How Do You Wake Up?

[Deleted member 28403]

Just been wondering how the morning looks for others here and if they got similar problems as I do.

So, how does your waking up/morning look like?

I will start.

I fall asleep late and then have very little sleep, only a few hours. When waking up I abruptly wake up at 5-6 AM and completely panic. At that time I can't differ nightmares from reality, and am completely disorientated. I panic, try to get up but fall unconcious, repeats quite a few times, falling unconcious 10-20 times and managing to get up at 7:30 AM, after hours of suffering. I ussually skip breakfast and rush to school. Tired...

Anyone else has similar mornings.

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

I wake up between 10 and 30+ times a night, often into complete panic by the time I actually wake up for the day, I think I go into a deeper uninterrupted sleep cycle between 8.30 and around 10AM then when I wake up I'm an odd mix of panicked and dissociated so it takes me a long to be able to move. By the time I can I feel shattered from the panic/dissociation, I then tend to distract myself checking my notifications here and on tumblr and read the UK, science and health headlines. Or if I'm still too intensely anxious enough to make the large enough movements to reach for my computer or feel that I would be triggered by that sort of stimulus, I play card games or do sudoku's on my phone.

It usually takes me an hour or two before I feel safe enough and grounded in the present to make the full body movements to start the day which involves getting dressed and drinking water/tea and a further hour or two until I can eat. I dissociate further through the day, losing large chunks of time or being "trapped" in my body. If I feel up to it, distract myself with what ever I feel up to though often I am unable to do anything as it feels overwhelming and distressing, as such I am unable to work and am not in education. Usually I eat a meal once a day 2-4pm and have a light snack around 7pm so that I won't disrupt my sleep any further.

 

[risingsun]

fall asleep late and then have very little sleep, only a few hours. When waking up I abruptly wake up at 5-6 AM and completely panic.

Wow you just described my every morning. Although, I have the faith that this will one day subside for myself and all those who also suffer this terrible sleep/nightmare cycle.

I'm sorry you suffer with this as well. I can definitely empathize with you. I awake in such panic that I literally run out of my room every morning. I try to go outside and at least watch the sunrise. I try not to go back to sleep as my nightmares actually continue or I end up lying there thinking and panicking even worse.

Don't lose hope. This will not be your forever nor mine. My prayers are with you, Rising Sun.

 

[TonyG]

I work until 11:15pm every night and I get home at allmost midnight, I watch TV for 2 hours to unwind and go to bed, it seems to take a long time to go to sleep but like today it's 6:30am and I am awake and I consider that a good nights sleep, I get up for a hour and feel tiered and run down, most days I go back to bed and just lay there hoping to get some sleep. Once a week I wake up during the night in a state of panic during a flashback, This leaves me in a zombie state that I can't get out of for the rest of the day, I feel numb and in shock and within a hour my anxiety is extreme, grounding does nothing at this stage and I'll be in that state for two days

 

[Anrish]

I'm sorry that you have such a hard time every morning @otakujome and @Kas_Can_Fly . I hope that it will get better.

How I wake up depends on some factors: work, weekend and my best friend.

My alarm is about to ring at 4:50 AM when I have to go to work. I wake up before it most of the times. I fall asleep around ten o'clock during the week and wake up around 3:00 AM and try to get back to sleep....I often resignate and get up to do some chores or jigsaw puzzles. When it's around 5:00 AM, I prepare a snack for breakfast, try to read something light to focus and drive to work after that.

When it's weekend, it's like I have to get all the sleep I missed during a week - until Sunday night. I never get much sleep from Sunday to Monday.

...my best friend is my personal tranquilizer. When she's around and next to me, I can sleep...even when I wake up early, she hugs me, calms me down and I can sleep - sometimes even without nightmares.

 

[Karen12]

I wake up between 10 and 30+ times a night, often into complete panic by the time I actually wake up for the day, I think I go into a deeper uninterrupted sleep cycle between 8.30 and around 10AM then when I wake up I'm an odd mix of panicked and dissociated so it takes me a long to be able to move.

Wow, that sounds familiar! I spend some time in bed before getting up: to ground myself after the exhausting night, to do some physical therapy to help me get moving, and to pray and meditate. If I have to wake up at a specific time I use a BioBrite sunrise clock (one of their old-style ones). I find that much less jarring than a traditional alarm clock. If my roommate needs to wake me up he knows to stand at the foot of the bed and drum lightly on the mattress or tap my feet, and never EVER stand over me by the head of the bed.

I do a lot of physical therapy and stretching before I go to bed. If I don't my body gets so messed up by the stress of the night I can hardly move the next day.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Yes, that sounds familiar! But, I would like to add that my sleep hasn't been like that in awhile. That is, I haven't had one of those "panic mornings" in quite a long time.

How do I wake up now? Veeeeery slowly! LOL. I wake up and almost always want to go back to bed, especially if my anxiety is bad. This is the WRONG thing to do as getting up would make the anxiety go away, but do I listen....nooo. It literally takes my brain an hour to wake up, and I don't do coffee or tea or anything like that so I have to do something to engage my brain (usually get online, check my messages, tweet, etc.)

My mornings aren't so bad anymore. Its my sleep that sucks!

 

[Orglethorp]

My sleep routine has changed since I moved in with my fiance in September, because we've moved away from buses and only have his truck, so I have to get up with him when he's getting up for work to get dropped off, even though it means I'm up 2-3 hours earlier than necessary. This means we're both tired enough to want to sleep by 9-10pm every night, versus the 11pm-2am range I used to stick to. If we try to go to sleep too early, I immediately revert and won't fall alseep until 1am.

If I'm going to wake up panicky, it usually happens shortly after falling asleep (within 2 hours). I rarely sleep through the night, but if I wake up after longer than that, it's just the very suddenly awake and momentarily confused about my situation kind of deal.

When my alarm goes off in the morning, I'm usually immediately aware and in control, and I'm able to get up and start my day.

On days when I don't have to go anywhere, if I go back to bed after Peter leaves, then I'm more likely to be startled awake by the next alarm (if I set one), feeling shakey and anxious for a while, or (if I didn't set an alarm), wake up very slowly and not immediately know what's going on.

 

[Bonsiren]

I have to teach people who live with me how to handle me sleeping. If they stand over me, touch me, push on the mattress, or anything of the sort, I'll wake up with fists flying in complete fight-or-flight mode. It's easier and safer for everyone's noses if they just call my name from the door and immediately provide a cup of coffee.

It's been...thirteen years or so since I was diagnosed. My sleeping has gotten a lot better since my life settled down, but lately I'm only sleeping for five or six hours a night. I fall asleep around 5a and wake up between 10a and 11a. No matter how tired I am, I just can't seem to fall asleep until the sun comes up. This is a really new thing--like three weeks new--so I'm still trying to work with it. I used to fall asleep around 11p and wake up around 7a or 8a. I feel on edge these days, and it bothers me.

After I awake, I lie in bed for a while and browse something like Cracked on my phone. That can last anywhere from 30m to two hours, depending on whether or not I had a nightmare. During this time, I adjust to my surroundings and remind myself that I am twenty-three years old, an adult, living with my partner, completely safe and happy. It's like a mantra.

I used to stretch and meditate every morning. I stopped while I was homeless, and I've been thinking about picking it up again. Every morning, I'm stiff and sore and uncomfortable. My head is in the wrong time. Stretching and meditating was great for reminding myself of where I am and who I am and getting my day started in the right mindset.