[Micas]

Hello!

I am new at this, but I would just like to share some of my sleeping problems in the hope that some of you that may have been in similar situations can advise me somehow.

I have always suffered from anxiety issues my whole life, even as a kid I experienced some anxious situations that got intense in my teens. I had panic attacks to a severe extent but they got under control, after I've done psychotherapy when I was a teenager.

Lately my anxiety has messed up my sleep to a great extent. I used to have occasional bad nights but they were not a big deal. Since I started to sleep with my partner, his snoring, moving and stuff really did kept me awake and I started to have few consecutive bad nights that created a fear of not sleeping in me. I feel quite bad after a bad night's sleep, my body gets sore, my head hurts, I feel very lack of energy and so on, but what bothers me the most is that I know how bad it is for a human to not get his sleep right and I start to worry about all the consequences of it and so when I go to bad I feel pressure to sleep which keeps me from sleeping. Needles to say I'm getting a vicious cycle, because lack of sleep increases anxiety and anxiety prevents me from sleeping properly, so even when I feel positive and fall asleep, I then wake up two or three times and have a hard time going back to sleep.

Sometimes I have a few good nights of sleep, and that starts to be encouraging but just one bad night can trigger weeks of insomnia.

Do any of you have gone/ are going trough something similar? How are you coping?

Thank you!

[Skeezyks]

Hello Micas: I see this is your first post here on PC. Welcome to Psych Central. The Anxiety forum, here on PC, may also be one to take a look at. Here's a link just in case you haven't already found it:

https://psychcentralforums.com/anxie...c-and-phobias/

And then here are links to 6 articles, from Psych Central's archives, that may be of interest:

Beat Insomnia: A Spiritual Guide to Healthy Sleep

Insomnia Treatment

The First Line of Treatment for Insomnia That'll Surprise You

Putting the Fear of Sleeplessness to Rest

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/chang...nd-nightmares/

https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to...ng-nightmares/

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

[Yaowen]

So sorry you are struggling with this. I have also experienced what you describe.

It is so scary and frustrating. And it is really demoralizing. At least that has been my experience.

I am currently being treated by a physician for this and he has helped me enormously. I am on prescription medication for insomnia [Trazadone]

Some little self-help techniques have also helped me. Cutting out caffeine helps me. Cutting back on my salt intake and increasing my consumption of potassium rich foods before bedtime helps. I read somewhere that excess sodium stimulates wakefulness and the stress hormones. My doctor is okay with me trying this since I suffer from high blood pressure.

[B]Since I am not a doctor or medical professional I cannot offer any advice that anyone should rely upon.

Do you think it would help if you consulted with a physician about your situation?

I wish you only the very best.

[bpcyclist]

I think this is really quite common. Sleep difficulties beget anxiety about not sleeping, which makes sleeping more difficult. Pretty simple.

Hang in there. Work with your doctor. There are a number of potentially helpful medications that might be useful to you. Reach out for help. This will turn around, with some assistance.

Sending you support!!