I have experienced a lot of fear about sleeping. Sleeping feels really defenseless, doesn't it?

On a purely physical note, if I eat too late I find I can't sleep. I'm certainly not saying eating late is causing your sleep problem but it might be making it worse, like part of a vicious circle?

Is there anything else you can do to ease the anxiety? Meditation? Reading? Listening to soothing music? Listening to an audio book? Although I realise you might have tried all of these already, sometimes it's worth trying again.

Wish I could help more. Not enough of disturbed sleep makes everything else worse (I'm writing this at 5am having been awake and unable to get back to sleep since 4).

Hugs

I usually awake around 3 a.m and yes anxiety has me tossing around for quite awhile. I sometimes fall asleep from sheer tiredness! Then I started listening to music, mostly soft alternative music and chamomile tea. I started meditation as well -- clearing my thoughts and debriefing my day with self helps clear my mind. I know how you feel. Hope your able to rest tonight.

Thanks. I took my anxioty medication around 10:30 PM and slept well. I just do not want to become dependent on it. When I was 10 I tried to hang myself from the top bunk. I tried this twice. The rope stretched, I even bent my knees. My knees reached the floor. I thought my father would be sort for what he did if he found my dead body. The only place safe was alone in the woods or outside when it was dark. I used to wear a lot of dark clothing.

Lou, I'm so so sorry for what that poor child had to go through.

My doctor - who uses traditional and non-traditional treatments - gave me some Chinese herbal medicine that works well for me in getting to sleep. Let me know if you want the name and brand.

Sure, you can give me the brand. I would have to check it with my doctor. I have medications to get me to sleep, but I have too muchanxioty to take them. I am finding that if I take the lorazapam, after about 10 to 20 minutes then I can take my other pills. I know those pills will make me go to sleep. I also know that I will wake up at 2 AM. A couple of my night pills are trazodone and clonidine. It's the anxioty about going to bed because I know when I take my night pills I will go to sleep. Not safe. Just thinking about going to bed now gives me anxioty and it gets worse the later it gets unless I go to bed after 2AM.

It's called Herbsom by Zhang herbal extracts. Made of Corydalis root, jujube seeds and Shisandra fruit.

I also watch dumb comedy before sleeping, or play electronic solitaire, or do crossword puzzles. Stuff to engage my mind with no emotional content. But my insomnia is not too bad these days. Staying awake is harder.

hello
i am new here, i have suffered sexul abuse all my life starting with my uncle and cousin. I was forced into a dog crate where \\\i had to wait i can't sleep sometimes and have nightmares. I do not want to sleep or have meds. But I have used alcohol and cannabis to sleep as it makes me forget

I stopped using cocaine about 30 years ago and alcohol 10 years ago. I was also diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease today.

I remember planning out ways to kill myself when I was ten, Loum. You're not alone in this.

I have a survival knife with an eleven inch blade on one side of my bed and a twelve gauge shotgun on the other...so yes, I also feel defenseless in bed and I try to compensate for it.

Yes friends, am soooo there with you. Started with having to stay up till 5 to not get raped. Adrenilin cycles and anxiety flashbacks all that stuff never normalized
People who stay up late biochemically/get anxiety at night how do you go to sleep? Man I would love to get better at this. Just love love staying up late in quiet doing hobbies studies interests, catching up with friends in other places etc.
Can you relate? How have you taught/disciplined yourself to go to bed in a timely fashion? What are coping strategies you employ if find it to be the time you should go to bed but feeling awake/not tired for some reason?

Thanks soooo much everyone! Really want to get better at this. Tonight honey lavendar stress tea seems to help but have a lot (!!) of room for improvemenet. And education re techniques! Multiplicity of thanks again.

I also keep weapons within reach when I'm in bed.

You may be having a harder time with sleep because of the time change. It takes maybe 2-4 weeks to be able to sleep an hour earlier and get up an hour earlier. It's a problem too when changing time zones if you are bipolar.

I understand not wanting to become dependent, but sleep deprivation and despair go together along with bad judgment, sometimes fatally bad. I wish you sleep and escape from anxiety and maybe a talk with your pdoc will assure you that drugs can be a short term help, or there are other remedies. I'm glad you won't take anything without checking interactions.

It's weird that the time change has nothing to do with it. This has been happening since I was very young no mater if it was DST or EST.

HI loum50. Have you tried Seroquel for sleep? its non addictive and its an anti psychotic that you can take with other medication for bipolar. I have bipolar and I had trouble sleeping up until I tried Seroquel( which is for anxiety as well) 2 years ago. I haven't turned back. Now my mum and sister are on it too and it has obliterated all sleep problems.
I hope that if you try it that it will help you to sleep thru. It must be terrible to be scared of the bedroom where you have to spend so much time in your life in.