Insomnia giving me anxiety

[Sleeplessinseattle]

I am nearly at the end of 1 weeks much anticipated holiday. I have hardly slept at all which has kicked in anxiety ( usually no trouble sleeping ) this is making me feel really crappy exhausted.. Hate taking sleeping tabs did take one last nite which didnt help that much.. I feel that I have ruined not only my holiday but my whole families as well with all of this also I'm feeling extremely tired not relaxed & dizzy . Any useful tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated

[formidible]

Reading your post I'm not sure of the reasons for why you haven't slept. However it could be that there are a lot of things you are unhappy with in your life right now. Also maybe what you really need is some time by yourself. I don't think you've let anyone down. Do your family know about the sleep issue? They should be offering you support. I would suggest that when you get home you go and talk your GP first and explain your symptoms. Apart from medication there may be somewhere he can refer you to. Personally I have no issues with taking sleep medication as sometimes it can be a big help in the short term, since there is nothing worse than going without sleep, so you have my total sympathy. Please keep posting here and I hope you will get the help that you need soon.

[jeccles]

I can sympathize with you. I never seem to sleep well on holidays which then kicks in anxiety. I went to see my GP last time after having to come home early (we were only in this country in a caravan) and he gave me diazapam to help me get some sleep. This seemed to work well for me and broke my routine of not sleeping. I am at the moment struggling again and won't hesitate to go back to my GP for help.

[Blorengia]

I'm another one who used to sleep well (at least a solid 7 hours each night) before anxiety kicked in earlier this year. Gradually my sleep became disrupted and I was getting off to sleep but then waking at 3 or 4 am unable to get back off again. I was having counselling for anxiety but no medication - Doc A wanted me to try getting through it without medication. I really felt that getting back to a proper sleep routine would help me no end, I tried various over the counter sleeping tablets but they didn't help me...

So I went to another doc in the practice. Doc B listened to what I said and instead of going down the "no medication" road she explained that there were various things that could be tried that might help. After discussion we agreed that I could try Amitriptyline (10mg) tablets - up to 3 tablets taken an hour before bed. First three or four nights I took 1 tablet... no improvement. Next night I took 2 tablets... and slept from 11.30pm to 5am. The next night about the same. The next night it was 11.30pm to 6am... Within a couple of weeks my sleep pattern was re-established.

I kept on the 2 a night regime for about a month then gradually brought myself off them completely by reducing by half a tablet each week.

I'm pleased to say that my sleep pattern is still good (11.30pm - 7am every night) and although the (health related) anxiety is still around it's nowhere near as bad as it was earlier this year. I can cope with it as long as I get my sleep!

[formidible in reply to Blorengia]

Good to know that that medication has helped you.

[Mishkacat]

Hi, I know what that feels like.Mmm sleep is a tough one.I recently went on a course with Combat Stress.I don't think any of us slept solid all week.It's a mix of anxiety, brought on by bad thoughts, which in turn pump the body with adrenaline and give the body a lot of hassle, i.e muscle tightness, thumping heart, etc etc.I am lucky that I have a job with long shifts, so I'm very tired at end.That means I can sleep through sheer fatigue. Everybody has a time that their body feels relaxed and ready to sleep.Mine is 2-3 am.I can therefore finish work at midnight for example and just do stuff and my mind settles.When I sleep, its a proper refreshing sleep and I wake up naturally. In my opinion I hate forcing my mind and body to sleep, but a times we have to. I used zolpidem sometimes, but I made me feel very groggy at times.It is good was very necessary.I have learnt about mindfulness on the course I did.I learnt alot about keeping the mind in the present time and how to not supress thoughts, but just put them in the right place.I just bought a book...so will let you know...Mindfulness is very highly rated at treatment now.It requires practice though.Its a long term treatment, rather than a short term fix.Take care Chris