Scared of sleeping

[Bella92]

So recently when trying to fall asleep I get to the point where I'm controlling my breathing and then I start to hear my heart beat speed up, then it feels as though all the blood rushes from my hands, arms, legs and head! I have to sit up and cough to make sure my hearts still beating. This is really scaring me now. Does anyone have any advice on if and how I can stop this? Thankyou x

[Agora1]

Hi Bella92,   I  know we all talk about deep breathing and how it calms the

mind and body but in your case it might be better to use something else.

You say when trying to fall asleep you get to the point where you are

controlling your breathing.   I feel you are concentrating on it in a negative

way.  What I think might be happening is that in your anxious state, you may

be holding your breathe and that's why you are experiencing those scary

symptoms.  If you are into meditation or listening to a relaxation/imagery

CD, that might be better for  you.  Having someone else control your

relaxation.   I find myself holding my breathe at times which brings on

weird sensations.  Your heart beat and breathing are controlled by the

autonomic nervous system so you don't have to do anything but relax.

Once your mind is calm, your body will follow.  Hope you can try the tape

or CD.  You tube also has great tapes to relax or fall asleep by.

Good Luck.  Sleep well tonite   zzzzzzzzz

[Bella92 in reply to Agora1]

Thankyou! I will try that tonight, I ended up putting whale sounds on at 4 o'clock last night as I couldn't find anything else. So I managed to get a bit of sleep. Thankyou for replying I really appreciate it x

[Ptsdpeg]

I feel like that all the time I went to the docs had eggs chest x-rays blood work as well I  do have ibs  I  was dehydrated but all labs came back normal they kept asking me to talk to a therapist as when I  get stressed my heart rate and blood pressure goes way up... so basically it's ptsdpeg anyone  feel like that

[Kainan]

Hi Bella. I go through the same thing from time to time and I agree with what Agora1 said. A hypnosis audio and guided imagery session might do  the trick. Relaxing music or animal sounds(like you mentioned) might work to a certain extent, but what's more effective I think is if you someone with a very soothing voice on the other end speaking to you and guiding you through imagery.

An example would be to think of the most beautiful and wonderful place you would like to be in your mind. This is a very safe place. Take in all the sights, sounds, smells, everything. Bathing, soothing, relaxing all the muscles in you body. I envision sitting on the grass right by a lake under a huge tree with the person I love having a picnic with birds flying overhead a flock of geese feeding nearby. So it's just finding your special comfortable place to go to

[Agora1 in reply to Kainan]

Hi Kainan,  you hit it right on the nail.  Whale sounds don't do it for me,

but hypnosis audio and guided imagery is the best.  When you find

that someone with a soothing voice, that's the icing on the cake.

Wishing you quiet moments....