Too Scared To Fall Asleep

[MGarcia]

Hi everyone,

After years of dealing with spurts of bad anxiety, I finally came to terms with it actually being PTSD. But now a whole new symptom has started and I'm hoping to find some help here. When it comes time to go to sleep I lay in bed and start feeling anxious although I am tired. (exhausted some nights) This feeling of terror comes over me. So I'm laying in bed shaking and scared for no particular reason and freezing and unable to go to sleep. For almost a month now I have been up til about 1 almost every night. To then wake up at 6 for work. Most days I just deal and go on with my day but the more it happens the more broken I feel.
I have two young boys and luckily am now on a long break but am almost done with my master's program in addition to the full time job and husband. I need to sleep! This is so frustrating and defeating. What can I do?
Also, I have been avoiding meds because I don't like the idea of becoming dependent but is that going to be my only option? I've tried a bunch of natural stuff and most nights it doesn't work.

I appreciate any advice I can get. So happy to have found this forum because I don't know anyone that deals with this the anxiety or PTSD.

 

[lux.]

There are plenty of meds you can take that aren't addictive and won't make you dependent. I wouldn't recommend going on benzos, which are addictive. I take a few things, but the main one is Trazodone, which was a lifesaver. I could only sleep 1-2 hours a night before I started it and now I sleep very well. A lot of people take Trazodone for sleep, and it's very safe and not habit-forming at all. But it doesn't really address anxiety. There aren't great meds out there for anxiety that are not addictive, but I take neurontin/gabapentin and vistaril for it. They aren't anywhere near as effective as a benzo, but I am an addict so I can't take anything addictive, and these are not the sort of drugs you could abuse.

I would recommend that you try setting up a nighttime routine that you follow every night to wind yourself down before bed. Try including relaxing and soothing activities that will put your mind and body in more of a calm state before you try to sleep. Some ideas: drinking herbal tea (maybe chamomile or sleepytime tea), taking a bath, putting on lotion, reading, meditation or mindfulness (there are a lot of apps or guided meditations on YouTube), grounding, breathing exercises, journaling, containment, yoga or stretching, calming music.

Also, do you know about sleep hygiene? It's things that contribute to good sleep and things that are detrimental to it. Try googling it for more information. For example, you're supposed to turn off electronic devices 2 hours before bed--looking at screens makes it harder for you to fall asleep. Don't drink caffeine too close to bedtime, of course. And you're not supposed to just lay in bed for hours if you can't sleep. If you can't sleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed and go sit in the living room and do something else that will relax you, like reading, until you feel sleepy. I would really pay attention to that one. Because laying in bed terrified every night is conditioning you to think of your bed as a place of terror. You want your bed to be a place where all you do is sleep. So when you're laying there shaking and scared, get up and be scared somewhere else.

Oh, also, maybe try a nightlight. It may make you feel safer.

 

[Keming]

hey. seconding lux. medication can be subtle - just a nudge, a hint. like scalded milk before bedtime (but without the 1 a.m. bathroom trip).

Evening listening doesn't have to be anything as trendy as mindfulness recordings etc. try old time radio plays, or audio books. turn the volume very low, so you have to be completely still and concentrating a bit to hear it - and if you're using radio shows, try to avoid shows w/ laugh tracks. i get my radio plays from the Internet Archive. Even if you don't get to sleep, you'll have had some time practicing stillness and listening to something pleasant.

 

[MGarcia]

There are plenty of meds you can take that aren't addictive and won't make you dependent. I wouldn't recom...

Thank you! I will try those things. Specially getting out of bed, staying there really isn't a good idea.