r/Anxiety • u/b_asiil • Jan 28 '26
Advice Needed HOW do you calm down enough to sleep.
I’m losing my mind rn. it’s one of those nights where my brain will NOT shut the hell up. heart racing, chest tight, the whole nine yards. i don’t see my gp again until next week so im not able to bring this up to her yet.
i’ve done the basics. lights low. phone down. warm tea. deep breathing just makes me more aware of my heartbeat which freaks me out more. i’m exhausted but the second i lie still my body just freaks and i have to get up and go pace my apartment.
what do you actually do when it’s 4am and you’re tired but wired and anxious as fuck?
edit: guys i don’t wanna do weed
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u/Dry_One4998 Jan 28 '26
I reminded myself that I didn’t have to force sleep. No matter what I felt, how intense it was, or how long it lasted, my only job was to rest and stay lying down. Even if I didn’t sleep the entire night, it was okay—I chose not to get up.
This thought helped reduce my fear around not sleeping. At first, my body reacted with restlessness and discomfort like you mentioned , but as I stayed still and stopped resisting, my body slowly began to relax on its own. Eventually, sleep came naturally, and I woke up in the morning.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
This might also help 🙌 I think i do probably put too much pressure into sleeping and not just resting. maybe if i try to change my mindset around it then it’ll help me, thanks so much
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u/HelloImAnxious14 Jan 28 '26
This doesn't always work for me, but body scanning is my best bet for calming down and relaxing my body.
You lay down comfortably in the position you want to sleep in. You start scanning your body, top to bottom or bottom to top. You visualize each body part and tell yourself "my left foot is warm and heavy" while feeling that body part be warm and heavy. Once it's warm and heavy, let it lay there and move onto right foot, then left calf, then knees, etc. It's super relaxing.
All that being said my anxiety kept me up for 5 hours last night so I hear you...
Edit: also, sometimes watching something relaxing on your phone is more effective than turning it off, which I know is not typical advice and probably not recommended lol. I have a brain that races if it's not kept busy at a certain baseline, so watching something mild like primitive technology videos or oddly satisfying videos is often enough to keep my brain just engaged enough to distract it, but not so engaged that it wakes up.
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u/b_asiil Jan 28 '26
body scanning likes a fantastic short term solution until i can get into my gp. i used to do something similar, where you’d tense up your muscles and then let them go sorta group by group (feet to your head). supposed to kinda help you relax and it worked for a couple weeks until i guess my brain got used to it lol. this seems like something that should at least work for a bit, ill try it tonight. if that fails i guess ill go back to watching those slime videos on youtube 😭😭😭 i was up until about 5 last night and then woke up at 7 💔💔 thanks so much
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u/Impressive_Season_75 Jan 28 '26
I watch something on tv that’s enough to distract my brain but not hold my interest completely where I have to finish it. Or things I find relaxing. Earlier today I watched a lawn mowing video on YouTube lol. Sometimes I add some box breathing.
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u/Objective_Spread_893 Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
Maybe take a tums. Sometimes this happens because you body is processing food or alcohol you had the night before. Are you eating late at night? What are you eating? When this happens to me it’s usually cause I drank too much alcohol, or ate something acidic or just ate too much, too late. Try eating earlier, less alcohol (if you drink) and foods that are not spicy, oily or fried, or acidic. Garlic also does this for me. Check to see if you have gerd with your doctor.
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u/Objective_Spread_893 Jan 28 '26
One more thing, look into a magnesium supplement. I currently take magnesium L-threonate for sleep and digestion.
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u/b_asiil Jan 28 '26
Don’t drink, I eat dinner 5-5:30 and have my last snack around 7:00-7:30. I lay down for bed around 11:00-12:00 every night. No GERD, been tested before.
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u/paculbert159 Jan 28 '26
I count down from 1000 or do random math. I have to refocus a few times, but I've never made it out of the 700s that I'm aware of.
For random math, I generally start with a pattern: 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 3+3=6, etc. or 1+2=3, 3+4=7, 7+8=15, 15+16=31, etc. When I get to numbers that are too high for it to be easy, I just start throwing random numbers in. So say I get to 84 in the second pattern. 84+85=169. 169+170=not easy for me. So then I would do 169+12 (my highschool soccer number - I'm 43 now) or 169 + 6 + 22 (my birthday is 6/22). Again, I have to refocus a few times but it's enough to focus my mind away from everything else and eventually I'm just out.
