Tips for shaking off the ‘chased by a tiger’ feeling at 3am

[WhatNextImScared]

I’m 44 in a couple of weeks and definitely in peri but symptoms still wax and wane. My luteal phase seems to be worst.

I am just getting over a migraine and a uti so feeling awful generally but once again awake at 3am feeling shaky and anxious as if something scary has happened. Sometimes I will have intense dreams but this feeling happens even if there’s no dream, or a good dream. It feels very hormonal. Reminds ne of when I took a pill that didn’t suit me once.

I get this regularly now. Once I’m awake at 3am I can struggle to get back to sleep (and end up on here - not good due to sleep hygiene!)

Does anyone further down this journey have tips about how to shake off that feeling that you’ve just been chased down a hill by a sabre toothed tiger and calming your whole system down at 3am? I tend to just get up, go to the loo and make a herbal tea and drink water, then try to resettle but sometimes it takes hours.

Magnesium glycinate and giving up alcohol sorted it for me. You could be right about the mirena. I have progesterone intolerance (very common if you have ADHD as it reduces dopamine) and it makes me very anxious and wired. If your instinct is that this is causing it then I'd get it removed. It does take a while for your system to reset. In the meantime sleepcasts or vagus nerve meditation can help relax you and get you back to sleep. I use Headspace or insight timer. If the coil is not the culprit you can always start patches later on.

I've given up alcohol, other than the very occasional glass of organic wine.
I also take magnesium glycinate in drink format every evening and it has definitely made a huge difference. I buy from Healthy Metal.

I have been sleeping terribly - mind racing and bad dreams, I had no problem getting to sleep but staying asleep and then getting back to sleep was a nightmare. Started taking magnesium (all 3 from nutrition geeks) which helped but the I was recommended L-Theanine and it’s transformed my sleep. I still need to get up for a wee during the night but I am getting straight back to sleep and feeling so refreshed with no more racing thoughts during the night. Been taking it for 4 weeks - it took a few days to kick in but apart from one night I’ve slept and feel like a different person

In the early stages histamine and FODMAPs ibs were a big issue. I think it was partly stress and partly having a few rounds of anti biotics that nuked my gut.

I seem to have mostly overcome that via diet - pro gut bacteria type stuff, and avoiding certain types of meat. Ironically I now feel better with cheese, dark chocolate and kefir - all the things that contain histamine! But I don’t think they were ever the issue for me.

The Zoe way of eating or the MIND diet with a focus on high plant protein seems to work best for me. I eat a lot of nuts and seeds.

Supplements wise magnesium glycinate will work if you’re not getting enough in your diet.

B complex and omega 3 very important.

I take a small amount of extra zinc for a couple of specific reasons and a low dose multi vitamin. (I’ve checked the amounts in everything against things like berrocca.)

Lara briden has good tips.

Oh yes l theanine is great! I sometimes take that or green tea instead of a coffee. Has caffeine in though.

the vagus nerve / cardiovascular fitness / resistance training and breathing definitely has the biggest impact on me though.

First of all, don’t drink alcohol. I think so often women attribute this to peri and it’s more often related to drinking, even if the last time you drank was several days ago.

I find the best thing you can do is to get up and walk around and do something. Treat it like a child’s night terror. You need to wake up fully and reset. If I can’t sleep, I get up and hang up the washing or unload the dryer and make myself a cup of herbal tea. 15 minutes of that and I go to bed again. We aren’t designed to sleep all night. Waking up in the night is normal as is getting up and doing things. I’d just make the most of the time, reset and then go back to bed.

Everyone wants a magic pill, but really it’s just behavioural changes. If the above doesn’t work, I’d also look into hypnotherapy, like with a therapist, not some random stuff on YouTube.

Its interesting the talk of FODMAP and histamine on here because ive just had my own journey with that and didn't think to link it to menopause. Ive been through exclusion and am intolerant to fructans. All of the constant muscle aches and joint pains I thought were from menopause completely disappeared when I stopped eating foods that contained them. Then I could identify that I had reactions to high histamine foods and have started taking anti histamine occasionally as well. Its interesting that there may be a link.

Get the calm app and use their EMDR playlist. There’s a small subscription fee and you need headphones (I find over the head ones work best). You might need to give it a few nights to feel the effects but try it in bed before you go to sleep for around 15 mins and again if you wake at 3

Wow it’s interesting to see how many of us get this! My luteal phase was getting unbearable too and I would also get these random 3am wakings, though not quite so often as you. GP wouldn’t give me HRT. And handed me antidepressants though which I haven’t taken!

