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.
That sounds hard for you, I'm sorry. With anxiety it can make you feel so bad and you avoid things which can start to really destroy parts of your life.
I'm just so weird, I've no idea why I get so anxious it's just feelings I feel anxious all the time and I get physical effects from it.
I might make a list. See if it helps. Honestly it's so depressing, I bet the doctors won't understand as well they never do. So lonely in the world at times.
Thanks for your support though you have no idea how much I appreciate it. No one around me understands.
My anxiety usually has a trigger, for example my health is a bug trigger and social situations usually. Which is why struggling to sleep really sets me off. I can imagine that it is tough being anxious without a clear cause.
Doctors make me anxious so I can understand that. Well done for going though! You can think about whether or not you can do the tests and if you think they will be worth it for you. Weigh up the pros and cons.
Thank you for replying.
I'm sorry about your anxiety, I think that ruins sleep. I feel anxious all the time but for no obvious reasons, there's no trigger I am just anxious. Do you get that?
Seeing my doctor makes me feel terrible before I've even spoken to her on the phone. Mind you on Thursday I finally bit the bullet and saw the nurse at the surgery, I've had a sore throat for about a year and I've been so scared of it. She looked and it all looks fine she says.
I don't see how. It hurts, always burning and I feel terrible most of the time. Sometimes I feel I'm going crazy, or maybe it's just lack of sleep?
She suggested we do some tests but at that point I got very hot and the meltdown hit like a storm.
I have had sleep disturbances dating back to when I was around 2 years old. I've struggled to sleep and when I do I experience nightmares, sleep paralysis and false awakenings which all then make me scared to sleep. As a kid I was prescribed medication to help and now I'm on meds to help too. Otherwise I'm similar to you, laying there staring at the ceiling overthinking everything.
I also have anxiety so I'm all too familiar with how that can play into not being able to sleep too. It can convince you the worst things will happen.
My advice would be to talk to a doctor maybe, see if they can help if you're open to that. You could try doing progressive muscle relaxation and breathing exercises however I found that they just made me angry more than they ever helped but it may help others.