Losing sleep - anxiety
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exercise is great as it tires the body. anxiety is both for me. both anxious, restless body and a crazy brain.
i used lightening bug app, it's a white noise generator.
anxiety medication can help but it can take two weeks to fully work.
i've used sleepy time tea or other teas to help me sleep. i had one with Valerian. but i talked to my dr about it.
i used to take a muscle relaxer per dr orders but now i just take Melatonin with L-theanine. sometimes chamomoile tea
I may have to talk to my doctor about using melatonin after using my current medication. I have a month prescription and than will have to have another appointment to see if they can take me off the medication.. Let's hope so0 -
robertw486 wrote: »Does anyone have any tips for getting a good nights sleep.. I've tried drink herbal tea before bed, trying to go to bed early and eating a smaller dinner but nothing has been working. I think my anxiety might have a lot to do with it but living off 3-5 hrs sleep is becoming a burden!
Any tips would be amazing thanks
It can be a tricky thing. But if possible and your schedule allows, make yourself wake up and start your day earlier. This doesn't have to be early AM, but whenever YOUR day normally starts. Do your active things earlier as well. In short try to keep yourself on a schedule where you are actually tired by the time you want to go to sleep.
I know it's a slippery slope. I've been there, and it took quite a while to break the bad habits and get things closer to normal for me.
Yes I will need to start doing that because lately I can stay in bed until 11am because I just have no energy0 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »Currently have an IPhone is there any chance they have the orange light on here? Or is it only Androids.. And my doctor has brought up a few medications that I could be prescribed so I'm hoping that the medication will at least help to get me drowsy at night and manage my anxiety a bit better
Be careful as many sleep meds have some big-time side effects. They also tend to be expensive and many of them lose their effectiveness over time. After trying a bunch of different things, I've found that a Benedryl and a low dose (.5mg) of Melatonin actually work best for me. Obviously, check with your doctor before trying this.
Google "sleep hygiene" for some general sleep tips. If you were to see a sleep specialist, s/he would tell you to do all of these things.
I have no experience with anxiety, but I know some people who have found this site helpful in a crisis situation: rainymood.com/
It sounds like you might need to get treatment for the anxiety in order to get the sleep issues under control. Good luck--I hope that things get better soon!
thankyou for the tips currently I've only been prescribed anxiety medication, so I have not got a prescription for any sleep meds.. I am looking at going to a therapist to get help with my anxiety and sleeping so I really hope that starts to workout 0 -
Does anyone have any tips for getting a good nights sleep.. I've tried drink herbal tea before bed, trying to go to bed early and eating a smaller dinner but nothing has been working. I think my anxiety might have a lot to do with it but living off 3-5 hrs sleep is becoming a burden!
Any tips would be amazing thanks
3-5 mg of Melatonin (Which I affectionately refer to as Mel) 20-30 minutes before bedtime. Also try turning off all the electronics 30-60 minutes before going to sleep, no computer, no TV, no pads or phone. Instead try reading a book before bedtime, the electronics actually increase your adrenaline which slows down your Mel production, while reading a book can increase your bodies natural ability to produce Mel.
These are all things that have helped me, good luck.
V/r,
DW.
Great tips thanks for giving your input I definitely still have trouble with not using electronics mostly due to using a kindle to read and having to check my phone for work shifts (my boss sends 12am texts) but I'm going to give it a go
I don't really understand this. You don't find out what shift you are working until 12 AM the day of the shift? That would give me anxiety!
When I'm winding down for bed, I shut off the ringer on my phone and turn it upside down.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Does anyone have any tips for getting a good nights sleep.. I've tried drink herbal tea before bed, trying to go to bed early and eating a smaller dinner but nothing has been working. I think my anxiety might have a lot to do with it but living off 3-5 hrs sleep is becoming a burden!
Any tips would be amazing thanks
3-5 mg of Melatonin (Which I affectionately refer to as Mel) 20-30 minutes before bedtime. Also try turning off all the electronics 30-60 minutes before going to sleep, no computer, no TV, no pads or phone. Instead try reading a book before bedtime, the electronics actually increase your adrenaline which slows down your Mel production, while reading a book can increase your bodies natural ability to produce Mel.
These are all things that have helped me, good luck.
V/r,
DW.
