afraid to sleep

every night i have to fight my fear/paranoia of going to sleep. It was so easy going to sleep when I was overmedicated and it was just an easy zonk from the abilify. But I had to stop taking that thanks to the tardive dyskinesia that would wake me up with total body spasms. Oh, what am i trying to say. I just want to be tired and then fall asleep without being scared..

I'm so sorry you're having to find some way of coping with this. How awful, when sleep for so many is a respite. Are you afraid you won't awaken? Have you been able to talk with your medical doctor or anyone about this ?

Go to sleep ambience!!

Can you make yourself tired by running in circles in the evening and then taking a shower and slowwwwing down?

Hope u get some sleep!

why the fear/paranoia of sleep? is it bad dreams, the spasms, do you know why?

it sounds horrible

What are you scared of going to sleep for? Do you have nightmares?

Yes, why is sleeping scary for you? Are you afraid of the dark?

I could understand how sleeping could be scary sometimes, I can't imagine though being afraid to sleep though. Have you talked with a therapist about this yet? I'm sure therapy could help a lot with that. I wish you the best of luck, and I think it would be helpful to know why your afraid to sleep.

Yes, I agree. You need to find out why you are afraid and confront that. When you do, the fear will evaporate and you will relax and be able to fall asleep gently.

Until you do locate the fear, try reading some meditation material in bed before turning off the bed lamp. Something like "Around the Year with Emmet Fox" is good. So is "The One Year Book of Quiet Times With God". There are two others I like, as well: "Forgiving and Moving On" and "Keep It Simple". All of them take your mind off anything that is troublesome and let you have some sense of being protected by
forces we know very little about.

Hope you will talk about it with your psychiatrist and find the thing that will help
you confront the fear. It may even be an unconscious one that you can't get to.
Your doctor will help bring it to the surface and then it will dissipate into nothingness.

Take care of yourself.

Genetic

Thanks everyone. My t and I have discussed it several times. I do have PTSD as well from someone trying to kill me, and from being stalked, but that has been in remission. I know it's irrational, and my geodon has helped tremendously compared to how bad it used to be. I wouldn't sleep at all at night before. Wouldn't take anything either, but being bipolar and not sleeping just makes the paranoia and the mania even worse. So they have given me meds to sleep but it doesn't take away the fear.

Sorry that happened to you Abience I can see why it would be hard to sleep Yes, you've got to try to keep the sleep regular. Hopefully enough nights of waking up in the morning safe, the fear may subside will time.

I wish it would, but my illogical brain keeps telling me that's all it needs is for one night of me not being aware and something bad will happen.

Do you live alone then? Do the doors lock well? My son broke one of our doors in a rage, now it won't lock, I get a little paranoid about it sometimes. I keep a sword under my bed, I'm serious, it's a real sword lol.

No, I have a room mate. Weapons too, just this irrational fear. I'm sorry you have to go through what your going through. No amount of paranoia is fun.

Did you get sleep? Hope you're ok

Thanks. I did sleep, med induced of course. If left to my own designs, I'd stay up all night.

I'm not sure I can totally identify. But when I was pregnant I was so manic I never slept. When it reach critical I started with a variation of sleep meds. I hated the nights. Something about wanting to sleep and not being able to is unnatural, creepy, and I was always scared. Scared I'd die. Scared I wouldn't but would want to I'd I went one more night without sleeping. The more I thought about those the more my anxiety grew and worse it all became. I hated night time.

Hugs.