Post natal insomnia Adrenalin rushes

[Cheesecake1982]

6.5 weeks since I had my baby and really struggling to sleep. However I drop off ok. She does manage to sleep a bit so I have the opportunity, however just as I’m drifting off I get an adrenaline rush and wake up and this can go on and on as I try to sleep. I also get very warm too and feel buzzy. Has anyone else had this and is it likely to settle? It feels like hormones. I use pillow sprays, magnesium, meditation, sleep songs etc etc and it seems to happen even when relaxed.

Hi there, has this stopped for you? I get it every single morning. Like I wake with panic and adrenaline rushes. I have Pnd - but its been going on for a long time.

Post Natal Insomnia Cured
I just needed to post on here as I remember experiencing this last year and I was frantically googling for answers everyday hoping there was a light at the end of the tunnel and there was.
At around 6 weeks post partum, I started waking up randomly in the middle of the night wide awake feeling warm and tingly and sometimes sweaty. I would struggle to go back to sleep and became very anxious about this. The anxiety about sleep really made things worse and the sleep deprivation only fuelled the anxiety which was a huge toxic cycle. I did a hormonal test which came up fine and I did a cortisol test which showed high cortisol in the evening. My body was on fight or flight mode. I noticed I would also struggle to deal with any slight bit of stress- I would get slight palpitations and anxiety. At the time, I didn’t think I was anxious but now that i’m out of it I realised I was struggling with anxiety especially around sleep. My brain would tell me I would never sleep normally again. I was constantly stressing about what it was going to be like when I went back to work sleep deprived. I’m a teacher and I get up early for work and it’s a pretty stressful job. The nurses had no clue about post natal insomia at my check up. I didn’t have this with my first child so I don’t know if it had something to do with having a csection.
I tried everything to get rid of this naturally: ashwaganda, celery juice, magnesium, lavender sprays, baths. Every vitamin I could take. Valerian root. Nothing worked. I was prescribed diazepam to help me sleep if I knew I needed the sleep for the next day. I only took half a tablet a few times a month just to take the edge off. However, I didn’t want to rely on this and became anxious I was going to be addicted.
Here is what did work:
TIME- when my son was 4 months things started to get better. I would notice I would only have a few bad nights a week this reduced even more so as time went on. It soon became a few bad nights a month.
Stress management- I worked on reducing stress. Yoga nidra helped with unwiring. Going for walks. Deep belly breathing. Do this in the day to calm your cortisol and stress. Don’t do it to try and fall asleep as it will just cause more frustration when you can’t.
Confidence- the more I was able to sleep the more confident I became about sleeping again naturally and I knew if I had a bad night the next night I would be tired and would sleep earlier and knock out straight away.
Running/exercising in the day especially in sunlight.
Tackling new situations and surviving them- my first holiday with the baby was stressful but once it was done and I knew I could get some sleep in. It lessened the insomnia.

When he was around 9 months it was a lot better. However, I would really struggle in new places or sleeping over at my parents. I would also get really anxious about going to sleep late. This was all part of the sleep anxiety that took over and when I was anxious about sleeping in a hotel room I would be awake that night. I knew I would make up the sleep the next day.

I have to say I think a big part of this is hormonal. I did do CBT and that helped and I also went to see a naturopath to work on my diet as well as cupping and acupuncture. However what really helped me was going on Sertraline when he was 1. I did everything I could to do things naturally but the slight anxiety and insomnia would still be there. I was back a work and still struggling with stress the insomnia wasn’t too bad but I was waking up earlier than I needed to be and that was annoying.

I spoke to my GP and when he turned 1, I went on Sertraline but an extremely low does (25mg half a tablet) worked for me. This is lower than the normal starting dose and it’s not addictive. I felt a sense of shame at the beginning for caving in and going on AD but i’m so glad I did and wished I did sooner. Id didn’t get any side effects being on it and found that after 2-3 weeks the anxiety disappeared and I felt normal. The sleep was a lot better and normal. He’s now 18 months and for the past 6 months i’ve probably only had one bad night. I’ve now tapered off to (25mg half a tablet every other day) and I still feel the same. I think the tablet at this stage is a placebo but I’ll eventually come off it completely. I can honestly say I look forward to sleeping now and feel like like myself. I’ve been promoted at work and managing stress a lot better.

I know it’s hell but this too will pass. See what works for you and don’t be afraid to get the help you need. Happy mother= happy baby.

Just adding an update to my post above. My son is now 3 years old tomorrow and sleep anxiety post natal insomnia is almost non-existent. I don’t think about it anymore and i’ve been iff for over a year (no side effects coming off). I feel like myself again. I may have the odd bad night here and there but this is often linked to work stress or the lead up to my period. You WIlL get through this and do what you need to do to get passed this hard temporary time.