Morning Anxiety

[maria68]

I suffer from health anxiety and have been in hospital recently. I am on an antidepressant, I don’t know if it is really helping. I have terrible anxiety on waking up in the morning- agitation and restlessness. Does anybody else suffer?

[b1b1b1]

When I am anxious, I also find it is worst upon waking up. It's a very bad feeling as it would otherwise be so nice to just relax and snuggle into the blankets a little more. I have read that morning anxiety is caused by higher levels of cortisol in your body. I have tried breathing slowly, but I am sorry to say that I haven't found any really good solution, except to let it pass.

[maria68 in reply to b1b1b1]

I know exactly how you feel when you wake up, wanting to just relax in bed. I thought it may be high cortisol but have no idea how to lower my levels. I’ve tried breathing exercises and walk every day. I also get very breathless.

[Hidden in reply to maria68]

The video link by Dr Sten Ekberg ....a good place to start...youtu.be/sI7m6qhGWi0(Not working as expected?)

Best wishes....

[Agora1]

Hi maria68, b1 is right in that morning anxiety is caused by higher levels of cortisol and adrenaline in your body. The fact in waking up and having these hormones flooding

our minds and body as well as a rush of a new day approaching and the "what ifs"....who

wouldn't be anxious??

But it's possible with time to retrain the mind in not acting on these sensations.

We each need to find what works best for themselves.

I use Acceptance that this feeling is not harmful as well as go into my Meditation

and Breathing as soon as my eyes open. I also do another midafternoon meditation

as well as just before bed.

I have done this for years and have seen the benefit of consistent positive reinforcement.

YouTube is my "go to". There are so many incredible videos done by professionals that

can help us cope with anxiety and it's symptoms. Being here on this site can be beneficial

as well in knowing you are not alone. By joining in with others, you will find methods that

may be just what you needed. Welcome here maria xx

[maria68 in reply to Agora1]

Thank you for your response. I will look at the video on YouTube. I haven’t been very successful with Mindfulness, perhaps I give up too easily.It is wonderful to know I’m not alone with this problem.

[Agora1 in reply to maria68]

Dearest maria68, you haven't given up too easily. It takes the mind time tore-adjust to a new concept of thinking regarding Anxiety.

One of the videos on YouTube is Dr. Claire Weekes' theory of Acceptance in

"Hope & Help for Your Nerves" (also available as a book on Amazon)

Starting with the basics of what anxiety does to the mind and body and

how we can accept it. Then step by step reaching out to different methods

to lower the fears and expectations of our thoughts. Once we grasp the connection

of our mind and our body, we will be in better control of the symptoms. xx

[maria68 in reply to Agora1]

I will buy the book straight away. Thank you so much Agora1 xx

[car103]

After the other mentions of high cortisol, I looked up some answers. I lik optimallivingdynamics.com/b...

[car103]

Oops. Premature send. Anyway, I liked this response above. Lots of ideas. I hate morning anxiety and when it follows me during the day.

[maria68 in reply to car103]

Thank you for the article. It sounds very helpful and comprehensive. My morning anxiety had been around for a while but over the last few weeks it’s continued into the day and Im feeling exhausted with it. The breathlessness is very uncomfortable.

[Hallyhooyou]

I suffer from morning anxiety. The only thing that helped me was doing some exercise for about 20 minutes. I have a stationary bike. It worked really well for me.

[designguy]

It's called anticipatory anxiety and is usually caused by thoughts of fear of the anxious feelings. It can also be caused by or contributed to by your hormones, thyroid or adrenals if they are not functioning properly which can also elevate your cortisol level. I take ashwagandha and phosphatidyl serine before bedtime to lower my cortisol and help my sleep. Check out the books of Dr. Claire Weekes or the DARE Anxiety book about how to deal with anxiety by learning to accept the anxious thoughts and feelings and no longer fight them. They both also have good youtube videos available that are helpful.

[maria68 in reply to designguy]

Thank you for your reply. I’m going for an appointment with an endocrinologist soon to check my thyroid levels. My GP wouldn’t do more than my TSH test.

[Charliecat123]

I understand what you mean..I get this too. It’s just horrible!!

[Ripski]

Hello Maria68, I don’t have an answer for you but I do have support for you if you should need any of it. 🌹But the one thing I do know about Anxiety......IT’S JUST PURE EVIL!

and I want to conquer it once and for all! Stay strong and let it pass it always passes. We must learn how to make it pass faster and not worry so much about evil Anxiety.