Important exam in 3 hours and I couldn't get to sleep

[LEMtheoriginal]

Wtf do I do?? I feel sick to my stomach. How do I get through this?

I don’t sleep the night before marathons. I catch up afterwards. It’s just my adrenalin. Don’t fight it, just go with it.

Dark/plain chocolate (60% cocoa) is better for memory and concentration. Café Nero coffee stronger than Costa or Starbucks - plus Nurofen Express works wonders for me.

Stay calm. Don't let your anxiety trick you into thinking it's already over.

Have a protein heavy breakfast - egg and avocado on wholemeal toast for example. Have one caffeinated beverage like a coffee or a coke but don't over compensate and don't have red bull or other energy drinks unless you regularly do and know they won't make you jittery.

Adrenaline is going to keep you going. Your brain can cope with this exam even on no sleep. Don't catastrophise or tell yourself it's all over - you are going to be able to do this, it will be fine.

Don't overdo the caffeine. Adrenaline keeps you going, caffeine just makes you shaky and panicky. Not sleeping before an exam is normal - it happens to loads of people. It's amazing what the body's own hormones can do to keep you alert for the actual exam. Having tired yourself out a bit beforehand might be good, anyway - see it as a way of ensuring you focus on what is important in the exam, rather than having too much energy to waste on letting your mind flit about on irrelevancies.

I was coming on to say your adrenaline will see you right, but everyone else has already pointed this out. I don't think many people have a great night's sleep before an important exam. You will be fine.

Best of luck! I have slept really atrociously before my accounting exams in the past, and come out thinking they were a catastrophic failure and then they’ve been fine. It is scary, but it will be okay. Good luck xxx

I only bloody passed!!! Thank you for the chivvying!! Full panic attack pre exam but was able to contain it. Done now

well done

Well done:)

Awesome! Well done!

If you have another of these, rest assured, this wasn't a one-off. The first time I couldn't sleep before an exam, I was distraught and utterly convinced I'd fail.

But the adrenaline really does carry you through. You'll feel like a shattered teacup later, though. Sorry! A night's sleep will see you right.

Well done! Now get some well-deserved sleep.

Many moons ago I sat an organic chemistry paper following a deliberate all night revision session. It wasn't my finest hour but I scraped through. Age definitely playing a part now and this wasn't deliberate.

To be honest, I think being older helps. When it happened as a teenager, I found it so much harder not to panic about my lack of sleep and the panic is the bit that screws you over.

I am so much better these days at remaining calm. If only my sleepless but sorted current self could go back in time and retake all those exams I took as a neurotic sleepless teen...