'too' energized for a bit--if it doesn't seem to work.My doc is a holistic/alternative/integrative guy--but who is still a stickler for science & research. Good luck, hope it helps!


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## Guest

Thanks for this - yeah, I'm sure you are (both) right and I'm sure that certain aspects of mental illness like anxiety could be addressed through diet - I think my only real concern is that perhaps it might be "too little, too late" - often folk with anxiety-based depression (like myself) are frankly just too ill to be proactive with their diet and if, as I was, you are suicidal - is modifying the diet really going to help with horrendous feelings of low self-esteem and crippling anxiety? I dunno. I think, as with "talking therapies", dietary modification would certainly have a role to play, certainly further down the line in the treatment of mental illness but at t'other end of the spectrum - I think you are going to have to address these with anti-depressant medication - well, certainly from my personal experience.I certainly think my diet needs an overhaul - so I welcome your input.Sue


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## overitnow

I really don't know if there is any difference between taking a bunch of ground up griffonia seeds and/or St. John's wort, rather than the pharmaceutical serotonin modifiers. Maybe the side effects are the same, maybe not. I do know that they help some people with depression and it "feels" better to me. Same story with herbs for sleep. (And if I do find myself looking over the bridge as a reasonable alternative to my mental state, which I have before, then hand me the Paxil, or something! I'm not prepared to talk my way out of that at this point.) Tinkering with diet alone is not going to make a spit of difference, unless you start buying only organic , and you would still not know how much of any nutrient is left. In Canada, we get so much organic produce from California and now Mexico, that the consumer has no idea of what happens to that in shipping, storage, etc. (My local supermarket has local, BC organic apples in the cello bag on special, this week. When were those grown and how many vitamins could possible be left in them? How would you even go about finding out?) And if you don't eat organically--"it's too expensive," "I read where it is all a rip-off," "it's just anti-corporate left wing politics"--then keep in mind my favourite example, that the common grocery store potato has been delisted as a source of any nutrients, other than starch. (It really doesn't matter if you peel them or not.) The thing is we have been living on less and less nutrients from our foods for so long that our bodies must be depleted. It would certainly help explain the current epidemic of obesity, if it were just a case of eating more in order to get more nutrients. As to whether that lack is contributing to higher health costs, that might be an interesting study. I have certainly gone on (and on) about how much better I have felt since doing regular and high-absorption supplementation. Some portion of that has contributed to my own weight loss and some fairly large portion of that has been mental. Mark


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## Guest

I worry about St Johns Wort in particular - I think cos it sounds "herby" rather than "tablety" - folk assume that its less potent and its side-effects less severe - NOT the case - well certainly not in my experience. I was initially prescribed St Johns for depression - I had what I can only describe as seizures - I'm not sure if they were "medical" seizures - I do know I appeared to lose consciousness (god my spelling). I think St Johns may have a place in the treatment of depression but I would like to point out to anyone who might think of trying it - FOR GOD'S SAKE DO NOT ON ANY ACCOUNT MIX WITH PRESCRIBED SSRI'S or anything of that ilk. Allow whatever prescription medications to leave your system for a good long period of time (and you'd be well advised to work with your doctor) before trying St Johns.Sorry - off on a tangent there abit - back to H8IBS - I do hope you get some relief from the demon of insomnia - do let us know how you go on won't you.Sue


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## pukka

h8ibs said:


> Hi everyone,Here's my story:I have struggled with anxiety/panic off and on for the past several years. For the past year and a half, I have been doing fine. (no panic/anxiety.) Well, about a month ago I had to wake up early (4:30 am) for an early presentation I had to give for my job. When I went to bed that night, I was anxious that I had to wake up early and was worried that I wouldn't get enough sleep for my presentation. The anxiety continued to build throughout the night and barely slept. I gave the presentation anyway and it went OK. Should be the end of story, right? Wrong. Ever since then, every night when I go to bed I get very anxious about falling asleep. Even when I do not have to get up early the next day for anything. I'll lie there, will just be nodding off when WHAM, I wake right up with heart pounding and feeling very anxious. I'll try to fall asleep again, and again, right when I start to doze off, I wake right up feeling anxious again. Then the anxiety just keeps up all night and I end up not falling asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. Sometimes even later. It's almost like I'm afraid to fall asleep or something, wich is illogical, and doesn't make sense to me.This has been going on now for one month. I went to my regular family doctor today. He gave me samples of Lunesta (one week's worth) to help with the sleep and also said that if I feel like I need something on-going for anxiety, to take Lexapro (which he gave me a month's supply of to start.) I'm very reluctant to take ANYTHING, so I don't know what to think about this. The problem is that family medicine doctors don't take the time to really understand everything that's going on. All he heard from me was "blah blah I can't sleep and blah blah blah feeling anxious." How do I know? I wasn't even able to finish my story before he gave me these samples and sent me on my way.Anyone have any advice for me? What should I do? Take the pills? Not? See a different type of doctor other than a family medicine doctor? If so, what type of doctor? Therapist? Or? I just don't know. Please help!Thanks for listening.....I'm afraid that the pills he gave me might not even be the right choi


This post could of read as my own!!! I am considering going on something for anxiety...I wont take anti-D. I wish there were another solution, but sometimes when things are bad, you have to take meds for a period of time. I hate to take meds, so I understand how you feel. It's OK to let go and take meds.....its the control thing that gets us (anxious) in trouble>


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## M&M

Sometimes, a change in perspective can help with the medication aspect. Instead of viewing taking your prescription as "loosing" control, if you can view it as taking control back, it might be easier to do. Taking the medication is your choice, and if you feel better when you take it, then you are making the choice to feel better, and to be in control of how you feel. If the medication truly makes you feel better, then by taking it, you're controlling how you feel - rather than just continuing to let your body feel good if it wants to or bad if it wants to. If that makes sense.


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## Guest

Oh M&M - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU - by taking anti-depressants, my life is now back in control. I see them as nothing but a positive aspect of my life - you have got to be pragmatic about this - if medication addresses a chemical imbalance (and it does with me) - what on earth is wrong with addressing that?Sue


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## we'reoutoftoiletpaper

I've had problems like this forever. I am very easily stressed out and will sometimes just lay in bed with my heart racing, about what? Nothing of ANY relevance at all. One of the things that has helped me is doing yoga in the evening. I subscribe to a channel on youtube that offers short little classes for free. Try it. They're really short and they've really helped me in the past. I also take over-the-counter sleeping pills if i know i have a big day ahead of me, or have to be up particularly early. Here are the links to the videos.







Yoga's an awesome practice to get in the habit of. you can also try meditation. This can be hard but I found this video very helpful. Just stare at the circle in the middle of the elephant's forehead while practicing deep, soothing breath and relax. This video has put me to sleep.



Anxiety is an ongoing struggle and is so hard to deal with. You do NOT HAVE TO TAKE MEDICATION. I truly believe you can do it on your own, it's just harder, that's why people shell out big bucks for pills. And if you get to the end of the rope or feel like medication might be a good option for you, do NOT be ashamed to use it. It's all about what works for YOU. And also finding a solution that does not cause you any MORE anxiety than you already suffer. above all, treat yourself well. and good luck. everything will be okay.


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## WazRexxx

all drs seem to be that way


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