[BabyCakesHunt]

my husband both suffer from depression and anxiety.my anxiety just seems to come n go as it pleases but my hisband ,wheile he experiences it throughout the day it always seems to get worse at between 5-7 pm. i can see it on his face,his body language.it dosent seem to matter what happened during his day the evening is the worst for him.is this normal? there dont seem to be any triggers for him at this evening time. anything and everything triggers mine but i dont know how to help him.we r both on the same medications.its just in the evenings,now matter what hes donin or done everynight it gets worse.....any thoughts or suggestions?

[phoenix7]

maybe try to get him into doing somthing before that time that runs thourhg that time ? something that will keep him fully invoilved....

BabyCakesHunt, hi!

I suffered from exactly the same thing your husband does: I (no matter what) always had my biggest anxiety on late evenings/early nights... it was like, when the sun came down, I got a huge increment on the amount of anxiety I had. It did not have anything to do with external triggers, since every day was different and I had nothing recurrent at that time to blame my anxiety to. I just had no idea where this anxiety increase came from!

Nevertheless, after some time, my H did notice from what I told him about my past, that when I still lived at my parents house, that time of the day was when my father came back home from work. I had terrible problems with my father so it was a HUGE stressful time where I practically got panic attacks and more than once had to hide under the dinning table . So as my H said once: hit a dog with a stick everyday at dusk during 23 yrs. Then stop the hitting and I bet you the dog still will get very agitated every dusk even though he does not get hit ever again... That was the most convincing theory of why I had such a time-of-the-day related peak of anxiety.

So here comes my question? Can your husband recall something like this to happen in his childhood/teens that could have made a mark on him in a way that, even if that event does not happen anymore, he still gets the physical reactions to it?

Hope this can help a bit! Please let me know...

- Cat

[jerrymichele]

I would call the Dr. back up, and see if you can have the meds adjusted.

[BabyCakesHunt]

he did have his dosage incresaed .......not workin yet.

[Aunt Donna]

It is called "Sundowner's Syndrome". I should know, I have it. Evenings are terrible. I do take medication for it and OCD and panic disorder. I try to stay away from windows and the outside during this time, but my body knows. Medication does help and therapy helps.

[jerrymichele]

He might need to be on a different script if this med isn't working.

[Aunt Donna]

I agree with JerryMichelle if the meds aren't working, he may need something else. The doctor needs to find what works for him. I had to change meds threes and dosage adjusted before what works for me was found.

[thunderbear]

Originally Posted by BabyCakesHunt

my husband both suffer from depression and anxiety.my anxiety just seems to come n go as it pleases but my hisband ,wheile he experiences it throughout the day it always seems to get worse at between 5-7 pm. i can see it on his face,his body language.it dosent seem to matter what happened during his day the evening is the worst for him.is this normal? there dont seem to be any triggers for him at this evening time. anything and everything triggers mine but i dont know how to help him.we r both on the same medications.its just in the evenings,now matter what hes donin or done everynight it gets worse.....any thoughts or suggestions?

Hello BabyCakes. My anxiety/panic gets worse in the evening also. I come to the conclusion it is because things slow down and it gives your mind more time to sit and think. That and usually I am tired and stressed by the day's events. It helps me to just sit down and watch (I know this sounds weird) the Andy Griffith Show. Or get on here and talk about my feelings. Or read my favorite book. Anything that makes me feel good and relaxed and that keeps my mind busy

[reader1587]

Originally Posted by BabyCakesHunt

my husband both suffer from depression and anxiety.my anxiety just seems to come n go as it pleases but my hisband ,wheile he experiences it throughout the day it always seems to get worse at between 5-7 pm. i can see it on his face,his body language.it dosent seem to matter what happened during his day the evening is the worst for him.is this normal? there dont seem to be any triggers for him at this evening time. anything and everything triggers mine but i dont know how to help him.we r both on the same medications.its just in the evenings,now matter what hes donin or done everynight it gets worse.....any thoughts or suggestions?

I get something very similar…I never realized other people experienced it. I have two explanations for it:

1) people are designed to be up during daylight and asleep at night. Because we live relatively far from the equator where people originated (and where the days are longer, i'm not suggesting people in scandinavia *should* sleep twelve hours a day), and use all kinds of artificial lighting, it screw our systems up, essentially it's protesting that it's not being allowed to go to rest as the sun goes down.

2) people with depression can have very hard times with transitions--like it's hard to go to sleep *and* hard to wake up, because they're both transitional states. Dusk could be similarly distressing because the body is changing from light to dark conditions.

don't know if this helps you. maybe you (he) could try getting up at dawn, and then using a lightbox to ease the early evening transition, and then getting to bed at a reasonable hour (9?) and see if that helps

[theotterone]

Originally Posted by BabyCakesHunt

my husband both suffer from depression and anxiety.my anxiety just seems to come n go as it pleases but my hisband ,wheile he experiences it throughout the day it always seems to get worse at between 5-7 pm. i can see it on his face,his body language.it dosent seem to matter what happened during his day the evening is the worst for him.is this normal? there dont seem to be any triggers for him at this evening time. anything and everything triggers mine but i dont know how to help him.we r both on the same medications.its just in the evenings,now matter what hes donin or done everynight it gets worse.....any thoughts or suggestions?

Hang in there. The scientific community thinks that anxiety is our "fight or flight" switch being faulting and switching "on". We have a primal reaction to what we don't know. I know that my worse symptoms are at night in the dark, so that may be part of it. It also could be since he can relax his brain reacts. Medications work differently depending on the person taking them. He should talk to the doctor and see if they have any suggestions.

Hugs and much support!

[phoenix7]

just wondered how you guys are doing?

[theotterone]

Another thing to keep in mind is many believe anxiety disorder is caused by our primal "fight or flight" switch turning on when there is no danger. Our bodies then don't know what to do with the influx of adrenaline. My panic has always been worse at night. It may relate to not being able to see in the dark well, and we fear the "unknown". Full spectrum lighting may help in the evening hours before bed.

Good luck!

[crystalrose]

one other member mentioned it. It sounds like sundowner syndrome. Usually the elderly suffer from it but can occur in young people especially with anxiety.. If if is occupied and busy during this time it should relieve some of the symptoms.

[theotterone]

My apologies to all, I am new and I didn't see my first post, not realizing there is a second page!
Sorry, I had a blonde moment...