discussion Can't sleep but then get anxiety about not sleeping

[CottageHore]

I know some of y'all can't be serious for 5 seconds but I'm just venting because it's 5am and I can't sleep 

 

I've had pretty bad anxiety due to stress at my job/internship (I will be quitting but I can't until my employment-based internship is done) lately. My issue is I wake up almost every night around 3am (I've always been this way, this is nothing new). And the moment I awake- BOOM! Anxious thoughts enter my brain and I can't shut them off and then I can't fall back asleep. I do have an anxiety disorder and am medicated but every time this happens where I go day after day with only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, the anxiety only perpetuates itself because now I'm having anxiety that I'm gonna die early due to lack of sleep or I'm gonna get under eye bags and age like **** because the amount of sleep I get is so low right now.

 

If any of you have experienced anxiety around sleep, what have you done to calm yourself down? If I could just feel like me getting a lack of sleep isn't the end of the world, I do think, ironically, that would allow me to sleep better. I'm so over this **** :)))))

 

[TROJAN]

What always helps relax me when I'm trying to sleep is white noise. Something like a fan, or maybe even a YouTube video that plays relaxing sounds. If you try too hard to fall asleep you won't be able to, you need to just try your best to relax. If you ever get negative thoughts and anxiety you should think of all the positives there is in your life. Don't feed into the negativity. Deep breathing + meditating for a few minutes really does help, deep breathing helps your body relax itself. Also, try not to use electronics 1 hour before bed, it can keep you awake. I hope I helped a bit!

[glitch]

I used to have something similar, but my problem was falling asleep in the first place rather than waking up in the middle of the night.

 

Annoyingly all the normal things people tell you about how to improve your sleep is basically what works. Having a proper bedtime routine, not going on your phone an hour before you go to bed, reading etc. all helped me.

 

Try making a list of things you need to do just before you go to bed. That way it's not so much in your head and you can rest easier knowing you'll be ready for the day tomorrow and you don't need to think about it right now.

 

I've not tried this but I've heard that if you're lying in bed and can't sleep, you should get up and do something really monotonous like folding clothes for 15 minutes and then try and go back to sleep again.

[RideOrDie]

melatonin

[GentleDance]

 

[Onyxmage]

Im not sure if you have social media or how much you use your phone but I can tell you that ive taken "detox" days away from my phone and social media and I feel so much more relaxed even in just one day. 

[imabadkid]

it's cliche but I've found that meditating helps relax me before going to sleep esp if I'm anxious.

[May]

im suffering w this too and for me its definitely the phone  

 

avoid blue light bc it keeps you awake, turn on the warm effect on ur phone. It turns ur screen orange which means ur brain will find it easier to sleep 

 

I also used to fall asleep to random audiobooks like stephen fry reading Harry Potter  that helped a lot

[selena_lavigne]

When i can't sleep i put Honeymoon by Lana on. Helps A LOT. 
Occasionally i'll put folklore long pond sessions on.

These albums knock me out.

Edited May 16 by selena_lavigne

[tost1]

Put Taylor's PTSD on, no way you're staying awake through that

[tost1]

1 hour ago, TROJAN said:

What always helps relax me when I'm trying to sleep is white noise. Something like a fan, or maybe even a YouTube video that plays relaxing sounds. If you try too hard to fall asleep you won't be able to, you need to just try your best to relax. If you ever get negative thoughts and anxiety you should think of all the positives there is in your life. Don't feed into the negativity. Deep breathing + meditating for a few minutes really does help, deep breathing helps your body relax itself. Also, try not to use electronics 1 hour before bed, it can keep you awake. I hope I helped a bit!

As someone with a degree in Sleeping Science...

[LadyDiana]

You described me, few years ago. I still get it sometimes tho. It's hard, no quick solutions kid. Try to be less hard on yourself aaaand, standing in front of a mirror and saying to yourself:"now you got to stop" works sometime. You laught, but for me it did help. Anyhow I wish you best on your journey to anxiety free life 

[Yawn]

me espresso 

[hallucinate]

start taking melatonin pills, that's what helped me 

[єѕℓαм]

I've had insomnia my whole life up until 5 years ago these are the things that worked for me

 

meditating 

listening to relaxing music or stories

melatonin

eating well

and this one is gonna seem crazy but drinking coffee makes me feel sleepy for some reason lmao

[Miss Fortune]

I would recommend finding a sound or podcast that you can listen to and fall asleep.

If you have a lot of thoughts running, then I'd personally try a podcast. I recommend the early episodes of the podcast called Criminal or Where Should We Begin by Esther Perel. 

Both of these have very relaxing voices and you end up listening to the story and then drifting off. 

You should have the volume to a point where it's a quite quiet so that you need to focus to listen, so that you aren't distracted by noises. 

