4am dread

[4amdread]

I'm usually a good sleeper but have just randomly woken up and am feeling so anxious about everything I don't know what to do with myself.

I have made a minor mistake at work and keep going over it thinking I'll lose my job.

I've also realised I'm going on a plane on my own for the first time since having DC next month and could have a panic attack thinking something will happen to me and they will grow up without a mother. I want to cancel it all.

This is just horrendous. I'm fine most of the time and then will get this overwhelming anxiety. I can only hope its become I'm pre menstrual and I will be able to cope with life again in a week.

Anyone else up?

I use sleep meditation/calm stories audio on youtube.
There are lots, for falling asleep or returning to sleep.

My favourites are
Michelle's Sanctuary - some specifically for sleep problems due to anxiety and worry and
Nothing Much Happens.

I rarely get to the end of the recording before I am asleep.

Sorry to hear about your disturbed nights! I used to wake before 4am regularly and found that my worst worry was how the day was going to be difficult because of it. Over time I learnt that actually I could function alright on 4 hours and knowing that made the hours awake feel easier as I’d just think oh well here we go, why don’t I read something (take mind off worries). Sometimes could drop off for half an hour around 6am if I was lucky.
Interesting to hear about the cortisol!
Hope you all have lovely days x

I did get back to sleep in the end once the DCs went back to sleep. Though I did spend a little while googling nose bleeds in children first and fretting over why it keeps happening to my 5 year old.

But the sleep meditation podcast worked in the end.

I'm sorry to hear how many of us were awake, I hope you all have a good day and a better night tonight.

As someone who has had some anxiety and some depression over the years a sudden attack of inexplicable anxiety coupled with memory loss etc. had me thinking I was genuinely suffering from early onset dementia. There was nothing in my life to be truly anxious about but the overwhelming panic was just all-consuming.

I don't say that lightly, it hit out of nowhere and I was terrified. I went to my amazing GP who, after asking questions, said it was most likely peri-menopause. I was prescribed HRT and this weird anxiety disappeared as quickly as it had come on and I was able to concentrate on simple tasks that had suddenly become insurmountable. I think it saved my job!

@SandLResources did they check your hormones with a blood test and then prescribed? I'm actually having a blood test today as I've been having various symptoms and the anxiety is becoming a more frequent thing.

I wonder if it will show up anything.

Luckily my GP is a fairly young woman who is at the forefront of all things menopause at our surgery. She has been to all the most up to date conferences etc. and we chatted for some time. She is very passionate on the subject.

She actually doesn't do the blood test as she said that it's acknowledged that she could take bloods one day that could give a very different reading from bloods taken a few days later due to the natural hormonal fluctuations that occur during peri-menopause.

She relies on a checklist of which I ticked every box and it was as simple as that. In fact, it was so easy I feel guilty that some women have to jump through hoops when this medication has genuinely made all the difference to my life. I have a friend whose Mum is 10 years older than me and her GP kept giving her anti-depressants that she didn't want and she had to fight to eventually be heard.

It might be worth asking your GP if blood readings might show different hormonal levels from one day to the next.

Here is just one article but there are many more: https://www.webmd.com/menopause/guide/home-menopause-testing-kits

I sometimes get this. Everything seems more sinister abd worrying in the middle of the night. I've recently started "belly breathing" at night and it's very effective at calming me down and helping me get back to sleep.