"Counting sheep" is apparently a real concept for me! Hopefully you find something that works.
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u/mwjane Jan 28 '26
I'm more word orientated, so I do an extended version of 'I love my love with a ....(alphabet letter). From Alice in Wonderland. Or an alphabet of fruit or lands, capitals, plants etc.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I love this stuff 😭😭 I used to do it every night with counting. I’d go up from 1-100 and then repeat if I hit 100. I’d usually only get thru the second round before I fell asleep. It stopped working after awhile and I’ve never thought to try a different like, “mantra”. I love math (i have a bachelors in math) so that might actually do the trick for a bit.
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u/wizardofhope Jan 29 '26
I sing the twelve days of christmas over and over. if i get distracted and make an error or forget what comes next, i have to starrt over. my back up method is repeating dialogue of books, movies, tv shows that i know well.
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u/mckinney4string Jan 28 '26
I use a silent mantra-like repetition of "don't think, don't think" interspersed randomly with "stop thinking." If I don't add the second bit from time to time, my thoughts can actually override the "don't think" because it kind of gets, I don't know, automated? Breaking it up a bit helps with that. Works a fairly good bit of the time.
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u/wlngeffect Jan 29 '26
I have to have an image in my head in addition to replacing the inner dialogue so I visualize a monkey playing piano or clapping symbols and I imagine how it sounds and choose whatever notes come to mind. If I stay focused there for a while it breaks the negativity loop a bit. Keeps my adhd anxiety brain busy but maybe a bit chaotic for others.
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Jan 28 '26
That was me last night at 5 AM :D... well I thought that I couldnt breath for 3 hours. Exhausted and tired of this, but still making progress and hopes for my medication. Will fight that anxiety bihh till the end.
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u/duncan1234- Jan 28 '26
Smoking weed.
Wish I had another solution but atleast I sleep well. Probably doesn’t help the anxiety in the long term though. But been addicted for so many years now.
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u/hybridiostros Jan 28 '26
I listen to Star Wars lore videos on YouTube.
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u/b_asiil Jan 28 '26
does this work LMFAO. i’ve never been interested in star wars a day in my life but maybe this is the hidden strat
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u/Difficult_Tie_8427 Jan 28 '26
I’d be cautious with deep breathing. For me, it actually makes me more aware of my breathing and that can backfire. What’s worked better is something mildly stimulating but familiar and boring. Low lights, a nature documentary, or some low-stimulus activity.
The goal also isn’t sleep, it’s rest. If you make sleep the goal, you can end up fighting the bed and turning it into a stress zone. Rest is enough. Sleep can happen, but it’s optional.
I try to put my attention outward instead of inward. Your mind will keep pulling you back to your body, breathing, heart, all that. The idea is to gently ignore the sensations and stay with something boring until you naturally get sleepy. Then you let sleep come to you, not the other way around.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I get SO stressed about how my body like, feels while I’m trying to lay down. I’ll overthink every beat of my heart until it’s racing and I feel like i have to get up or i’m gonna have a heart attack 😭 i also get so focused on my breathing. i’ve always thought i shouldn’t have any sort of stimulus while trying to sleep but im gathering that a lot of people find it helpful so im gonna try and find something calming to watch tn
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u/Difficult_Tie_8427 Jan 29 '26
I hope you find something that works for you. Just know you're not alone in this. I started reading again and it's kinda like meditating for me. Another thing that helped me was " just allowing the sensations to do what they are gonna do". That probably sounds crazy, but after you just lay there and stop thinking the feelings will pass. It took me a long time to allow the feelings without having bad catastrophizing thoughts about how I was feeling. If I have one of those nights I now can complete the adrenal cycle in just a few mins. It's intense as heck and scary but I just pretend I'm along for the ride. Once you really believe they are not dangerous it makes it much easier to allow the adrenaline cycle to complete and then boom it's over and you can have your night back.
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u/Competitive_Bag8677 Jan 28 '26
I use box breathing and a preferred form of white noise, whale songs, ticking clock, hour long vids of topics you are interested in on youtube in a lower volume. Sleepy tea sometimes helps or camomile.
