heart racing, pulse throbbing, adrenalin surging every time i try to sleep. help please

[cruisemum1]

I am exhausted. I'm not particularly stressed about anything, eat well, don't drink caffeine after about 3pm (do have a glass or two of red wine at night though). i try to nap in the day when my 9 mth old naps but the same thing happens then. my dh is sick of me being knackered. any suggestions/help welcomE......PLEASE!

[MegBusset]

Cruise, in my pre-baby days I did find that red wine could have this effect on me (soz). But only when drunk in quantity!

Have you tried...

Meditation/yoga
Warm bath
Milky drink
Lavender on pillow
Getting DH to give you a backrub
Quiet music on to send you off to sleep?

[gulp]

have you taken your HR? what is it?

sounds like red wine is the culprit - can cause cardiac disturbances (alcohol can, I mean, not just red wine!)

[cruisemum1]

oh crap! i ws hoping it was nothing to do with the wine. Mind you I don't drink wine in the daytime (usually anyway) ! Haven't tried any of above. Ijust want to sleeeeeeeep!

[cruisemum1]

how do i take my heart rate? presume hr is heart rate???

[gulp]

your heart rate is your pulse

60-90 is normal

[cruisemum1]

doh! - hr/pulse

[DaddyJ]

cruise, I am sorry to hear that

Could it be just the fact that you are
looking after two lively los all day?

I know from dw that breastfeeding also
takes a lot of energy out of you.
She has now dropped the two day time feeds
(like you, only morning and evening bf now)
and her energy levels are going up again.

Or is there more to it?

Big hug in any case. Look after yourself!

[lisad123]

My heart is running at double speed right now (still trying to find out why) and makes me very tired a lot of the time. I notice it more when im trying to get to sleep or swimming.
L

[cruisemum1]

lisad- bloody orrible innit?! Always at bedtime though which makes it seem exaggerated I guess.
Thanks Daddyj - my son can sleep and now i can't What's all that about?!

[Enid]

its ounds like classic anxiety to me

[lisad123]

most people only notice heart running quicker at bed time as your body has relaxed but heart still winding down. I know mine runs fast all day but only due to ongoing testing.
I would take your pulse at different times in the day if your worried and maybe go to GP.
And yes it is horrible, im fed up with being tired, seeing cardio team and my consultant being in a panic.
L

[cruisemum1]

lisad- so yours is defo heart related? I was diagnosed with asystoli arrythymia (sp???!) a while ago which was defo stress related. It is not so much my heart i am concerned about it is the general feeling of huge amounts of adrenalin surging round my body that really keeps me awake. Hope you find out what is wrong

[paulaplumpbottom]

Sounds like panic attacks to me

[cruisemum1]

paula - I suspect you are right. frigging distressing to be deprived of sleep which makes it all worse. Funny thing is I don't generally feel stressed. When I used to get panic attacks they were your typical 'can't breathe, gonna faint, room spinning ones.' These, if they are p.a's are like stage fright/excitement/adrenalin rushes type things. so unpleasant..... want it to stop!

[lisad123]

They think its heart rated as it runs that speed all day everyday, and have had a letter stating left ventictular rate is running at rate, blah blah loads of medical terms. Im fit for a labour though which is good to know, but would like to know what is causing it.
what does yours mean?

lisa

[soapbox]

It could be anxiety or heary arythmia or thyroid probs and possibly many more too!

Time to see your GP I would say

[paulaplumpbottom]

Visualisation works for me. I also never take caffeine. Quit smoking if you do. Mine were always worse at night to. I manage them well now and I hardly have them at all.

I also used to find that having a cuddle with my dh and talking about random things heklped

[beanstalk]

cruisemum - I get the same thing, and it is SO annoying when all you want is to sleep. I went to my GP about it - he said that heart palpitations (that's what it is when your heart is racing and you can 'hear' it) is caused by cortisol released when your adrenalin levels are high. Usually stress related but also the more tired you get, the more your body produces adrenalin to counter the tiredness during the day, and so the harder it is to wind down. So stupidly, it could be your tiredness that is stopping you sleep!! Your GP can prescribe beta-blockers to suppress the adrenalin, but I refused them, I wanted to try more relaxation first. I have found a hot bath followed by listening to a hypnosis relaxation tape in bed has helped get me off to sleep the last 2 nights.
Oh and yes, alcohol will make it worse , I was most disappointed to find out. I so look forward to a glass of wine when DD has gone to bed. Dehydration will make it worse too, so make sure you drink enough water if you are BFing.
But worth getting your GP to check you out anyway.

[cruisemum1]

beanstalk - good to know yhou are not alone isn't it?

[cruisemum1]

paula - how do you manage them? is it the with visualisation? I am cross with myself as ihad a fantastic antenatal relaxation cd and I binned it once i had had my ds. It was soo relaxing that i never ever got past the first 10mins! I had to force myself awake to listen to the rest!