[Lexicon78]

For as long as I can remember I have always had more trouble and instability at night. This makes no sense to me because I have always been abused during the day. You'd think I'd have more trouble during the day than at night. Does anyone else encounter this problem?

My depression seems to get 10 times worse at night and I'd really like to know why.

[jammerlich]

Yes, yes, yes. I'm the same way. Seems like when the sun goes down, everything is magnified. The worst part is the time spent in bed trying to fall asleep. So painful. I usually stay up until I am tripping over myself because I am so deliriously sleepy. That way, when I get into bed, I know there won't be much waiting - I'll fall right to sleep.

[Myzen]

Hi Lex,

Yes, a lot of people report that the worst time in any illness is the early hours of the morning. My anxiety strikes at any time really, but the night is when I think about it more, especially waking at 3am!

For this reason I always keep some inspiring reading by my bed, so that I can deal directly with the fear if I wake up. It helps me to read about others who have faced illnesses and dealt with them, and many famous and classic writers have been to this place.

Peaceful thoughts, M.

Evenings are usually the worst time for me. Partly this is because i am so busy in the day that there is no space for anything else (I teach), and partly because by the time the evening comes I have spent all my energy.
C

[Kismet]

I feel better at night. The morning is my worst time. I usually start feeling better around dinner time. Going to bed is difficult for me but the seroquel helps there.

[Lexicon78]

At night my depression creeps in, enveloping me in every aspect, and the memories that haunt me become more real than ever. It scares me to death, and sometimes death is an option at night....very scary stuff.

[obsids]

I have more problems at night than during the day. Part of it might be due to tiredness or my meds wearing off.

But most of it, I know, is because night is a time of insecurity... darkness, sleepiness, dreams. It is when most activity ceases and a person tries to slip into sleep. For me, with my ptsd, it is a time of great terror, as I revisit my past nearly every night in my dreams.

[a_fire_inside]

yea im the same way. during the day i might be ok but when night comes my depression gets worse.

[attekus]

I get much worse at night too and can only guess why. Maybe it's feeling confined and unable to feel safe outside because of the darkness and it's when most of the bad stuff happens. Most people die at night too. Night definetly feels bad to me. I love the sun in the daytime (I live in California). I love the morning and the new day. Or maybe it's something chemical. One can only guess, but I do feel the same.
Attekus

[tracylee]

Actually, I have noticed that I get worse at night too. Maybe its because we dont have the little distractions that we would get during the day and we have more time to sit and think. What i tend to do now when i go to bed is read for a while and put on some nice gentle music and fall asleep listening to the music. My favourite falling asleep music at the moment is Engima!! Works for me Lex!! Take care!!

Oh man I hate the nights. I definately have more problems at night then day time. I have taken to spending my nights with headphones on and Tv on but volume turned down and my closed captioning activated sitting at my computer visiting each website that I am a member of, posting and chatting, emailing, and so on until 4am and then sleeping until noon - reason to hopefully avoid this blasted nightly nightmare or at least stall it so that when I do have it I wake up to it being light outside so that I can get up and do things instead of sitting here worrying and getting upset about it.

At night is when I get amplified as well. I think it's because since inside ourselves we are already in darkness. During the day, the light dims the darkness inside. But as soon as night comes, it's like it becomes a reality. Darkness inside, moves to darkness outside. This is my opinion on why I get overly depressed at night.

[dexter]

I feel at my worst at night as well. I'm sure for a lot of people there is something inherent about the darkness. For me, my depression is linked a lot to stress and feeling that I am not able to cope, so I think that at night my mind just hooks on to that more.

I usually feel best right when primetime tv starts. Very often I feel very very lousy in the early evening, almost unable to function at all, but if I can make it to 8:00 I can hook onto TV for the next few hours and get by, even if my mind is racing on other things. Not the healthiest of activities but it gets me through.

Then once bedtime comes the mind just starts racing. Currently I am taking Lunesta to help me sleep and it does seem to work, at least it gets me through the night.

[dottie]

Hi!

I feel like I am at my worst early in the morning. I love the night...and the peace and quiet. I can go to sleep and everything stops....not supposed to be somewhere...don't have to deal with too much of life. It all just stops!!