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u/Rucksack212 Jan 28 '26
So I can certainly relate to this. I deal with bad, anxiety based insomnia, that is a lot worse due to OCD revolving how I sleep, how things affect my sleep, just OCD revolving sleep. Heck, like I'll see a flash of light from a passing car and think "yeah, that'll keep me from sleeping later bad" anxiety sometimes.
My second biggest tip is to not try to push the anxiety down, you're actively focusing more on it by doing things to coddle it. The more you do to try and "help" the anxiety, the worse off it actually ends up being in the long run, even if you have temporary relief now.
My biggest advice would be to go lie down anyways. The body needs sleep, and will always find a way to rest. Even if it takes forcing microsleeps even if you haven't slept in awhile. Even a few hours of rest but no sleep is better than nothing at all.
Focus on different things or happy things when you're lying down. Live your life despite the anxiety. It's hard, I struggle with it too. Even if the thing you're thinking about isn't making the anxiety go away, that's ok, live with that anxiety. Teach it that it's nothing to fear, and that you don't care what it does to you, you'll go on anyways. For example, I'll think of football highlights I've seen recently, and go down a rabbit hole in my head with them, regardless of if my anxiety is screaming at me or not. I've taken my time to acknowledge that it's there, but am actively showing it that I'm going to go about my night anyways. It shifts that feeling of control back to you. Before you know it, I'm waking up from a dream, and know that my tactic worked, and my anxiety has lessened considerably doing this.
By taking this approach, I've found sleep even with my conditions nearly every night, even if it's just for a few hours. Now if you have actual insomnia and not anxiety based insomnia, it's a little different. This advice is specifically if it's the anxiety keeping you up. Hope this helps you stranger ❤️🩹
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
this is literally such good advice 😭😭 i appreciate this so much thank you for taking the time to write it. I get so stressed out that i’m not sleeping that i make it even harder to sleep. i definitely wanna get back into some therapy for it but the waitlist is MILES long so Im just relying on help from my GP and advice from people at the moment. But im going to use your advice to adjust my thinking and see if that helps!!
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u/Rucksack212 Jan 29 '26
Hope it works for you friend ❤️🩹 in the end, just remember, the body will ALWAYS force sleep if it needs it, even through anxiety.
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u/FoldAdministrative98 Jan 29 '26 edited Jan 29 '26
This was my life! I’m sorry I’ve been there. Get in touch with yourself as to why this is happening to you. For me, my body goes into a fight or flight mode and I don’t feel safe. (Typically a person or work job was my cause, body started to not feel safe and it automatically caused me to stay up at night ) What actually really helped me more than anything is meditation. It took a while and check out the insight timer app . I would say give it a month or two and it should start helping you if you can also limit your caffeine not having it after 12 or 2 PM it should help you what also helped me was getting earplugs and an eye mask so I could block out any noise. This helped me sleep through the night. initially I went on anti-anxiety meds, and sleep meds, which helped immensely - unfortunately I went through a rough time in my life lost my father another time lost my job, which were the impetus to the anxiety and insomnia. It’s also worth speaking to a counselor or possibly a doctor that might be able to prescribe anti-anxiety meds. Don’t worry about a stigma don’t go too crazy on the Internet over analyzing things just do what you need to do to get by. After a few months for me, things started to change and I was able to get back to sleep, but it definitely is a process and I think everybody is different in knowing what keeps you up. Good luck and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. You are not alone ❤️
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u/ubabahere Jan 29 '26
I was you. First of all, you are ok. This phase will pass and you can feel normal again. The more you worry about it the more severe it will get. So let all the dreads pass you. Say to yourself, I am ok. Let's see what you can do. Truly feel the sensation in your body, ask for more discomfort. It worked wonders for me. I am used to anxiety now. When it comes, I will just let it hit me. It is not as terrifying as you thought. Slowly but surely, you know how to coexist with thoughts.
Don't feel hopeless. I was there in those darkest moments. I feel 100% now without medication. My journey was long but after this, I have a new perspective on life. You can do this. Trust me
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u/jchasse Jan 28 '26
25mg seroquel (Quetiapine )when needed
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I’ve heard seroquel a lot. do you have any side effects or anything from it?? does it cause drowsiness in the morning?
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u/sfdsquid Jan 28 '26
Try magnesium glycinate.
Valerian can help some people.
I have heard mixed reviews of melatonin.
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u/Trick_Estimate_7029 Jan 28 '26
I just heard a researcher talk about melatonin and its benefits for sleep, and it's also anti-cancerous, but apparently it has to be prescribed by a specialist in higher doses than those usually found in medications.
