Nightmares and sleep paralysis mean I get so scared every night at bedtime.

[magnolia2224]

I suffer with a lot of nightmares and sleep paralysis. The medication prazosin has been amazing, but it has a short half-life so if I wake up in the middle of the night (or if I'm taking a nap during the day which happens often due to chronic illness) then it's worn off and I get a nightmare again. I go through periods of sleep paralysis episodes, I'll go a month of having sleep paralysis 75% of the time when I sleep, and then I won't have another episode for a month, then the cycle starts again. I've actually gotten so used to the sleep paralysis that I have a routine to try to snap myself out of it, but it's still terrifying in the moment especially because with mine I get a sense of suffocation, or like I'm in the ocean and there's a creature under the surface biting my leg and trying to pull me under. All of this combined with the typical "sun goes down and I'm all alone with my thoughts" anxiety and depression means that every night as we inch closer and closer to bedtime, I get more and more afraid.

I've tried many things. Meditation, sleep music, different lighting, good sleep hygiene habits, distraction, etc. But it doesn't really stop the anxiety much at all. I think what gets to me the most is knowing that when I'm asleep, my defenses are down. When I'm awake, I have all sorts of techniques to help, like grounding exercises or calling a friend. But at night when I'm asleep, I'm at the mercy of my subconscious. It feels like the only way to get this to improve is to improve my overall mental health. But that thought is not so helpful at reducing the nighttime anxiety. Does anyone else relate? Any advice?

 

[Calmdown]

I had sleep paralysis frequently when I was younger, I thought I die if I can't move and wake up. What I noticed after many years is that it happened mostly when I was sleeping on my back. There is a form of apnea that mostly occurs when lying on the back. Since I only sleep on my side I practically never had it occur again.

Regarding sleep in general I can't sleep since I was triggered some months ago. Anxiety, can't close my eyes etc. What helps is a small dose of melatonin and promethazine, however only melatonin is a bad idea as it just helps with getting to sleep and not sleeping through and it can lead to more (bad) dreams. The downside to promethazine is that it makes me dumb and lethargic the next day, so I don't take more than 3 drops (guess it is 3mg).

 

[magnolia2224]

I had sleep paralysis frequently when I was younger, I thought I die if I can't move and wake up. What I noticed after many years is that it happened mostly when I was sleeping on my back. There is a form of apnea that mostly occurs when lying on the back. Since I only sleep on my side I practically never had it occur again.

Regarding sleep in general I can't sleep since I was triggered some months ago. Anxiety, can't close my eyes etc. What helps is a small dose of melatonin and promethazine, however only melatonin is a bad idea as it just helps with getting to sleep and not sleeping through and it can lead to more (bad) dreams. The downside to promethazine is that it makes me dumb and lethargic the next day, so I don't take more than 3 drops (guess it is 3mg).

Thanks for your thoughts! I am diagnosed actually with sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine, and sleep on my side almost exclusively. I've only been using CPAP for a couple weeks now and I had hope that it would help my nightmares, but unfortunately it hasn't made much of a dent there. If anything, it's actually increased nightmares a bit because the machine makes me wake up often, but I think that will improve back to normal as I get more used to the machine and face mask. I also take a natural sleep supplement (melatonin and l-theanine combined) and that's been really helpful. I've never tried promethazine, I'll have to look into that.

Like you, I really struggle with anxiety around sleep. My sleep supplement makes me so tired, and I can feel sleep trying to pull me under, but I fight it every night because I'm scared to close my eyes fully. It's nice to know I'm not alone. Thanks for sharing your experience.