I did a Lloyd’s online prescription request for the combined pill (obvs that won’t be good for you if you don’t want progesterone but perhaps a different pill?) - it’s made such a difference to me. I think of it was my DIY HRT!! Has stopped my periods and therefore the hell of the luteal phase.

in terms of night waking, breathing exercises will help give feedback to your brain that you’re calming down. Try equalising your breath first ( in for 4, out for 4) the gradually extend the exhale x

totally agree with this.

apart from anything, an anxiety spike is helped by simply moving as it fools the body into thinking all is well.

as does the breathing - through nose, box breathing, slow breath to as low as possible.

my garmin has inbuilt breathing exercises which are great

I feel for you. I could cope with sleeplessness if I didn’t the need to get up and work all day.

Can I add that I have successfully been on HRT for years and still wake up at 3am most nights, so I wouldn’t say that HRT cures the problem. I don’t get anxiety or nightmares, it’s more a gradual rising to wakefulness. Sometimes that can be it and I won’t get back to sleep, sometimes I’ll drop off again within half an hour or it can take a couple of hours.

I have tried all the supplements and breathing exercises but have just come to accept it as life now. The only thing that does work is running for at least 7 miles. Even then if I don’t wake at 3am I’ll be awake around 5:30/6am.

I have an electric blanket. If I wake up feeling like that I read something calming for a bit then turn on the electric blanket and the heat soothes me back to sleep

There are many sleep story channels on YouTube. Choose one with no ads.

No idea. I’m on HRT and suddenly got unexplained insomnia recently. I have been up and down recently mood wise though. May need testosterone.

Other ideas: Free nhs Sleepio app proven to work, also a friend recommended the Michael Mosely sleep book.

HRT never helped my sleep. And I know people on it with extreme insomnia.

I quite like waking early - I do around 5:30. 6:30 is a lie in. But the 3 am is shit if you don’t go back to sleep and I focus on what helps to get those extra hours

Lara briden also suggests getting in a certain amount of protein before 10 am

https://www.larabriden.com/power-of-eating-enough-satiety/

Sorry not read the full thread but speak to a good doctor, perhaps a female of a certain age, and see if something can help, so amitriptyline off label ton help you sleep, I use this for fibromyalgia and have found it brilliant to stop the early hours wake ups. The palpitations can be helped with beta blockers.
but talk to your GP as they’ll have a load of people who describe the same issues and would likely have plenty of options to help
if you start with magnesium, just do your research and check which variant you need for your issues

Cortisol (your alertness/stress hormone) begins climbing around 02:00-03:00 to prepare your body for waking, and unfortunately the rational part of your brain is still switched off at this point.

There's a breathing technique that works for soldiers who need to sleep in combat zones: inhale through the nose for a count of four, exhale through the mouth for a count of eight. Repeat, repeat. It switches you back into parasympathetic (relax/repair, not fight-or-flight) mode. It does work, I have used it many times and usually find that just as I'm beginning to wonder if it's doing any good I drop off and wake up perfectly fine in the morning!

I find listening to some ASMR videos on YouTube calms and clears my mind. Lots of different styles available - some I find are very sleep inducing. Channels I like include Whispers Red, Gentle Whispering, Midnight ASMR, August ASMR.

I'm getting this and hadn't connected it to hormones.

The best I can come up with for now is breath. I realise with a very physical response my breathing is very shallow. I find the easiest is to focus on making the outbreath as full as possible and this makes the in breath deepen more automatically.

The other thing is trying to to think what caused it. If I can break any rumination cycle in the day, I stand more chance at night

Yoga therapy can help with this (not general yoga. The CNHC has a directory of complementary therapists whose training they recognise, or you could search for a Minded Yoga Therapist near you)- both menopause and anxiety. I found it incredibly helpful.

In the more immediate term, I use yoga nidra when I can’t sleep. There are lots of free ones on insight Timer app (I like Jennie Wadsten, who also has specific ones for getting back to sleep in the middle of the night) x

This has been a really helpful thread. I’m 51 now and have gone through various episodes of anxiety, sleep anxiety in the past 5 years. HRT has really helped me- so much that a sleepless night reminds me that I’ve forgotten to change my patch. Another thing I’ve really noticed helping is switching off the news. I wouldn’t say I was a huge news watcher / reader but I definitely have a correlation between how much news I see and my anxiety, even if the anxiety seems to have nothing to do with the news. Edited to add - as others have said no alcohol.

The best thing I've found is a silk musicozy sleep band with Bluetooth headphones. I pop a podcast on a sleep timer, get out of my own thoughts and am usually back to sleep within 5-10 minutes