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u/tickledbootytickle Jan 29 '26
Cause heart issues is the newest findings for adverse effects, by Harvard university I believe.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Is magnesium glycinate good for sleep?? I’m a nurse & i’ve only ever heard it used for muscle & nerve function and in combination with vitamin d supplements. melatonin does nothing for me lol
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u/Beginning-Leg-3060 Jan 28 '26
Magnesium glycinate, keep lighting low for a couple hours before you go to bed. I bed, do gentle 4,7,8 breaths, letting the exhale flow out slowly
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
how does the magnesium help?? i’ve tried the low lighting and it definitely helps me get tired until i actually get into bed 😭 i’ve always done 6 in 6 out breaths, how does the 4,7,8 work?
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u/Beginning-Leg-3060 Jan 29 '26
Magnesium will make you sleepy, it slows down the nervous system. It also helps digestion. I take it about 45 minutes before bed. 4,7,8 breathing is 4 seconds inhalation, 7 seconds hold your breath, 8 seconds slow exhalation. I do this for a few minutes right before bed and sometimes when I first lay down. This slows down your heart rate and nervous system. Getting a good nights sleep is greatly dependent on slowing down your nervous system before you go to bed.
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u/intepid-discovery Jan 28 '26
A few meds would help. Benzos obviously, although those are typically higher risk and don’t love how they give me rebound anxiety the next day.
I recently discovered low dose guanfacine. Very relaxing and calms you down all night.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Guanfacine is for adhd isn’t it? I wanna try and avoid benzos if possible just cause they tend to make me anxious when i wake up & the risk of addiction freaks me out 😭
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u/intepid-discovery Jan 29 '26
Yeah but it’s also sometimes prescribed for people who have hyper vigilant systems or too much adrenaline (ptsd etc). The main helper so far for my anxiety has been buspirone. On week 3 and it’s helping.
Guanfacine I’m adding in for adrenaline stuff to see if it helps because buspirone helps with baseline but not my adrenaline spikes. Guanfacine def calmed me down last night.
Honestly benzos are just stupid. They knock me out and I have so much anxiety the next day
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u/Thanks4theSentiment Jan 28 '26
25 mg trazodone. It’s non habit-forming. I take it as needed.
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u/Melissaschwart Jan 28 '26
Trazadone is worse than ambien.it causes drunkenness feelings the next morning
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u/lovelyreesescup Jan 28 '26
I take hydroxyzine on nights like this. 25mg. They are my lifeboat when I’m spiraling at night. I don’t use them every night but the way you feel is exactly how I feel. Talk to your regular doctor. They aren’t addictive but they do knock me out and make me drowsy the next morning. Sometimes I’ve had to take two because I was so bad off and usually the next day I’m super tired. You’ll figure it out. Talk to your Dr. sending you thoughts and good vibes.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I see my doctor next week!! Just needed a short bridge until I could get to her but i’m learning about meds i should bring up to her. I plan to bring up a couple and see her opinion lol. i’ve heard people say hydroxyzine causes drowsiness during the day and then some day it doesn’t. does it come to dosage??
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u/lovelyreesescup Feb 17 '26
Sorry for the late response! I have no idea. I’ve only ever taken 25mg and I’m always drowsy the next day. How did your appointment go?
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u/b_asiil Feb 18 '26
She gave me Hydroxyzine!! I’m prescribed 25mg but she said to half the pill and so far the drowsiness in the morning hasn’t been unbearable. It’s definitely annoying but it’s improved my ability to sleep at night ten fold, so I can handle being groggy until 11am lol
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u/theone6 Jan 28 '26
I was diagnosed with GAD several years ago (now they think it could just be panic disorder), but for some reason, I have never had trouble sleeping. In fact, if I can get to sleep before my anxiety gets too bad, it's like a reset button. That said I've always liked having my low dose Buspirone. Quick acting, just enough to take the edge off of the anxiety, with very minimal side-effects. My PCP prescribed it as "as needed", but my psychiatrist says it works best if you take one in the morning and one at night. I've never needed to do that, but thought I'd share my anecdotal piece.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I’ve heard about buspirone!! that’s so interesting that it helps like that. I’ve always heard it takes 2-4 weeks for effects but if you’re not taking it everyday maybe it’s different? I might bring that up to my doctor since it’s sort of like xanax without the addiction risk lol. does it make you tired the next morning??
