[gabmux]

I wake every night about 3:00am. Instantly I can feel the Adrenalin or what ever the hormones are called flow throughout my body. I have not the slightest idea why. I'll lay there in a state of terror for at least 3 hours, hoping it will go away. During that time, all the most difficult times in my life will run through my mind at high speed. I can't control my thoughts. I can feel my heart beating, pounding as if I have been running or heavy lifting. I try to keep breathing at a steady rate because it seems as if my body will stop breathing if left on it's own. I've been living this way for 12 years now. It has left me unemployed and unemployable. All relationships have ended except for one that only hangs on by a thread. If anyone can relate to this...how long can a human live this way. I hope it is not much longer.....

i'm sure things will get better for you eventually.

sorry you are feeling this way right now

[gabmux]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

i'm sure things will get better for you eventually.

sorry you are feeling this way right now

Thank you much for kind reply....
Have U ever experienced this?
Do U know of some way to prevent these episodes?

Originally Posted by gabmux

Thank you much for kind reply....
Have U ever experienced this?
Do U know of some way to prevent these episodes?

yes, i've experienced it..

as for ways to deal with it?

i'm not sure... but i try and put a dvd on low or something to maybe distract me.

Originally Posted by gabmux

Thank you much for kind reply....
Have U ever experienced this?
Do U know of some way to prevent these episodes?

I have experienced this. I pass out and then wake up maybe 45 minutes after I fall asleep and then it takes me several hours to fall back to sleep. If you see any 3-4 a.m. posts on here from me, they are almost always depressing and somewhat manic because that's how I'm feeling.

Possible ideas:
**exercise 2-3 hours before bed. Totally exhaust yourself out. Maybe, just maybe you'll sleep better. If you don't want to go outside, buy yourself some hand weights. If you have a Wii or Playstation, you could buy DDR or Zumba...something like that.

**try having A drink before bedtime. The goal is not to get plastered but to relax yourself a little more.

**if you've never tried Valarian or Melatonin they are worth a try. They are herbal sleep aids that work well for some people.

**when you wake up, get up. Don't stay in bed. Try to stop the thinking before it has the chance to grab hold. Do something relaxing: take a bath, read a book, watch a comedy, take a walk, do that exercising, eat a snack. Anything that will keep your mind from thinking. I know this is hard. It's much easier to lie there and take whatever your mind wants to delve out. It's almost as though we feel we deserve it and shouldn't help ourselves.

**if you haven't done any meditation, try it before bed. It is very, very hard to start meditating. Our minds won't settle down for it, but it's worth a try. There's a lot of short 2-3 minute guided meditations on YouTube and the website www.audiodharma.com. Increase the length of your meditations as you're able.

I hope some of these help. There's no reason why you can't do a few of these in conjunction with each other. lol....I honestly don't take my own advice much of the time. Let me know if anything seems to help. Don't give up if it doesn't seem to work the first time. Have confidence in yourself...you can do it!!

[BrokenNBeautiful]

Me too.

I have insomnia, sleep bizarre hours.

My new pdoc wonders if I am also bipolar.

Maybe not cause I don't crash, but I do stay awake and "hopping" for over 14 hours at a time.

Make your nights as pleasant as possible.

I think my heart palpitations were from all this "up" feeling/stimulation. (went to ER last month for that).

I get scared that it might kill me. lol Sleep deprivation and too much stimulation.

I don't have any real advice.

I am going to tell my pdoc to try me on something besides seroquel though.

I need to come down sometimes. lol

Carol

[gabmux]

Originally Posted by Maranara

I have experienced this. I pass out and then wake up maybe 45 minutes after I fall asleep and then it takes me several hours to fall back to sleep. If you see any 3-4 a.m. posts on here from me, they are almost always depressing and somewhat manic because that's how I'm feeling.

Possible ideas:
**exercise 2-3 hours before bed. Totally exhaust yourself out. Maybe, just maybe you'll sleep better. If you don't want to go outside, buy yourself some hand weights. If you have a Wii or Playstation, you could buy DDR or Zumba...something like that.

**try having A drink before bedtime. The goal is not to get plastered but to relax yourself a little more.

**if you've never tried Valarian or Melatonin they are worth a try. They are herbal sleep aids that work well for some people.

**when you wake up, get up. Don't stay in bed. Try to stop the thinking before it has the chance to grab hold. Do something relaxing: take a bath, read a book, watch a comedy, take a walk, do that exercising, eat a snack. Anything that will keep your mind from thinking. I know this is hard. It's much easier to lie there and take whatever your mind wants to delve out. It's almost as though we feel we deserve it and shouldn't help ourselves.

**if you haven't done any meditation, try it before bed. It is very, very hard to start meditating. Our minds won't settle down for it, but it's worth a try. There's a lot of short 2-3 minute guided meditations on YouTube and the website www.audiodharma.com. Increase the length of your meditations as you're able.

I hope some of these help. There's no reason why you can't do a few of these in conjunction with each other. lol....I honestly don't take my own advice much of the time. Let me know if anything seems to help. Don't give up if it doesn't seem to work the first time. Have confidence in yourself...you can do it!!

Thank you much! These are all great ideas. I do use the hand weights. I like them the best. I also have used the Valerian until it just wouldn't work anymore. The Melatonin still seems to work a bit though.

What you wrote here is so true!.... "It's much easier to lie there and take whatever your mind wants to delve out. It's almost as though we feel we deserve it and shouldn't help ourselves."

