Exhausted...but afraid to sleep. help

[nebulous]

I always am in this really unhealthy cycle of not sleeping for days (literally staying up all night) and then when my body finally can't handle being awake anymore I sleep for a ridiculous amount of time (like till 4pm the next day).

I want to sleep - sleep sounds nice but I am afraid of the nightmares and also afraid of the feeling of waking up. Even when I don't have nightmares, I feel awful when I wake up and I'd rather feel the feeling of exhaustion & residual adrenaline from staying awake then go to sleep and feel worse. The occasional time I get in bed at like midnight and resolve to sleep calmly, I toss & turn and my tiredness turns into a waking state I have to battle to the death before I can get an hour or two. Anyone else feel like this?

 

[mamachick]

Yes nebulous, when I finally crash, I sleep for like 18 hours, but I have an aversion to sleeping. I don't know if Im scared, but I just stay up all night so many nights. I have days and nights mixed up. Eventually, (couple times a wk), I just go ahead and get up when its 6 am and I haven't slept, then I will crash at 10 or 11, but not get up till 4-5pm the next day. It does not work with the worlds schedule, and is not productive. I have to force myself to stay awake all day to to this and sometimes get anxiety and racing heart from it. I am worse today as my dog passed away at 4 am yesterday.

 

[flowerapple]

I have the same problem. I know this sounds silly but I bought this huge stuffed animal that I sleep and cuddle with. It works for the most part, I mean nothing's perfect. Even when I can't fall asleep, just having it next to me is calming enough so I don't end up worrying too much where it makes it harder to fall asleep. Maybe you can try that and I hope it works for you.

 

[Angelwings]

I am afraid to fall asleep. I think it's because my abuse happened after I had gone to sleep as a child. Now I want to stay awake so that I can listen if anyone is coming down the hall. I know that no one is coming, but still...I'm freaked. My psychiatrist likened it to when a Vet with PTSD can't sleep because they were threatened with death if they fell asleep while they were in war, when they get home they still can't sleep. Am I making sense?

 

[Rumors]

Weighted blankets, a really good therapist, and emdr... whatever you have nightmares about can be addressed in emdr

 

[PiggyBack]

Same here. What can you do to make yourself more comfortable? Locked door. Dog for a thunder buddy. Meds. Physical exhaustion.