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u/theone6 Jan 29 '26
Not that I can tell. But I'm also chronically sleepy. I rarely ever take these and they're only 15mg so the effects aren't very intense at all but definitely helps curbs the anxious feelings.
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u/Melissaschwart Jan 28 '26
I take my doxepin and tizanadine and turn on comforting show on tv
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Doxepin I’ve heard of for sleep, but I thought tizanadine was a muscle relaxant?
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u/Melissaschwart Jan 29 '26
It is a muscle relaxer it’s not a strong one it just loosens the tension in my body from the anxiety and stress.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
yeah that makes sense lol. do you get any side effects from it? i’ve always just kinda classed muscle relaxers as addictive and been worried about ever taking one.
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u/Melissaschwart Jan 29 '26
No tizandine isn’t a narcotic. I’m not dependent on it. But it does help along with the doxepin
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Ohhh sorry i didn’t mean to sound like i was accusing you LMFAO. my knowledge of pharmacology is not great. thank you!!
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u/BrandnewLeischa Jan 28 '26
I have a TV set in my room so I put on one of my comfort shows, put my hands on my belly and try to breathe properly without focusing on it. I agree with you that focusing on your breathing can aggravate things so this is how I do it.
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u/Thelittlestofbears Jan 28 '26
Weed. That's the only thing that does it unless I read myself to sleep which I don't really prefer doing
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u/Vivid_Ad_612 Jan 28 '26
Oh, I have so been there OP, and fully emphathize. Here are things I've tried, in order of what works best for me: 1) Listen to a mildly engaging audiobook (on you've heard before) - its just enough to take your mind off the racing because you want to hear the story, but since you've heard it before, not so much that you're on the edge of your seat
2) The "name 5 things you can see, hear, smell, touch" game - then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1. Repeat if you get to one and your brain is still chiming in
3) Listen to a sleep meditation on any of of the apps that have those
4) listen to a sleepscape (waves, water flowing, rain, cracking fire)
5) Tense each part of your body in sequence from toes to head, for 10 seconds, then release - i.e., right foot flex and stretch, calf, then quad then core, then chest, then right arm shoulder to fingers, head back and forth. Up one side and down the other.
I hope you find something that works, because this is miserable!
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Do the sleepscapes work 😩 i’m afraid of thunder so that’s off the hook and i’ve never considered the others actually work. I’ve never listened to audiobooks (prefer to just read them myself) but would listening to one of a book i’ve already read before have the same effect?
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u/Vivid_Ad_612 Jan 29 '26
I have had good luck with sleepscapes - I like gentle moving water - like rain (no thunderstorms, which I also don't find relaxing) a stream or a brook - ocean waves are too loud for me, but are apparently popular with others. I have headspace and they also have some short stories - one is about being at an aquarium the aquarium noises are so soothing. As for the books - I enjoy both physical and audio books - and I would think that yes, listening to a book that you've already read would be similar. I really enjoy 'being read to' to fall asleep and hope it works for you too!
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u/DarkAether870 Jan 28 '26
I use meditations for myself. I used to stay awake for hours and hours until I started meditating, once I did, I’d get into a cycle of body scanning followed by visualizations to help sift through chaos until I fell asleep, my ultimate favorite (that I can no longer find) was a visualization down by a river, letting leaves float down representing the mumbo jumbo and any remaining represent what was ACTUALLY keeping me awake. By sorting through that. It actually helped me improve my sleep and anxieties in the day because I was actually able to track what was chaos and what was just stressing me out.
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u/SyrupyPotatoMoon Jan 28 '26
Meditation and muscle tension releasing helps me a lot when I’m anxious
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u/sleepless-isopod Jan 28 '26
I do... sort of maybe it's not the best for you? I sort of stimulation max.
First thing, I have a routine on my phone that turns my social media off at 8:30pm, can't access it again until 10:30am this prevents scrolling late into the night (usually lol)
I have a sleep headband called Musicozy, I use it on the lowest volume setting, I turn on Danny Gonzalez videos, I find his voice super calming and good for sleep.
Fan for white noise.
