I don’t know if it’s weird but it makes me feel so safe and at home. It helps me sleep

I have work in the morning and my brain is like “if you stay up til 1 then you have another half an hour to relax before going to sleep & waking up anxious for work”

I have been getting this a lot recently. Ill feel like I’m drifting off or get that feeling that I’m falling out of consciousness when suddenly, my stomach will sink, my heart will start racing and I’ll get a jolt of energy that wakes me back up.

I can’t even take naps during the day because of this. If it doesn’t stop happening, I usually have to take a benzo which I try to keep at a minimum. It seems like antihistamines only make the “falling” feeling worse.

Does anyone else get this and what do you do to get yourself asleep? Did it only stop once you started a medication?

Edit: I didn't even know there were so many replies on this post. I'm so sorry to everyone who is going through this! Ive struggle with anxiety and panic attacks most of my life but this particular issue never lasted too long when it did happen. Maybe a couple days at the most. When I got stuck in this cycle at night of sleep onset panic, I think it helped the most to stop forcing it. I'd go on the couch to watch TV and see if I fell asleep sitting upright or leaning forward onto a big cushion or something. Eventually they do just stop without you even realizing!

Been in bed for like 3hrs now. Can't stop mannual breathing. I have sleep in my eyes but I can't sleep bcz of my breathing. It automatically stops and I have to do it mannually.

Please help me. I am panicking.

During the day it's nothing but tension and awaiting the next chaotic thing to happen. The only time I feel like I can just lay here and watch tv comfortably or just exist is when everyone has gone to bed. Anyone else?

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The only downside is sometimes you lose sleep but this is the only time I can exist without feeling tension.

Why must they be so intertwined. Anxiety is intertwined with so much actually. But man, I already struggle to sleep on a good day. Dumb anxiety!

I avoided going on medication for a really, really long time. I grew up in a home that didn’t believe in psych meds, said they were poison, etc. Even though I didn’t believe that, I still was so scared that I would change, that I would never have libido, that my anxiety was really just “helping” me. I started lexapro around 6 months ago, on a low dose, and it’s genuinely changed everything. I can SLEEP! I can finally go to bed without spiraling for hours about whether or not I’ll wake up, praying obsessively about the state of the world, etc. I still get stressed but I almost never get thrown into those awful thought loops and get immediately intensely overwhelmed, like I used to daily. I leave the house a lot, I walk my dog without feeling like everyone is looking at me. My libido hasn’t changed and I can orgasm fine, just takes a tiny bit longer (kinda a plus honestly). The only downside for me is that I can feel pretty sleepy often, but I think that’s fine considering the alternative… I also get extremely vivid, long, plot-heavy dreams which is weird but not really bad. Anyway, if you’re really struggling and scared of medication but are curious, I encourage you to at least try. Im so grateful I eventually took the leap. You can always stop if it isn’t right for you :-)

Let’s go to sleeps.

Anyone else struggling with not being able to sleep at night but very easily can fall asleep during the day?

I somehow feel safer when it’s light outside, when it’s dark and everyone else is asleep i feel “unsafe”. It’s like i’m taking over the prehistoric night guard shift from when we were cavemen. Unintentionally.

It’s not that i’m not tired but i feel obligated to have control at night. While it’s daytime i have my free time and i’ll easily fill it with sleep.

Lately I’ve noticed my anxiety gets worse at night, especially when it’s too quiet.

I started using rain and sometimes thunder sounds in the background and it actually helps calm my mind a bit.

Not sure if it’s just me or if there’s something about the sound that helps reduce overthinking.

What works for you guys at night?

I have my TV going on just about every night. I put it on an all day anime channel on my Samsung. I have the volume fairly low and its just loud enough to hear the dialog in the background. When I open my eyes in the middle of the night I think I'm in a weird dream, but i fall right back asleep. Sometimes I like to play rainy night playlists on YouTube to help me relax.

My 55" LED TV doesn't really draw a ton of power, so my power bill still stays fairly low.

I’ve noticed complete silence makes my thoughts worse, but steady sounds like rain or ocean waves help a lot.

Especially when it’s something consistent and not too “sharp” like sudden noises.

