Is anyone out there trying to sleep but cannot? That's me! I'm in an anxious state right now and I'm afraid I will be awake all night. Any advice?

Hi,

I have problems sleeping as well, that's why I'm up tonight, again. When I figure out how to beat insomnia I will glady share that with you!

My baby woke and I hardly ever can go back to sleep. Being on here doesn't help either. I think I'll go crawl back in bed and watch a show til I fall asleep. I have to do that to distract my thoughts.

Thanks for writing - I'm sorry you're not sleeping but glad to know I'm not the only one! I have to get up early to play in a tennis league and I keep thinking that if I don't go to sleep NOW I will play horribly and be embarrassed. I know that type of thinking is only making it worse but just having a hard time changing my thoughts.

Do you think it's better to lay there and try to relax or get up and "clean a closet" as Lucinda suggests during an anxious episode?

right now i am so afraid to try to sleep. its weird. . I am getting odd sensations as i try to sleep. i wish i would just sleep and not feel anything before. i wish chat was open right now

I would try and get some sleep and don't worry about the morning, it will come soon enough!

Bev, I am gonna do the same thing. I will put on soe I love lucy and distract myself form my thoughts as well. Thats why i need tv on while i sleep.

I usually would be awake myself, but the past 3 nights or so I've been sleeping a bit better. Hopefully it will stay that way for quite a while. I usually stay up from anywhere between 4 AM and noon sometimes. It gets hard to stay entertained at those hours.

I usually only fall asleep once I've exhausted myself out from thinking.

I went through a very rough period of insomnia a few months ago, I still have times when it is tough to go to sleep, but now it is every few weeks, or so. I have found that setting up a routine before bed will train your body to know that sleep is coming. I usually journal about my day, anticipated worries, etc. I find that when I get these thoughts on paper, they don't bother me when I am trying to sleep. I also start dimming the lights in the house about 1 hour before we go to bed. I found guided meditation, I have been doing this for the last 3 or 4 months and it has been wonderful for sleep. When I do have nights when I cannot settle down to sleep, I make rest, not sleep, my priority and I usually fall asleep. I hope these suggestions help.

LisaLisa

Too bad I didn't check here last nite- I have been awake all night. I usually don't have any trouble sleeping anymore but last nite was a doozy! I stopped the relaxation tape because I didn't think I needed it anymore. Guess what- I think I do. Well, you all are probably up for the day now. Let's hope tonight is better for all of us.

Insomnia is one of the most difficult "side effects" of anxiety, and the more you try to capture sleep, the more elusive it will get. As hard as it sounds (and believe me I know from experience...at my worst I could only sleep 1 hour a night) if you can just manage to tell yourself "so what" over and over again about insomnia, as LisaLisa said to maybe just focus on resting and achieving a deep state of relaxation, and don't focus so much on the number of hours you are awake vs. asleep. Make sure you are doing all the basics: no caffeine, get exercise every day, don't watch TV or read in bed. For me it was easy to fall asleep, but then I would wake up sometimes only 45 minutes later and be up for hours. It was a slow process (weeks if not months) to get back to a reasonable sleeping pattern, but it will happen. I hope you all are working the program seriously, but even with that -- be patient with yourself. It will take a while. Don't sleep better one night and think "whew, that is over" because then you will be more upset when it happens again. I know this is so, so hard because insomnia makes everything in the daytime more difficult to deal with, but don't you find that it is not usually as bad as you think it will be? I remember in despair in the middle of the night thinking (catastrophizing) how horrible whatever I had to do the next day would be, and usually it wasn't fun but it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Don't lie awake in bed for more than 20 minutes...you may not decide to clean closets but you don't want your body to associate your bed with being awake. Get up, make a cup of decaf tea, read something boring, do your relaxation or meditation tape, journal. Usually it is best to stay away from TV and computer, because they are more stimulating (however, occasionally I will put on something so boring to me like CSPAN!) Good luck, and hang in there.
formerly Sleepless Mom

Too bad there isn't a golf game on in the middle of the nite. (there probably is somewhere ?) That would put me right to sleep. The low monotone of the voices put me right out. I never realized how much the sleep tapes were helping until I stopped using them - so back to the tapes.

Hi "formerly" sleepless mom:

Thanks so much for all your advice. It's good to hear from someone like you who has overcome this problem. And you're right that the insomnia can go away and then reappear - that's what's been happening to me. You're also right in saying that the next day doesn't have to be awful. I had to play tennis this morning on less than 3 hours of sleep and I actually played pretty well!

Yes, LisaLisa and sleepless mom's suggestions are so helpful. And you might check out this web site for some guided imagery for sleep: www.healthjourneys.com. The guided imagery for sleep cd here has really made a huge difference for me in my sleep issues.

Also, you might check into herbal solutions for this as well.

Eileen

Thanks Eileen. I'll check out the website.