Evening anxiety-anyone else?

[Ohwheretobegin]

I’m fine all day, but come 3.30 after school run (when it starts getting dark) I get this awful sense of dread come over me, I start catastrophising and panicking about everything.

I also get awful health anxiety coming out of the woodwork about this time, my DS scratched his chest earlier and I managed to convince myself he had chest pain, and I then drive him crazy asking if he’s ok every 5 mins!

it’s so frustrating because when I’m busy during the day, I look forward to unwinding in the evening, but then the opposite seems to happen! I really enjoy cooking and plan in the morning what I’m gonna make in the evening, but when it’s time to cook I have very little energy and feel really low, worried, start overthinking and I end up hating it.

the weird thing is I’m absolutely fine during the day and wake up feeling really good!
Anyone else get this and have any tips? It’s like some sort of SAD, anxiety merger but it’s really awful!

Could you be having a blood sugar dip? What's your diet like during the day before this happens? What are your tiredness levels like too, are you sleeping ok?

Good point about blood sugar, hadn’t thought of this. Will try and improve diet to see if this helps.
sleep is good quality but not enough of it as I have to get up at 5am for work! Maybe earlier nights would help
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Might be overtired then. Try more sleep, a snack, doing some exercise. Basically experiment to see if you can sort it. Otherwise try GP?

Are you menopausal? It's fairly common if you are. I've got a feeling of low level anxiety about nothing pretty much constantly!

Yes I am, and I’m on HRT which I thought was doing the trick with all other symptoms. Maybe I need to adjust my dose, good point!

Would you have time before the school run to have a small snack with complex carbs and protein (eg oatcakes and cheese) and lie down for 10 minutes and do some meditation/breathing exercises?

I find that if you can address the physical issues such as low blood sugar and tiredness it can really help with anxiety and even just 10 minutes of being horizontal can help to reset you a bit.

I think it's normal OP. On an evening you have the chance to relax, so your mind goes into overdrive thinking about the things that are bugging you that you've been too busy/pre-occupied during the day to give head-space to.

I deal with it by asking myself what I can do about [problem] right now this minute and if thinking about it is going to accomplish anything. If the answer's "nothing/no" I tell the thought to fuck off and make myself think about something else that's nice instead. Sort of re-training your brain.

I also write it down as a sort of "task" to get it out of my head and on paper.

I've also got more like this now I'm peri/menopausal so I wonder if that's a factor.