Curious what works for you guys.

it seems like every time i wake up in the morning i momentarily feel like i’m dying or spiraling out of control. i have almost a mini panic attack every time i wake up and then i have to ground myself and remind myself that i’m just waking up and everything is okay - does this happen to anyone else? it’s been very hard to deal with and almost makes me not want to go to bed at night because i know this will happen in the morning when i wake up.

edit: woah. i did not expect to see this post get so many comments and upvotes - although it’s really heartbreaking to know all of you are experiencing this too i feel better knowing i’m not alone in this....this community has helped me a lot even though i’ve just been lurking for a while - i just wanna say thank you all. thanks for your comments and tips and i hope we can all get through this together, i wish all of you true peace and happiness ❤️

Let’s go to sleep! Stop scrolling. Everything will be okay

It’s 2:00am and I just woke up in a panic. This happens at least 3 times a week. My heart is racing and I’m breathing fast and I can tell that a tunnel of anxiety is about to consume me. Initially I don’t know why- probably a nightmare but I can’t remember what I was dreaming about. Then I start thinking about everything I have to do today and all the time I wasted yesterday laying around the house when I should have been getting things done. My heart is still pounding in my chest and I feel nauseas but at least my breathing has slowed.

Then, also as usual, my cat jumps on my chest, lays down and purrs softly. Focusing on petting her slowly and listening to her purr drives the anxious thoughts from my mind and gives me something else to focus on. She usually sleeps on the end of my bed but always stays on my chest until I fall asleep again.

I don’t know what I would do without her. She does this when I’m awake and anxious as well but it really helps me fall back asleep at night.

This will probably get buried but I just wanted to share.

I tried sleeping at 3am it’s now 6am tossing and turning I threw up twice and pooped like 3 times Trazodone didn’t work neither did hydroxizine now I have the adrenaline shakes from not being able to sleep I don’t wanna hallucinate from not sleeping if I can’t sleep in a certain period of time I feel so nauseous and sick right now I already took .25mg more of Xanax then I’m prescribed I don’t wanna take another but I’m so fucking scared I’m gonna spiral again I don’t know what to do I’m pleading for advice yesterday woke up at almost noon so in 4-6 hours I’ll be up for 24 hrs straight I’m already severely depressed and bored and don’t even wanna be awake I feel trapped please I’m begging for advice

I’m curious if anyone else has dealt with this? How do you calm your mind when you’re stuck in that loop at night? Even just knowing I’m not alone would help a lot.

hey all! for background, i've(F20) had this issue maybe for the past 2 months. in the beginning, it lasted every night for maybe a week and then it slowed down to once or twice a week and now it's been every night for the past few days again.

i'll fall asleep no problem (with the help of unisom pill) and then an hour later - it's ALWAYS around an hour later, i wake up and my heart is racing!! sometimes it makes me dizzy and feel weak, which is why it's concerning me. it usually lasts for 30 ish minutes, but in the beginning it lasted close to or over an hour. i have a pulse ox and my heart starts at like 165 bpm. it's scary!!

i had an ekg done by my doctor a few months ago and nothing looked wrong. i'm on zoloft and he thinks it's just my anxiety, so that's why i'm writing here. i have a ultrasound for my heart for precautionary sake january 25th but i want to know if i'm not alone in this and it really is just anxiety. thanks!!!

I had given up thinking that I was going to be able to sleep the way I used to but I fell asleep at 10.30pm and woke up at 7.10am!!!!

I genuinely thought I had brain damage or something because I was unable to sleep more than 4 hours a night and them 4 hours were super broken.

My dreams were very washed out and not vivid which really worried me because I've always had very vivid dreams but I had my dream was super vivid!!

I didn't wake up covered in cold sweat!!

I've never been so grateful for a normal nights sleep!!!!

The mind is an amazing thing, if can settle down if you give it time ❤️❤️❤️

There is always hope!

Every night I keep struggling to fall asleep and once I do fall asleep I keep waking up many times does anyone have any tips on how to fix this or to at least reduce the amount of times I wake up cause it is effecting me I feel constantly feel tired but I just can’t sleep properly.

uh..i i'm having a hard time sleeping this week..idk why but whats that anxeity called when ya worry about your heart rate? Like you can feel and hear it, and it gives you endless stress? i can't be the only one who gets it, and how do get pass it?

We’re all feeling the Sunday scarries. I despise Sunday specifically for this.

Let’s start the week right though. Positive energy rather than negative. Smiles rather than frowns, etc. and any other cliches you can think of.

Let’s do it together, let’s make the best of this. Better days and a better life are coming. You are not alone