[despondent18]

Community,

I'm curious if anyone has experience with being very neurotic, overthinking, analyzing everything to the point that it can drive you to paralysis or needing external validation. Sometimes it reaches anxiety levels where HR elevates and I feel jumpy.

My most immediate concern is sleep - I've spent the past 3 decades with subpar sleep (due to CPTSD hypervigilance making me a light sleeper). I've had enough and despite exercising, going to therapy, etc. I'd like to try medication.

I can get to sleep but have difficulty remaining asleep. On a good night I'll get 6-7 hours of light sleep, toss turn, wake up 1-2x and fall back. On a bad night, as of late, I will fall asleep and be up within 2-3 hours and almost never get back to sleep.

Are there medication specifically for those who can fall asleep but not stay asleep that is related to anxiety/overthinking/analyzing as a result of trauma, etc.?

Any thoughts/experiences with medication and sleep?
Thanks in advance!

[Skeezyks]

Hello despondent: Thank you for sharing your concern here on PC. I see this is your first post. So... welcome to Psych Central. One additional forum, here on PC, that may be of interest to you would be the sleep issues forum. Here's a link just in case you haven't already found it:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/slee...nterpretation/

And then here are links to 9 articles, from Psych Central's archives, on the subject of sleep & medications for sleep. The first article is by our host Dr. John Grohol, Psy. D.:

Sleep Disorders & Insomnia Guide

Medication and Sleep

Bipolar Disorder Sleep Medication | Depression Sleep Medication | Bipolar Beat | Candida Fink

Medication Lowers Anxiety Improves Sleep

https://pro.psychcentral.com/sleepin...s-new-and-old/

https://pro.psychcentral.com/sleepin...hich-patients/

https://pro.psychcentral.com/sleep-n...onin-valerian/

https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-fir...ise-you/?all=1

https://psychcentral.com/lib/14-stra...dium=popular17

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

[despondent18]

Much appreciated!!! I will read through

[WishfulThinker66]

Have you been tested for sleep apnea? The sleep trouble might be physical in origin. A big tell-tale is people telling you that you snore horribly.

While not always the case, a thick neck and highish BMI can also be indicators. Just a thought here. I think you should talk to your doctor and enquire about physical reasons you might not be sleeping.

Also remember to practise good sleep hygene - which I apologise if you are already doing. This involves absolutely no screen-time in the hour or two before bedtime. This starts with removing TVs, phones, tablets, etc from the bedroom too.

Consider your diet especially that which you consume later in the evening and at night. Stay away from those things which require more effort to digest.

While these are obviously no fixes for sleep trouble related to Anxiety and PTSD they should lessen the impact.

[TRNRMOM]

Originally Posted by despondent18

Community,

I'm curious if anyone has experience with being very neurotic, overthinking, analyzing everything to the point that it can drive you to paralysis or needing external validation. Sometimes it reaches anxiety levels where HR elevates and I feel jumpy.

My most immediate concern is sleep - I've spent the past 3 decades with subpar sleep (due to CPTSD hypervigilance making me a light sleeper). I've had enough and despite exercising, going to therapy, etc. I'd like to try medication.

I can get to sleep but have difficulty remaining asleep. On a good night I'll get 6-7 hours of light sleep, toss turn, wake up 1-2x and fall back. On a bad night, as of late, I will fall asleep and be up within 2-3 hours and almost never get back to sleep.

Are there medication specifically for those who can fall asleep but not stay asleep that is related to anxiety/overthinking/analyzing as a result of trauma, etc.?

Any thoughts/experiences with medication and sleep?
Thanks in advance!

i could write a book re my sleep issues which presented themselves only about 2 yrs. ago. diagnosed in my 30's and now a 72 yr. old female, bp2, hypomania but no depression.i overthink every darn thing in my life and research the hell out of everything; anxiety is on my bp spectrum; after much trial and error w/all meds for sleep, over-the counter as well as rx, this is what works best for me:

25 mg. seroquel
15 mg. temazepam
and just past few months taking 200 mg progesterone every nite instead of only 10 days each month as i'm still on estrogen==the quality of sleep is so much better since adding progesterone nightly for some reason.

ambien puts me to sleep, doesn't keep me asleep; tried zzzzquill ; hydroxizine combined w/xanax per psych nurse who almost overdosed me w/this combo; anti-anxiety meds do almost nothing tho i take 1/2 klonopin daily in a.m. and if i'm really anxious by afternoon, will take another 1/2; wear blue-light blocking orange glasses from 6pm til bedtime while watching tv or on computer and keep exact bedtime 7 days a week; 1 glass of alcohol a week around 4pm and i find sugar and any italian carbs for dinner (lasagna, spaghetti, pizza) take me much longer for body to process and thus keep me awake; moving to 2nd bedroom if i then need another 1/2 25mg seroquel usually helps as well...just changing the location seems to work. good luck.

[MickeyCheeky]

I'm so sorry you're struggling, despondent18 I have never experienced this, so unfortunately I don't have a lot of advice to give. I'd suggest to talk to your Pdoc about this and see how it goes from there, if you haven't already. Maybe he/she will be able to help you. Hopefully you'll be able to find the right meds combination for you. All the others have great advice as well! I hope you'll feel better soon. Sleep is definitely important, but it's hard if you suffer from MI. Do you know what usually causes the "bad nights"? What about the "good nights"? Is there anything you're doing differently between the two? I'd suggest to think about that if you haven't already. Perhaps it doesn't depend on you, but it doesn't hurt to try. I hope you'll be able to get the help you need. You can do this! You're strong, I know that. I believe in you. Remember that we're here for you if you need it. Feel free to vent here as much as you want. We'll listen to what you have to say and won't judge you. Keep writing here if it helps. I'm here for you as well. Feel free to PM me anytime. Let me know if I can do something to help you. Wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this

[Goforward]

I have been on Seroquel 25 mg and manage to get about 5 hours a night. I take an afternoon nap to give me more down time. The Serquel has seemed to help anxiety too.

[stanislavski]

" very neurotic, overthinking, analyzing everything to the point that it can drive you to paralysis" Gee, you just described the last 45 years of my life! 300 mg of Gabapentin plus 1 mg of Ativan (Lorazepam) helps me sleep. I also take 300 mg of the Gaba in the a.m. although I'm not sure it's doing anything. In addition: distraction - distraction - distraction! As much exercise as you can get and distract from the lies your brain is telling you. Long hot baths are good too. But really, in the end, I think we can modify a little bit here and there but our core remains unchanged. Annie Leibovitz put it best: "There is no inner peace, only nervousness or death" :-)

[sarahsweets]

Have you had a sleep study?