Great tips thanks for giving your input I definitely still have trouble with not using electronics mostly due to using a kindle to read and having to check my phone for work shifts (my boss sends 12am texts) but I'm going to give it a go
I don't really understand this. You don't find out what shift you are working until 12 AM the day of the shift? That would give me anxiety!
When I'm winding down for bed, I shut off the ringer on my phone and turn it upside down.
It's not always but whenever someone has called in sick for the next morning or they didn't have someone on for the day they send out a group message and first to say yes gets the shift.. It's so annoying but need hours. I'm thinking of doing that with my phone just to get rid of the extra stress0 -
This post has been extremely helpful for me! I have bad anxiety which keeps me from sleeping on occasion, although usually I'm so exhausted by the end of the night that I sleep decently. One thing that helps me is finding gentle sleep music and breathing along to the music. Makes you listen to the music, think about the breathing, and usually slows my brain enough to sleep. Good luck! Thanks for everyone's responses.0
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I struggle with the same thing, OP. Hope you're finding some relief. Something I did is put my bedroom strictly off limits for "daytime" activities - eating, watching TV, exercising, laundry - when I first started doing this it took several weeks, but I got conditioned to associate going in my room with calm and falling asleep. If I wake up anxious, I get up and move to another room to read, clean or meditate for a few minutes - no lying in bed to go in mental circles.0
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God no wonder you're stressed and anxious with a boss who texts you at midnight! I put mine onto silent past a certain time every night.
I can really recommend white noise. I was struggling to sleep while on steroids after I had my son earlier this year and having water sounds white noise was the only thing that helped me.0 -
Research GABA. I take it 20 mins before bedtime each night. It's the only thing I ve found that works. Good luck.0
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I take OTC benadryl, mostly for allergies, but I have to say they also help me sleep! Someone above mentioned bath salts/Epson salts soaks, and as long as you're healthy (check w/your doctor of course) I've found that a Magnesium mineral supplement really helped me with sleep as well.0
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I used to have severe anxiety attacks and found Kava Kava to be really helpful. It does have some potential harmful side effects though, so do your research and talk to your Dr before trying it if you do.
Rescue Remedy, Bach flower, is also really great for this and has no known harmful side effects so worth a try. You can find it at most natural foods stores.
What ended up getting rid of them entirely was learning to meditate and changing my thought patterns about the things I was anxious about. Most of the time we worry about things that have not happened and probably won't. SO I just stopped thinking about them and started focusing in carefully on any small good thing I could find in each day.0 -
Despite the research to the contrary, I find that reading on my Kindle or phone helps me fall asleep. However, I change the color scheme on the Kindle to a pale green background for less contrast, and I turn the brightness on my phone screen all the way down. With the room lights off, all I have to do is put down my reading device and drift off when I'm ready.0
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beckadaisy wrote: »This post has been extremely helpful for me! I have bad anxiety which keeps me from sleeping on occasion, although usually I'm so exhausted by the end of the night that I sleep decently. One thing that helps me is finding gentle sleep music and breathing along to the music. Makes you listen to the music, think about the breathing, and usually slows my brain enough to sleep. Good luck! Thanks for everyone's responses.
Yes I've heard calming music really helps with relaxing your whole body before you sleep, but I don't own any CDs or music on my phone that has that relaxation vibe..0 -
pstegman888 wrote: »Despite the research to the contrary, I find that reading on my Kindle or phone helps me fall asleep. However, I change the color scheme on the Kindle to a pale green background for less contrast, and I turn the brightness on my phone screen all the way down. With the room lights off, all I have to do is put down my reading device and drift off when I'm ready.
Yes I normally turn my lights off when I first try and sleep but if I'm still awake after two-three hours I will normally have to check my phone or read something I will try and put my kindle setting like that and see if that helps me at all 0 -
I struggle with the same thing, OP. Hope you're finding some relief. Something I did is put my bedroom strictly off limits for "daytime" activities - eating, watching TV, exercising, laundry - when I first started doing this it took several weeks, but I got conditioned to associate going in my room with calm and falling asleep. If I wake up anxious, I get up and move to another room to read, clean or meditate for a few minutes - no lying in bed to go in mental circles.
That's a really good idea! Thanks for the idea, I can sometimes lay in bed wide awake for many hours so I will have to try those things out.. I've been doing meditation first thing when I wake up but i might change that into a night time routine0
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