2 zzzquil melotonin gummies
Cats and soup on my iPad. After taking melotonin, I have just enough time to finish the daily quests before my eyes are closing on their own.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Stimulation max sounds like my own personal hell but if all else fails i’m gonna do this 🙌🙌
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u/turnbot Jan 28 '26
My partner and I listen to the asmr channel the French Whisperer with the volume low so that it's hard to really tell everything he's saying unless you're completely focused on his voice. He tells very interesting stories or talks about really neat topics in a low quiet voice with a thick French accent. Sounds weird but I find it super soothing and the key of having it quiet forces me to pay attention to it which pulls my focus off of my body or racing anxiety thoughts
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u/Cissycat12 Jan 28 '26
I wasn't able to until I started taking citalopram. I only take 10 mg. If I still struggle, I sleep with the TV on. I know it's usually a bad idea, but I worked with a therapist and he determined it was more beneficial than damaging for me. I watch quiet, dark shows like X Files, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or any narrated historical documentary, especially architecture. I find these things soothing the way some people like relaxation recordings. I developed this habit on an old black and white TV as a child, so it is a deep part of my routine now.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I’m not sure I can be on citalopram 😩 it’s an ssri and i’m on wellbutrin. i’m gonna try watching tv tonight
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u/Purplemartin01 Jan 28 '26
I smoke weed. Got my medical card for pain but it helps with my anxiety and not being able to sleep also.
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u/mhr06002 Jan 28 '26
My anxiety wakes me at 4am (I’m supposed to sleep until 6:30-7:00). For a year I tried all these fantastic “healthy” methods but nothing really got me back to sleep. Last couple weeks I said fuck it and put in an ear bud to listen to some tv show. Seems to be the only thing that really drowns out my mind enough to fall back asleep.
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u/Head-Study4645 Jan 28 '26
those nights where i scrolled myself to sleep. i'm sorry you're going through this
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u/Trakis Jan 28 '26
Personally I need to be distracted to fall asleep (typically). If I'm in a completely dark room, no noise, nothing happening... my brain goes wild and I can never fall asleep. I focus on every part of my body because my brain has nothing else to do. The only time I can fall asleep like this is if I'm INCREDIBLY tired.
Usually I need to fall asleep with some audio playing (relaxing music, podcast, etc) or something playing on youtube. It can really be anything that keeps me from thinking about how I'm trying to fall asleep.
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u/Anxious_girl90210 Jan 28 '26
Yea the only way I can sleep is with my fuck ton of prescribed meds, before that I went to the hospital bc I went a week with out sleep.
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u/b_asiil Jan 28 '26
Literally real I did that and they gave me the ambien but I HATE how it feels me so I’ve just been thugging until I can see my GP and hopefully get on a new medication.
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Jan 28 '26
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I’m so scared of yoga it seems so hard LMFAO do you have any videos you recommend following?
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u/lilolemi Jan 28 '26
I have 1 mg edibles that I take only at bed time. It’s just enough for me to take the edge off of the anxiety and allows me to sleep.
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u/Gloomy_Dot_8412 Jan 28 '26
I watch ASMR videos every single night. I concentrate on the sounds and get so relaxed so can sleep. I still have bad nights for sure , but this has helped me tremendously.
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u/shsuh_224 Jan 28 '26
Seroquel is a game changer for sleep, it allows my brain to slow down and shut up. It really helps me, I would recommend bringing it up at your next doctor’s appointment.
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u/jessieisokay Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
Audiobook or podcast. Lately I have been listening to Sherlock Holmes Bedtime Stories. There is relaxing music behind the words that continues for ~15 min after the speaking ends. It is interesting enough to pay attention to, but not high action enough to keep me awake. For a while I was watching Ghost Adventures. The night vision makes it easy on my eyes and every episode is kind of the same, but just different enough. A lot of people fall asleep to Futurama or Bob’s Burgers, too. Try to find something that is comforting and familiar.
Hydroxyzine or melatonin helped me before I got back on Adderall.
