insomnia fear!

[elmo14]

hey guys this is the first time ive used this page, i feel like a total freak! My anxiety is the fear of not being able 2 sleep! somedays its all i think about and its ruining my life at the min ive tried allsorts of remedies for insomnia but nothing seems 2 work, recently ive been drinking heavily just so i can knock myself out 2 sleep! i feel so low, does any1 else have this kind of anxiety or am i the only 1? not sure how much more of this i can take! just want 2 sleep and not have this dark cloud looming over me, please help!

[ellabella]

Hello Elmo, been there done that and managed to get out of it by the skin of my teeth. Please don't feel guilty about drinking but also please try and stop. It is so easy to get sucked in down the alcohol route. I don't think you are on your own at all! it's an easy option but it can't be sustained. I think we often are afraid of lying awake , it was not unusual for me to not sleep at all...just lay and worry about things and feel like s..t. I had a liver scare and was so embarrassed that I could have this problem as well as all my other problems I stopped drinking altogether. I made myself get up early and try to stay busy during the day to make myself tired. If I can't sleep I get a drink and read or watch a film or something. I stopped trying to sleep. Have you been to the doctor? Best of luck to you x

[Untitled]

I also find i cannot sleep but i would say if we cannot sleep very well its because we are anxious that prevents the sleep. Docs would be a good idea as ella said but i would also try a night time cup of hot milk, Take a hot bath, or shower, get yourself a relaxation tape too or cd this is good for the mind because we focus on what wear are listening too. Have your cup of hot milk and dont think about sleeping, think about relaxing to your cd or go some place warm and cosy in your home or in your head and go through the motions of it.

I find if i cannot sleep which is all the time lol i just have a hot bath or shower, hot milk and get into bed, and read or just close my eyes and imagine something nice, or think about something nice that happened in my life. I do not think about sleep because the more you think about it the less it will happen because your trying to convince yourself you need to sleep and with the subconcious mind working too it will be a struggle because you have already trained your sub concious to stay awake. I really do hope all that made sense. I think it did. I do try to understand why i am writing an answer and put the meanings behind it too. So good luck and hope it works. xxx

[elmo14]

I have been to the doctors and am taking 20mg of citalpram a day and have also been given some tamazapam sleeping pills. I only try to use these if i am desperate though as they are addictive. I just find myself obsessing about sleep constantly its always there in my thoughts. I dont know where it has come from and why it is happening, but it is just making my life miserable ive always been an anxious person and used to suffer from panic attacks but have always been able to control my anxiety especially after a good nights sleep and healthy life style, this however is somthing else, feeling so low

just wish it would stop x

[ellabella]

Well done Elmo for sharing your problems! Has something changed in your life to make you dread night time sleep. When I put the light out to sleep i feel afraid and somehow " not safe" I feel like that in a morning too. I have to keep busy and daren't have anything on my conscience as I dwell on that and enlarge it. Everything seems worse at night when it's quiet. I have even put the timer on the tv in my bedroom so it's not quiet when I eventually drop off. I have Temazepam and citalopram too. I don't feel guilty or bothered about being addicted anymore. More often than not I half the Temazepam. Not because of addiciction....I have long since stopped worrying over that...but because it tends to give me a headache in the morning. Don't be so hard on yourself , give the meds time to work and see how you go. Well done for opening up, good luck xxx