I can't use the alcohol...I am sorry to say. But I know for certain that would work!
What also works is Trazodone with one of the benzodiazapines like lorazepam or clonazepam. But I've been trying really hard not to use these.
Thank you for kind reply

I'm glad some of the ideas seem to be helping. Just don't give up on it....find the combo that works. It won't work all the time, but hopefully you'll be able to find some relief. Been there many nights...understand completely.

[LaneyT87]

If you don't feel you should have that drink, you could try bedtime tea. I like this in combination with Melatonin. It gets me about 5 hours a night witch is still not enough but better than what I was getting.

[bpd2]

Originally Posted by gabmux

Thank you much! These are all great ideas. I do use the hand weights. I like them the best. I also have used the Valerian until it just wouldn't work anymore. The Melatonin still seems to work a bit though.

My advice is to go to a sleep center site on the web and look at their advice. When I was in the psych unit the last time, a doc from the sleep center came with a handout for us about just this issue--because lots of psych disorders have this symptom. I remember these: Don't exercise for at least 2 hours before bed because it revs your metabolism even as it tires your muscles; if you are awake more than 15 minutes, get up and go do something for an hour, then go back to bed and let yourself sleep; count --really, like counting sheep--but do it with your eyes closed, and when you lose count, start over at one, don't stress about losing count; start turning down your lighting as the sun sets, so that you are giving your body clues, instead of creating artificial daylight that throws off your body's rhythms; keep the bedroom very, very dark and quiet--buy an eye mask and ear plugs if you have to; never do anything in bed (eat, read) except sleep and sex; drink warm milk before bed (there's an enzyme in it that is calming); take any meds with anxiety side-effects in the morning, not at night--and try to get time-release meds, in any case; meditate on a calming word for 15 or 20 minutes before bed--or any other meditation techniques--like imagining yourself at the ocean with the waves lapping in and out on a calm, empty beach.
So, sometimes I remember these solutions, sometimes I don't. Writing them down here makes me think I'd better write them on a card and put it on my nightstand so that I remember them when it's bad . . .

[gabmux]

Originally Posted by LaneyT87

If you don't feel you should have that drink, you could try bedtime tea. I like this in combination with Melatonin. It gets me about 5 hours a night witch is still not enough but better than what I was getting.

Yes. Thanks. I have not tried the tea and melatonin together.
I have been using the "Nighty Night" tea from Traditional Medicinals brand.
It does help. Thank you.

[gabmux]

Originally Posted by bpd2

My advice is to go to a sleep center site on the web and look at their advice. When I was in the psych unit the last time, a doc from the sleep center came with a handout for us about just this issue--because lots of psych disorders have this symptom. I remember these: Don't exercise for at least 2 hours before bed because it revs your metabolism even as it tires your muscles; if you are awake more than 15 minutes, get up and go do something for an hour, then go back to bed and let yourself sleep; count --really, like counting sheep--but do it with your eyes closed, and when you lose count, start over at one, don't stress about losing count; start turning down your lighting as the sun sets, so that you are giving your body clues, instead of creating artificial daylight that throws off your body's rhythms; keep the bedroom very, very dark and quiet--buy an eye mask and ear plugs if you have to; never do anything in bed (eat, read) except sleep and sex; drink warm milk before bed (there's an enzyme in it that is calming); take any meds with anxiety side-effects in the morning, not at night--and try to get time-release meds, in any case; meditate on a calming word for 15 or 20 minutes before bed--or any other meditation techniques--like imagining yourself at the ocean with the waves lapping in and out on a calm, empty beach.
So, sometimes I remember these solutions, sometimes I don't. Writing them down here makes me think I'd better write them on a card and put it on my nightstand so that I remember them when it's bad . . .

Thank you much. I'm thinking you all have given me everything I need. Now it's up to me to do the work.

[gabmux]

Good morning to all.
I found this poem in my readings this morning. it seemed to apply to this thread. I hope this material is acceptable here.
Thank you for your time.

Hail and acclaim the Overcoming Man.
Happy are they who hear and understand
Happy are they who, when alone with Night,
Feel calm, and deep, and broad as Night;
Whose faces are not smitten in the dark
by wrongsThey perpetrated in the dark;
Whose eyelids do not smart with tears they caused
Their fellowmen to shed;
Whose hands do not itch with mischief and with greed;
Whose ears are not besieged with hissings of their lust;
Whose thoughts are not bitten with their thoughts;
Whose hearts are not hives for all manners of cares
That swarm without an end from every nook of Time;
Whose fears burrow no tunnels in their brains;
Who can say boldly unto Night, ‘Reveal us unto Day’,
And say to Day, ‘Reveal us unto Night ‘.
Aye, thrice happy are they who, when alone with Night,
Feel so well-turned, so still, so infinite at Night.
To them alone Night sings the Overcomer’s song.

By MIKHAIL NAIMY

[AngelWolf3]

This might be dumb, but I have taken to wrapping up really tight in a blanket and then arranging a bunch of pillows around me so that I feel really warm and secure before I go to bed. I have noticed I wake up less when I do this. Of course if it makes you feel confined, it might not be a good idea, but I just make it like my little "nest" and I rest more comfortably, I haven't woken up as often. I hear you can buy weighted blankets too, but I have not tried those. Lots of good ideas on here, I might have to try...