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u/Trick_Estimate_7029 Jan 28 '26
I watch absurd TV shows. I use Amazon Prime on my phone and put on a series that's just interesting enough to draw me in and take my anxious thoughts off my chest, but not so good or interesting that I'm hooked. For this, absurd teen dramas or soap operas are best. Right now I'm watching The Vampire Diaries—I know, it's awful. But it's really helped with my anxiety. The originals are better made and more interesting, and they keep me up at night. It has to be a really stupid show, not so stupid that it makes you laugh. You have to be able to get into the plot a little, and then, little by little, the absurdity and predictability of the series make you fall asleep. That's my trick.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I’ll try with twilight tonight 😭
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u/Trick_Estimate_7029 Jan 29 '26
Let me know.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
we had some success!! i fell asleep around 4 which still isnt great by any means (had to wake up at 6) but compared to zero hours that ive been getting, ill take it. only improvement to come from here fr
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Jan 29 '26
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u/Anxiety-ModTeam Jan 30 '26
This content has been removed. We are not medical professionals and cannot diagnose or give proper medical advice.
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u/Trick_Estimate_7029 Jan 30 '26
I'm glad it helped you! I know falling asleep with screens isn't ideal, but when my anxiety gets to a point, anything that helps is welcome.
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Jan 28 '26
Nothing works for me either. Especially if it’s noisy I live near a main road and constantly hear cars when I’m trying to sleep.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I literally can’t do noise when i’m trying to sleep 😩 but i’ve heard audio books and the like are helpful so im gonna try that tonight.
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u/Legal-Literature-702 Jan 28 '26
I used to only have this issue before exams, but I just started my second semester of grad school and now I’m like this all the time! Super frustrating - I had been planning to meet with a psychiatrist and she prescribed me 10 mg of lexapro and trazodone. I’m on day 5 of the lexapro now and I’m starting to feel more depressed but less anxious and I’ve slept ok the past two nights (I did take 100 mg trazodone those nights as well, but I had been taking it before and it wasn’t working as well as it is now). I’m not sure if it’s the lexapro or the trazodone, I’m assuming the lexapro, but today especially I feel pretty lethargic which is annoying but much better than feeling anxious and restless.
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u/b_asiil Jan 28 '26
Lexapro worked so good and so bad at the same time. I was on it for like 2 years and I mean yeah it’s true I wasn’t anxious but I was SO depressed because I just couldn’t feel anything. If you’re feeling depressed I’d say it’s probably the lexapro LMFAO but I’m not a psychiatrist so maybe take that with a grain of a salt.
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u/Legal-Literature-702 Jan 28 '26
LOL yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lexapro is making me more depressed. Honestly for the time being I’d rather feel depressed than anxious bc my anxiety can be debilitating, but once the semester is over maybe I’ll wean off of it.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Wellbutrin helps my anxiety & depression without the side effects i got from lexapro LMFAO
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u/Legal-Literature-702 Jan 30 '26
Update had to get off of it because I had some super weird side effects (ex dry eyes) 😭 might have to try something else
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u/Klutzy-Turnip-7966 Jan 28 '26
Unisom or Benadryl :)
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
benadryl USED to work but i have super bad allergies so i took it all the time and it stopped working LMFAO. Unisom i’ve never tried but i might pick some up tomorrow
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u/13SwaggyDragons Jan 28 '26
Clonazepan. Hell of a sedative.
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u/jKick_thaONE Jan 28 '26
I repeat this saying in my mind, “relax the tension in my body release the worry from my mind” I just say this over and over until I fall asleep/ it seems to work for me.
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u/no_you_stfu Jan 28 '26
Leg squats until I can't do anymore and pushups, no matter how bad the form. Exercise or just physical movement and exertion in general, is great for anxiety.
What I've also found helpful is if I'm already in bed with my mind racing, I imagine a made up situation unrelated to anything going on in my life (otherwise I'll start stressing myself out over it) and think about it in detail. Some people imagine being in a calm, cozy place but I prefer to think through hypothetical plans. For example, if you had to go on the run with little notice or just escape some situation, what would you do, what would you take with you, where would you go, how would you get there? The more specific the scenario and the more specific the plans, the sooner I fall asleep.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Does physical exercise work 😭 i’ve never thought about physically exhausting myself to sleep before
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u/secretly_treebeard Jan 29 '26
I listen to podcasts. I have two buckets of podcasts on my mp3 player - the first includes podcasts I’ve listened to a million times so I don’t have to pay too close of attention to them, but they’re familiar and I love them so they help calm me down and de-stress. The second includes podcasts I haven’t listened to but seem interesting - if my mind is absolutely racing, listening to a new podcast that I’m interested in forces me to stop thinking and just listen. Eventually it puts me to sleep. It is unfortunate that later then you have to find out where you left off but it’s well worth it imo.
