Published on 12, July, 2020
My sleep pattern is all over the place. It always has been, since I was a child. I feel tired so I go to bed and I either can't fall asleep or I fall asleep but wake up within an hour and then the rest of the night is a write off! When I'm awake after the first hour I try to sleep but I look at the clock and it's only been ten minutes and the rest of the night goes like that.
I used to lay there and try to sleep, I read online about how doing things keeps you awake but not doing things makes no difference so I stay up now and listen to music. I'm as active at night now as I am during the daytime, I feel tired, but not overly tired.
I feel like I should be more tired than I am. The biggest downside is that I feel worse mentally than I used to but other than that I don't get any adverse effects. Except for constant yawning and digestive problems, like chronic belching.
Ok maybe I do get some adverse effects
I don't know what to do about this though. I've always had trouble with my sleep since being a child and it's worse now I'm an adult.
My constant anxiety doesn't exactly help either. I looked it up online and read about fatal insomnia and now I've got that running through my mind. Curse me for going to Dr Google!
I've tried everything with my room and bed, new pillows, new bed, blackout curtains and my sleep hasn't improved so I'm not sure what to do from here.
I'm open to any advice you may have and thank you in advance.
It's worth considering L-Theanine supplements to aid sleep. I've been taking them for a few months (since they were recommended on here) and I can honestly say my sleep is much better. L-Theanine is a natural component of green tea that is supposed to help with increase GABA levels, reduce anxiety and aid sleep.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25759004/
I feel anxious all the time but for no obvious reasons, there's no trigger I am just anxious. Do you get that?
There is some scientific evidence that autistic people have reduced GABA levels and that can be a biological cause for high anxiety.
Like you I've experienced extremely high anxiety on a daily basis, very often for no apparent reason. When it's bad I wake up in a panic and remain anxious all day every day, no matter what I'm doing.
The issues I had with sleep when anxious all the time was that I was overly aware of every sensation in my body. I could feel every pulse, hear my blood flowing, etc. This was exacerbated, rather than helped, by mindfulness techniques. These effects also seem to have improved since I started the L-Theanine.
The problem is that once the body has lived with high levels of anxiety for a long time that sort of becomes the new normal operating state. I call it my baseline anxiety. Trying to take on more, when I'm already in a highly anxious state to start with, becomes far too overwhelming very quickly.
It's also possible that the constant anxiety is a result of autistic burnout. Burnout is usually associated with exhaustion but can also present as a constant hyper aroused state.
https://emergentdivergence.com/2023/05/12/creating-autistic-suffering-what-is-atypical-burnout/
I hope you find something that helps, as it is horrible living with constant anxiety. You are right that doctors don't understand. All they do is offer antidepressants, which make the situation worse in my experience.
The body can cope with lack of sleep in the short term but longer term it can contribute to all kinds of adverse health outcomes. Therefore you are absolutely right to want to address this.
Autonomistic said:It's also possible that the constant anxiety is a result of autistic burnout. Burnout is usually associated with exhaustion but can also present as a constant hyper aroused state
This is what happened to me. Sleep was affected. I was so overly anxious that I wouldn't sleep well again for another night in a row, it fed into a loop. No amount of relaxation helped, in fact it drew more attention to there being a "problem".
Everything you say above is correct.
To the OP I seem to remember this website offer some useful info with regards to sleep and autism https://embrace-autism.com/autism-and-sleep-problems-series/
embrace-autism.com/.../