Anxious, but coping

Hi there,

I joined this forum to try to make sense of my condition and to see if there are ways to cope / get better from this that others have tried that I haven't. 

I started seeing a therapist earlier on this year cos I was taking medication in order to sleep every night.  I think the lack of sleep  exacerbated my panic attacks, which I was trying to alleviate with the sleeping drugs.  But while I slept, the quality of sleep was lacking, and the panic attacks just got more and more frequent.  That was when I was told that I was dealing with anxiety problems. 

I'm not currently on medication - just weekly therapy (that has since been reduced to once-monthly).  I like to think that it's cos my therapist thinks I'm coping, but I'm not really sleeping well at night again, except this time I don't just automatically reach for the drugs.  I'm adjusting my schedule around to accommodate for the poor quality of sleep - so now I make myself really tired, go to bed by 10 am, so that even if I wake up at 3 am, and fall back to sleep again at 5 am, I'm still getting my 7 hours of sleep, albeit interrupted. 

I still worry a lot, and I over-analyse a lot, but I try to distract myself from those thoughts.  Cos if I don't, I end up with a full blown anxiety attack where I get light-headed, my vision gets really sharp (like it's on high contrast), and my eyes are throbbing, and my heart starts beating really fast and when it happens, I start feeling like I just can't get past another day of dealing with this. 

I would like to know if there's anything else I can try, that you guys in a similar situation are doing, that I'm not already trying.  It's isolating - dealing with this and yet trying to be "normal" around people who aren't aware that I have this or who just don't know how to deal with my condition. 

The "good" thing, if you can call it that, is that I'm so exhausted from thinking and analysing and coping and feeling alone that I can usually right to sleep at 10 pm.  I don't want to feel like a victim of my condition, but sometimes it leaves me feeling so helpless that I can't help but feel that way. 

Hello and welcome!

I am glad that you have found us! Anxiety can be isolating...but by reaching out, you have found a great group of people who are here to listen and understand!

Anxiety and sleep issues can certainly go hand in hand, so know that you are not alone in this struggle.  (if you do a search here using the key words anxiety and sleep/insomnia, you will find more threads than you can read!)

It is great that you are currently seeing someone, so keep up the good work. It does takes time, so keep working towards your goals with your therapist!

Here is a link to our Resources with the best self-help ideas to suppliment the work you are doing in therapy. Take a look and see if there are some new coping techniques that you can add to your 'tool belt'

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=104206

I found a combination of therapy, self-help and the support of the group here has been a winning combination for me. I hope that you have the same experience.:)

Talk to you soon.

Scaredy Cat

Here is the link to the sound wave therapy that Happy Turtle mentioned above. :)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=binaural+beats+deep+sleep

S.C.

 

You're welcome....and please post with us anytime.  We are glad that you have joined us.

S.C.