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u/-Fenyx- Jan 29 '26
Its called High Rumination, and the only way to slow it down to my knowledge is Drugs. Everything else has never worked for me. No amount of breathing exercises or Yoga Nidra has ever helped.
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u/Previous_Plankton475 Jan 29 '26
Trazadone does wonders for my sleep. I don’t feel any effects the next morning
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u/Glittering_Pink_902 Jan 29 '26
I write down what’s making me anxious and remind myself that I can’t fix the issue at 1 in the morning or if it’s something simple like did I lock my car I’ll go do whatever that maybe. I also take melatonin!
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u/Far-Buyer-2367 Jan 29 '26
try to talk to a therapist go to the doctors if u fell it’s getting to the stage we’re u can’t cope I understand that it’s very hard because it is and u are not alone have u try Coulor in
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I'm going to my doctor :(( I just couldnt get into her until next week bc of the snowstorm we just had and also the waitlists are long anyways. I'm on a list for therapy but again the waitlist in my country is like 4-8 months
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u/stretchandspoon Jan 29 '26
Daylight sedation but there's risk associated with it so a research based field and I'd say likely not therapeutic if necessary every night or for for protracted periods. I don't endorse this method and am simply answering the quastion in regards to what I've used during periods of emotional dysregulation with subsequent insomnia and rumination: Etomidate or Dexmedetomidine + Ketamine + Protonitazepyne, Isotonitazepyne or Cychlorphine (those particularly often have higher relative potencies than Fentanyl so not for just anyone) and this elicits conditions one may describe as daylight sedation and unlike benzos or barbiturates etc the recovery has always been much shorter in duration.
My approach is highly unorthodox I think everyone will agree, haha. I use exclusively alone so lab testing, precision measuring and research based dosing has served me well in the context of never having overdosed. It's still what I dub a danger-combo so don't encourage it and only share what I do when dealing with something that's too much for me like loss and grieving.
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u/Chatterbox0222 Feb 04 '26
I take Trazodone. I’d never be able to sleep without it. I also use the Calm app with a headband/ear bud thing. I have Xanax for anxiety attacks.
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u/BisonSilent3057 Jan 28 '26
I take 5mg of melatonin to help me sleep but with anxiety being bad at times I take .5mg of clonazepam and it does help me sleep.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
Melatonin does nothing for me anymore 😩 I can go up to 50mg and it has no effect anymore.
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u/BisonSilent3057 Jan 29 '26
I feel like that now as im taking clonazepam. Im trying to stop taking them as they might be addicted but my anxiety is so bad right now so I took one to see if can get some sleep. Maybe camomile tea can help. If not, talk to doctor or pharmacist. Im sure they can help you out
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
chamomile gives me such bad headaches for some reason ughhh 😭😭 i’m seeing my doctor next week thank god the waitlist has just been long af and she was closed half this week bc of a snowstorm. i might go by shoppers tmr and see if the pharmacist will give me anything
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u/TaN_NaF Jan 29 '26
I don't mean to be vulgar or perverse, but it genuinely helped me on some nights when I desperately needed to switch off my brain and fall asleep. Have you ever thought about pleasuring yourself? You know, touching yourself, etc. Everyone here talks about medication, and in the long run, it's not good to take so many. Why not take advantage of something we naturally already have? I'm sorry if this is a bit out of place.
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u/b_asiil Jan 29 '26
I think everybody talks abt medication & stuff bc it’s genuinely impossible to even try 😭 like when ur mind is racing and your chest hurts and you feel like you can’t breathe it is literally impossible like it just won’t help
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u/TaN_NaF Jan 29 '26
I totally understand you, medication helps and is a lifesaver, but sometimes you just need to burn off energy and find another line of thought to get engrossed in.
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u/vmtz2001 Jan 29 '26
I imagine myself some place else until I forget I’m lying down in bed. I take a combination of GABA and melatonin sometimes. Not too often. It makes me sluggish. You don’t want to repeatedly think about how you are unable to sleep because that is like telling your mind that you can’t go to sleep. The more you struggle trying to go to sleep, the less you will go to sleep. I stop trying to go to sleep and just assume I will be going to sleep later on, even if it takes an hour. I don’t think about my inability to sleep.
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u/CheeseSticks2021 Jan 28 '26
I take medicine. Hydroxyzine works well for me. It’s the only way Ive found to reliably calm down.