In addition to that, I really find the "shut off" method helpful where you picture your body as a computer or smth and slowly shut down each thing through your mind, allowing them to fully relax, starting with the feet and then the ankles and the calves and so on and so forth and as you do this, repeating a phrase like "sleep" as you move up your body and it really preps you to fall asleep IMO.

 

[Twilish]

I've dealt with this before, it's not as common nowadays but mine was also triggered from a previous job and anxiety it would cause me. i always sleep with a fan and sound machine now which really helps, and this might sound weird i also just imagine random scenarios/adventures in my head while my eyes are closed to distract my brain from thinking about anxiety etc, almost like counting sheep. This usually will help calm me down enough to sleep. Worst case scenario i go and take a warm shower as that always relaxes me after. 

[CottageHore]

3 hours ago, RideOrDie said:

melatonin

That **** always makes me sleep worse and it doesn't directly make us sleepy, I heard it just helps with circadian rhythm over time 

[CottageHore]

3 hours ago, May said:

im suffering w this too and for me its definitely the phone  

 

avoid blue light bc it keeps you awake, turn on the warm effect on ur phone. It turns ur screen orange which means ur brain will find it easier to sleep 

 

I also used to fall asleep to random audiobooks like stephen fry reading Harry Potter  that helped a lot

I'm so addicted to my phone, it's not even funny. They need to develop a DSM-5 diagnosis for this addiction at this point. 
 

I wanna try going to bed with my phone in another room but I use ASMR on my phone to fall asleep (maybe that's becoming a crutch, too).

[CottageHore]

17 minutes ago, Twilish said:

I've dealt with this before, it's not as common nowadays but mine was also triggered from a previous job and anxiety it would cause me. i always sleep with a fan and sound machine now which really helps, and this might sound weird i also just imagine random scenarios/adventures in my head while my eyes are closed to distract my brain from thinking about anxiety etc, almost like counting sheep. This usually will help calm me down enough to sleep. Worst case scenario i go and take a warm shower as that always relaxes me after. 

Yes! I do the imagining scenarios to fall asleep at the start of the night and it works great! For some reason, it's harder for me at 3am. But thank you for the ideas  

[RideOrDie]

33 minutes ago, CottageHore said:

That **** always makes me sleep worse and it doesn't directly make us sleepy, I heard it just helps with circadian rhythm over time 

xanax

[Relampago.]

I don't have too much trouble sleeping but my partner does. He uses white noise like people have suggested and it's helped him a lot. He also stays off his phone at least 30 mins before bed. He uses that time for a skin care routine and other things that relax him and take up some time before bed to keep him preoccupied and off his phone. 

 

I struggle with anxiety a bit, ashwagandha has helped me a bit with that though. Maybe you could try that too. I also take an edible sometimes when I need to sleep earlier than I normally do, and it does help, but I think relying on drugs to sleep long term isn't a good idea, but it could be a solution every once in awhile.

 

Exercising can help too if you have the time. Your body will be so tired, you'll feel like you won't have a choice but to sleep because of how tired you are. When I started being more physically active, I noticed that I was way more sleepy at night than before.

Edited May 16 by Relampago.

[1000 forms of queer]

6 hours ago, CottageHore said:

I know some of y'all can't be serious for 5 seconds but I'm just venting because it's 5am and I can't sleep 

 

I've had pretty bad anxiety due to stress at my job/internship (I will be quitting but I can't until my employment-based internship is done) lately. My issue is I wake up almost every night around 3am (I've always been this way, this is nothing new). And the moment I awake- BOOM! Anxious thoughts enter my brain and I can't shut them off and then I can't fall back asleep. I do have an anxiety disorder and am medicated but every time this happens where I go day after day with only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, the anxiety only perpetuates itself because now I'm having anxiety that I'm gonna die early due to lack of sleep or I'm gonna get under eye bags and age like **** because the amount of sleep I get is so low right now.

 

If any of you have experienced anxiety around sleep, what have you done to calm yourself down? If I could just feel like me getting a lack of sleep isn't the end of the world, I do think, ironically, that would allow me to sleep better. I'm so over this **** :)))))

 

I also have anxiety about not being able to sleep - ONLY if there's stuff to do the next day/places to be. I feel 'pressured' to sleep - and that usually leads to a vicious cycle of anxiety and stress. As other users suggested, try melatonin or other sleepaids and try to not be too active at night. Exhaust yourself so you can sleep 6-8 hours uninterrupted. Avoid caffeine in the meantime, it can really *** up your sleep cycle.

[Daddy]

I have the same. What helped me sleep are those 3 videos played at the same time. 

 

The first on full volume and the other two on 50% and I sleep like a baby. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CottageHore]

2 hours ago, RideOrDie said:

xanax

I'm on Zoloft. I wanna try Trazadone