Thank you both! You guys are certainly right about the anxiety. It seems to be anxiety that wakes me up and I probably make it worse by trying even harder to sleep more. Waking today after another odd, uncomfortable dream...I actually focused on how I was feeling rather than recollecting the dream and I realised I am waking up with a tightness in my chest that I oddly feel in my stomach. All these days I thought I was waking up really hungry and always made sure I was eating a big breakfast. But yesterday I had noticed the food hadn't made the discomfort in my stomach go away.

I'm glad my therapist appointment is today! I will ask her if there are any tricks to do in the morning to ease anxiety caused by dreams (oddly caused by anxiety itself). What a spiral!