Racing Thoughts

I have been getting a lot of racing thoughts at night when I lie down to go to sleep. Does anybody else get these? What do you do to help stop them?

Hey there MissMay1977,

I get these and I have found that having a note book at your side so when your racing thoughts come into your head you can just write them down and think about them the next day

Hope this helps

I do the notebook thing, too. It helps to get stuff out of the head and onto paper.

i take a sleep aid...i found the notebook didn't help very much for me...because i couldn't think long enough about a single thought to write it down. However, i have heard that writing in down works well for alot of people.

I do get this when I'm unwell. A therapist told me that when my mind starts going in over drive to say the word stop in mind. It does help me.

These symptoms may be a sign that something isn't right (meds, outside triggers etc.). Do you see a psychiatrist and/or a therapist? I suggest contacting a mental health professional to discuss.

I had to start taking Abilify. It helps with racing thoughts some. Also, hot tea calms me down, chamomile for example. Getting out of bed for 10 minutes and practicing taking deep long slow breaths and telling myself, nothing bad is going to happen. I have to relax and sleep now so I feel awake in the morning. Just talk yourself through it slowly and you'll be fine Believe you will be fine.

Warmest wishes!
mishawow

I'm the same as Blue - racing thoughts at night usually mean I'm in a bad place (stressed, anxious or the bad kind of hypo-manic). Sometimes when I know I'm not going to be able to sleep because of racing thoughts I'll take a sleep aid. Also, reading a book sometimes helps me stop thinking about the things that keep me awake...

Like Blue said, I would definitely talk to a pdoc as he/she can help you figure out what course of action to take

Indeed up now because of them. Ideas coming so fast sometimes I feel like my own plasma ball.



I've been working on art therapy during the day. I been giving new meaning to the picture is worth theory. It's been helping some to have another way to express what seems sometimes impossible to express.

Journaling doesn't seem to work much for me either unless I change it from what most people think. Have you ever tried mind mapping the ideas?

hmmm i just go with the flow, but wont recomend that so...... Everything that they suggested above and what about trying something physical before bed , or start saying the thoughts out loud , that usually cant break my thought patterns.

sorry... Can break my thought patterns!

Yes, I see a pdoc. I went and seen her yesterday and she increased my Cymbalta from 30mg to 60mg. I am also having problems with increasing anxiety at night so she wants to see if that helps before putting me on an anti anxiety med. Thanks for your replies. I will try the notebook thing tonight!

I think cymbalta is an anti-d, so I'm a bit confused that she would increase this prior to increasing your mood stabilizer or adding an anti-anxiety med? Just keep an eye on it and if the symptoms become worse or continue let your pdoc know.

Cymbalta is approved for generalized anxiety disorder and I have been having lots of anxiety also. I am already on a really high dosage of Geodon. (240 mg) I am going to give it two weeks and if I am not better than I am going to go back.

Sometimes I chant mantras and do breathing exercises. Sometimes I do the writing thing too.

Take a deep, slow breath and immediatly get into something else.

I do too. I was skeptical about trying this, but it does work sometimes. Anything that helps, even once and a while, is better than nothing.
I start with my toes and say
"my toes are feeling warm and heavy, my body is relaxing so I can sleep"
I work my way up my body, legs, abdomen, lower back, hands, arms, chest, upper back, neck, jaw, and head.
The first few times were awkward, but after a few nights of trying it REALLY helped. Even if I don't fall to sleep my body always feels better after.
Good luck

I've been taking trazadone 200mg along with .5mg of xanax just before bedtime. I've been doing so for the last 6 months at least. It gives me a bad stomach ache after 10 to 15 minutes, but then knocks me out cold in about 20 minutes, whether the mind is spinning or not. That's probably not a good long term solution though. I guess what I've tried to do in the past is meditate and focus on the simplest thing to focus on, which is the breath, and ONLY the breath. That can be really hard to do though when all systems are firing at once! In all honesty, if meditation failed, I would get out of bed and go pop about 3 xanax and just hope that it would knock me out, and usually it did. Probably not good advice, but that is honestly how I've dealt with it in the past.

I frequently have racing thoughts at night and Trazodone does help. If you take a high enough dose it will knock you out. Besides that you could try going for a walk or doing something to tire you out, although that may just wake you up more. I usually take a Trazodone and lay in bed. You may also want to stay away from things that you know could trigger mania in the evening and at night. For me if I start surfing the web or writing I get excited and it keeps me up.