~Dottie

[dexter]

I am usually the opposite... I feel better when I go to work and can have my mind off of personal things. The personal stuff got overwhelming at work this week and that is why I am home today, even though it is worse.

I also have a little fear even though this is a totally different situation... with my previous job, that was when my depression started but it was unrelated to work. My depression was untreated and I just kept throwing myself more and more into work because it was the only time I could get my mind off of things and feel productive. I would cry in the car all the way to work and all the way home, but at work I could function and be productive. Even so I was isolating myself there from co-workers as my depression grew, working longer hours when I could be alone there sometimes...

Then everything blew up at work with a co-worker there and it became a source of great pain, so I could no longer go to work and had no source of relief, even temporary, anywhere. That's when my nights were at their worst as my mind would just race and race and my stomach would tense up and my heart would beat and I would just feel the worst. That's when I went into the hospital and was unable to work for more than a year afterward.

My current just is much better, it is much more supportive (they don't know about my depression but do know about the other illnesses I suffer) but it scares me on a day like today when I can't even go in to face work and just hide in bed all day. And I am afraid of what tonight may bring, although I should be OK with my nighttime meds (Lexipro) and the Lunesta to help me sleep.

[dottie]

Does the Lunesta work pretty well for ya'?

~Dottie

[dexter]

At first I thought it wasn't working, because the info on it says it is supposed to make you very sleepy within 15 minutes. It doesn't make me sleepy at all, so I felt pretty disappointed, and my head was still racing, and I felt no different.

Then suddenly it was morning.

I don't take it every night. Last night I am quite sure I would not have slept without it, but I got through the night with only a few interuptions.

So it doesn't make me feel sleepy, it doesn't make me feel any different, but it definitley helps my sleep.

[jmo531]

Like most of the posters here, I too find my anxiety is worse at night. I think that it is worse for several reasons. I think at night we are lying there in bed, quiet with nothing on but our "busy brains". This causes us to think more and you know what happens when you start thinking too much, well, panick attacks, worrying and stuff. I also think that we might make it worse for ourself because we might, on some level, expect to be more anxious at night, thus, we are waiting for it. Just a thought I had on it.
Last year, when I was having an extremely difficult time, I literaly refused to sleep at night because I was afraid that I would die. It was the worse feeling I have ever had. So, I was a night owl. I slept during the day. When I began therpay, my T, PDoc and I worked very, very hard to get me back on track. It took several months and even still sometimes I find that I am up until 2 or 3 am. I try to limit my naps, which can be very hard because sometimes that is all I want to do. Sleeping makes it all go away, at least for a little while.

Anyway, I use Ambien for the really difficult nights and Ativan helps also when I am panicky. Helps me relax enough to drift off to sleep.

Your not alone.

[(JD)]

It's important to take Lunesta each night... as skipping a dose can cause a "side effect." sigh.

More suicides occur during the early evening hours....in general...

There are fewer distractions for us, from our despair, at night... and depressed people have to face their reality alone... plus the idea of going though another night, beginning another day always questions me....

I appreciate that my T allows all my phone messages that I leave for him... during the day I "know" he is there... and sometimes do call... but at night I "know" he really isn't there... and I'm more alone than ever.... and wonder if anything is really worth all this effort! So calling during the night, and making "contact" by leaving a message helps me get through the nite. I think if I cash it all in it will be around 3 am.. on a moonlit night with a nice ocean breeze... not normal at all (as if such a feeling is normal.) Anything during the day would be too showy for me.

[dexter]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
It's important to take Lunesta each night... as skipping a dose can cause a "side effect." sigh.

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I was not told that! I've been taking it as needed. For now I'll be taking it regularly during this dip in my health, I'll talk to the doc about it when I can.

[dexter]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Does the Lunesta work pretty well for ya'?

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Case in point... even though I was a wreck today and was in bed almost all day, I went to bed early with some Lunesta and fell asleep quickly. I"m only up now because the joint pain is back, but I didn't wake up throughout the niight. I'm going to take some tylenol and go back to bed.