Lack of sleep about to give me a panic attack

NickyNacker

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure I've written on here before about how lack of sleep makes my anxiety worse. I'm not sure why it does, but it does. It's like it makes my emotions more intense. I've been up for 33 hours. I couldn't sleep the other night and then I had to stay awake to go to a therapy session. After I got home I tried sleeping and couldn't. And I've been up ever since. It's like I get to a point where if I've been up too long, I can't sleep. I mean I always eventually fall asleep but it never takes this long. And every time I lay down I get this claustrophobic sensation and I have to sit up and turn on the light. And then I end up crying and shaking. I have this huge fear of not being able to sleep becuase of it making my anxiety worse and triggering panic attacks. And this would be my first attack since 2009. The fear of not being able to sleep is keeping me from sleeping. A million fears/negative thoughts are shooting through my mind all at the same time and it's so overwhelming and that's usually what ends up turning into the panic attack and I keep trying to tell myself out loud that everything is ok and that it's uncalled for and ridiculous but it just keeps happening. This post is such a ramble but I was desperate to get this out and I'm going crazy. I feel like there's a million things I'm not saying but I can't think of how to put the feelings into words. There's one horrible feeling in particular I can never describe. When I get that panicked feeling in the pit of my stomach I have this need to be near whoever is in the house.. It's this lonely terrifying feeling. Like I cannot be alone. I have to be near someone to feel better. Idk I'm just so confused/scared/frustrated.
 
Hi bro. I can't really say anything to help you or give you suggestions because I've a lot of problems with sleep myself. I understand your problems with sleep and empathize. You ever considered joining up with a sleep forum? Most of them are inactive (says a lot I think), but a couple of them are not too bad. Also, feel free to hit me up on the chat if you want.
 

Kinetik

Well-known member
I used to have this as a kid, but it died out sometime during my teens. I would start to obsess over not having enough time to sleep and feel really upset if I didn't nod off before a certain time. These days I only have it if I have to get up early - I find I lay there at night and all I can think about is the alarm going off and having less and less time to sleep with every minute I'm laying there.

One thing that's important though is to establish a routine and stick to it. Especially as I get older, I notice my body responds better to having fixed meal- and sleep times. Your mind and body have to come together at a certain point at night and get the feeling that it's time to sleep. If your patterns are erratic, it's much harder to achieve that. So the first things I would suggest are a) establish a routine, b) get proper nutrition/vitamins, c) force yourself to empty your mind and think as blankly as possible once you're in bed.
 

Kinetik

Well-known member
Sorry if I wasn't clear - by routine I mean going to bed and eating your meals at the same times every day. :)
 

NickyNacker

Well-known member
thanks for the responses. i try to stay on a good schedule and i know it's best but there will be a night where i just can't sleep and that messes it all up. and it happens all over again

i ended up falling asleep a couple hours later and slept all day. so i woke up at 7 pm and now i'm having a lot of anxiety and panic feelings about having to stay up all day tomorrow and get back on schedule. i'm scared of the same thing happening again that happened last night... ughh X__X
 

Honda

Well-known member
Research says that if your body temperature is cold you will sleep faster.. It is wired to trigger sleeping... So dont cover yourself with plenty of blankets.. I just read this earlier... I will try it tonight as a im not getting sufficient sleep.. I need to lay down for 1-2 hours in bed inorder to do so..
 

bigchris

Well-known member
Take a B vitamin supplement, magnesium and melatonin. Brewers yeast would be perfect
for B vitamins and also includes magnesium and many other nutrients.

"in doses of approximately 250 milligrams, can help induce sleep. Magnesium deficiency is responsible for nervousness that prevents sleep"
 

Redshoes

New member
This sounds a lot like me. I've been wondering if anyone else shares what seems to be a full fledged phobia- fear of not being able to sleep and having it trigger terrible attacks of anxiety. Nickynacker, are you still on here?
 
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