I Sleep poorly and wake around 4am almost every night. I fell anxious when I wake

[NuggetsForTeaAgain]

Anyone else?

feel anxious I mean

How weird. I had this exact same thing last night so I can on here looking to see if anyone had something similiar!

I tend to struggle to drop off anyway but waking up in the middle of the night is a new thing and very frustrating.

Do you suffer from anxiety in general?

i do get periods of anxiety yes. I have had a very hard time in recent years and this has caused the anxiety to surface. I have had counselling which helped enormously but it is still there underneath. The first thing to be affected is my sleep and I hate it!! thsi waking thing is weird as I fall asleep easily enough but once I wake that is me done. The thing is that if I sleep week I can cope with everything but the lack of sleep makes everything more stressful
did you do anything different last night AngryFeet?

The only thing I did differently was to eat really healthily all day . You would think that would help! I did see my counsellor yesterday evening and was talking about how tired I am recently due to the children getting into my bed all the time. DD was there when I woke up so maybe she disturbed me.

I need a night alone in a hotel I think!

I also suffer from anxiety which comes and goes but is generally at its worst this time of year. The DC are hard work at the moment which is making me stressed plus a few money worries. It is annoying as sleep should be the time we can get away from all our worries but it seems there is no escaping them.

Very tired today - think I managed 4 hours last night and have to go to work now :(

I slept dreadfully and had awful anxiety before I was diagnosed with depression. I literally got by on about 2-3 broken hours of sleep a night. I also lost a lot of weight and literally could not sit down I had so much nervous energy. If any of this rings a bell it may be worth having a chat to your GP. The difference I have felt since I started on ADs a few months ago is amazing. Dont suffer in silence it is soul destroying getting no sleep and feeling anxious every morning/day - I know I have been there.

angryFeet & redheadsunited - I have been tothe docs and he prescribed AD's a while back but then Ihad counsellling and didn't need the AD's. Like you, AngryFeet, I have found xmas really depressing this year. Couldn't get into the swing at all. the dc's were so excirted so i did a good fake but my heart was so not in it. I have felt considerably better since Xmas has finished but may go back to docs or counsellor for a fix! Sometimes I do sleep beautifully, it goes in phases. sorry you are both struggliing though

Waking up at the same time every night can sometimes be down to mineral deficiencies. You need magnesium to produce your sleep hormones. Try taking a multi vitamin /mineral tablet. Eat things like sushi (the sea weed is great) and lost of green veggies. it worked for me.

I try short mediations before i go to bed and if i wake up durning the night and can't get back asleep which really help. I also set the alarm and keep the clock covered, there is no benefit in knowing what time it is and how much sleep you're not getting.

imisssleepandwine - thanks for yoru post. I have vit tabs that I forget to take! I wil get to the health food store tomorrow and try again. I'm sure it can all be alleviated by healthy living - which I mostly do xx

I have exactly the same thing.

Things that I can happily deal with during the day cause me intense stress at 4 am.

I know drinking wine in the evening doesn't help. (I say as I sit here on my 2nd glass )

I do take Kalms sometimes, and they do seem to help.

lynetteScavo - i have two wines every night! Considering cutting them out but I do enjoy them and it is my only vice

Last night I listened to my Paul McKenna sleep CD and I don;t remember anything from going to sleep to the alarmr going off at 7am! I might even feel human today

I woke at 4.30 again. I was pretty tired this time so managed to drift off again at 5.30ish but still feel rubbish today. I noise of the wind isn't helping. I am worried about this becoming a habit. No anxiety when I woke up just lots of thoughts in my head about needing to go back to sleep and trying to think of something calm to think about!

I am eating lots of green veg already so don't think it is that. And I haven't had a drink since NYE.

Glad you had a good night nuggets :)

I had this for about two years and have pretty much cured it.

This is what I did. It may not work for everyone but it worked for me.

1. I stopped drinking alcohol during the week. Made a massive massive difference. Unbelievable. And now drinking at the weekend does not even trigger insomnia at the weekend. Hooray.

2. I write down in the evening everything that I am worrying about. It is weird but it is like cleaning my mind

3. I drink more water and cut right down on carbs. Which also means I lost weight too. Win win.

Oh
4) drinking decaff coffee only at home. Have caffeine if I go out for a coffee.

pagwatch - well done you . What do you drink in the evenings instead of alcohol. I couldn't drink tea or coffee (decaff obv) as it just wouldn't sit right. I'll finish what remains of this bottle of red (which will take about two nights) and give the abstaining from alcohol a whilrl..

I didn't stop having a drink every night in a cold turkey way.
I start by pouring myself half white wine half mineral water and then drink that, topping up with water, from a wine glass. Then I just started drinking water but from a wine glass. Now I can happily drink tap water from a tumbler and don't even think about it.
I am better with the dc first thing too which is nice.
Plus my glass of wine on Saturday night is bloody lovely

It is bloody annoying isn't it

Thanks for the tips Pagwatch. I am on a bit of a health kick so haven't been drinking or smoking for the last 5 days and I am also dieting. I have started having my dinner earlier (have done this the last 2 nights so I wonder if that is making a difference - although I do have a little snack of homous and carrot sticks at 8 since I have been used to eating then and it is a bit odd for me). I will try having my dinner late again to see if it makes a difference.

Part of it is worry that I am turning into an insomniac so the whole thing becomes a vicious circle. I am pretty organised in general so don't start worrying about day to day stuff when I wake up in the night, I just worry that I will be tired the next day.

DH has some stuff called Equate which is a sleeping aid he got in the US last time he was there. He keeps telling me to take it but I am funny about taking pills so have said no so far.

Hi there everyone, I have the exact same problems with sleeping and have done for a long time. I hope you don't mind me asking, but how much were those of you who have given up alcohol to improve sleep actually drinking of an evening? I ask because i am scared to give up my wee glass of vino but sleeping thing is wretched. Thanks.

I dont tend to drink and I have the same problem, not that that is helpful to anyone

racingmind - I drinnk two glasses of red wine per evening. This rarely changes. I cannot cope with more! I have had two really great night's sleep last two nights. I've listened to paul McKenna CD and even when I woke at 6am this morning I drifted back off . Most unlike me. Unless I am jsut exhausted!

Have you tried exercising more? I find regular exercise makes sleep much deeper and then you are less likely to wake up early (also because you are physically knackered but it's important with anxiety to exercise as it seems to get rid of some of the excess physical symptoms for some reason!)

I second (and third, and fourth!) exercise and cutting out the wine. also, no screen (tv, computer) before bed, and if pos, sleeping alone so that the other person's movements don't disturb you.

Racing.
I was having one glass. Very occasionally I would push the boat out and have two. It wasn't a lot of alcohol. It still made a difference though.

But tbh I think these things are usually a combination of things. I think peri menopause and disrupted hormones affected me too and that made alcohol a trigger when it hadn't even before iyswim. I think hormones swings are a factor too. That's why each person has different triggers and will need to change different things until something clicks.

Plus I think if you wake up at the same time a few times in a row your body start to do that almost out of habit. You have to break the cycle.