Frustrations

Expecto_Patronum said:

Really want these mental spirals to go away.

Sometimes I find it helpful to try to put my issues into context when other solutions don't work.

I think how much worse it could be - I could be dying of a horrible disease with only pain and suffering ahead of me, I could have lost those I most care about, I could be falsely accused and sent to prison, I could lose control of my body and be essentially a vegetable but a prisoner in my own body etc etc

By realising how much worse life could be it helps me feel less bad about the things that are going against me and gives me more control to shut down those spiralling thoughts.

We all have bad weeks but remember it can get better and this happens best when you can focus and work on your own issues without relying on outside help.

When was the last time you had a solid nights sleep?

Depends what you mean by a solid night's sleep. The last 2 nights have been a lot worse than usual.

However I'm aware that even in a good week, I don't sleep enough in the week and then I over sleep at the weekend because I'm so tired. So at the weekend I definitely slept but I don't know whether you'd count it as solid because my body was trying to play catch up and I ended up going back to bed more than once because I felt so exhausted.

I'm not sure the solution to my usual sleep issue. I've tried different things and my brain just doesn't seem to want to sleep for more than 6 hours max at a time but clearly this is not enough for me. I've tried going to bed earlier but my brain thinks this is a nap and wakes me up again within an hour. Ive tried going to bed later so I'll sleep a bit later but I seem to wake up and hour before I need to like clockwork. So I've just had to stick with the time that seems to give me the most sleep. 

This week that's gone out the window. The first night I made the mistake of having an early night, slept for half an hour and then was awake for hours. Last night I did the opposite. I tried going to bed later so that I'd sleep through but my brain was still so agitated that I was struggling to get to sleep and then when I did, I had a dream and woke myself up again. I did manage to get to sleep again and had more sleep than the night before but definitely not enough.

Everythiing sounds very up in the air for you, so it's no wonder you don't really know whether you're coming or going. I've had periods like this too, it's all very well telling yourself to be patient, but for myself I felt like having a toddler tantrum and throwing myself to the floor and kicking a screaming. Waiting for officialdom to give an answer is horrid, you can't make any plans or anything.

One thing I want to ask you is are you anaemic? Either or both iron and B12 deficiency can effect your sleeping patterms, tired but can't get to sleep. Both of these things can come with age as the body gets less efficient at absorbing nutrients from our food, all it takes is a blood test to diagnose and either an injection of B12 or tablets for both. I couldn't believe how much better I felt for having a B12 supplement, I was starting to get really worried about myself, fuzzy headed, sleepless, but constantly tired, aches and pains, low level flu type symtoms. It also made me less able to deal with stress. Get it checked out, you might be fine, but for such a simple thing, it's worth it.

Everythiing sounds very up in the air for you, so it's no wonder you don't really know whether you're coming or going. I've had periods like this too, it's all very well telling yourself to be patient, but for myself I felt like having a toddler tantrum and throwing myself to the floor and kicking a screaming. Waiting for officialdom to give an answer is horrid, you can't make any plans or anything.

One thing I want to ask you is are you anaemic? Either or both iron and B12 deficiency can effect your sleeping patterms, tired but can't get to sleep. Both of these things can come with age as the body gets less efficient at absorbing nutrients from our food, all it takes is a blood test to diagnose and either an injection of B12 or tablets for both. I couldn't believe how much better I felt for having a B12 supplement, I was starting to get really worried about myself, fuzzy headed, sleepless, but constantly tired, aches and pains, low level flu type symtoms. It also made me less able to deal with stress. Get it checked out, you might be fine, but for such a simple thing, it's worth it.

Interesting you ask that. I'm not anaemic, however my iron stores and b12 are both low at the moment. I am on tablets but it hasn't made much difference yet. It's only been a couple of weeks though. They are being checked in another 2 or 3 months. They also mentioned low folate. I don't really know what folate is or does but they said raising the b12 should fix that and they'll check that again too so we will see. But yes I did wonder whether those being low might be impacting on my ability to deal with the other stresses.