No sleep/worried

So, I always usually fall asleep very early in the morning, and wake up later in the evening. This has been happening

off and on for years now. I woke up at around 7/8 pm yesterday, and so I couldn't sleep at all today. It's  9 am where I live, and I have to stay up all day because I have appointments. I'm worried right now because the last time I had to stay up all day and tried to fix my sleep pattern, I got really anxious and got new symptoms, like difficulty breathing (i'm not sure if this is anxiety or something else). I'm worried that might happen today or even tomorrow if I fall asleep tonight. For some reason my anxiety gets really bad when the weather is really warm, so fortunately today it's raining and cloudy, so i'm hoping I won't have as bad of anxiety. I'm worried though because I have to go out today and I am very affected by not getting any sleep (I can hardly think or even speak properly) so i'm worried about what people are going to think. I am also worried that when I go to these important appointments I won't be taken seriously. I will have to just say i'm tired I guess, but it's embarassing. I just wish I could wake up at a normal time and live a normal life, and not have to worry all of the time about not being able to sleep at night. Fortunately today though I am going to register for school part-time for classes in the morning, so I'm hoping it is going to be a start to changing my sleep pattern. I'm worried about whether or not theres a medical cause of it though, or if it's just lifestyle related.

Hi. Yes, someone is driving me. I probubly should have mentioned that in my post before, given what I wrote. Thanks for the suggestions. Fortunately one of my appointments is for counseling, so i'm not as worried about that as my other appointments.

Hi Scaredy Cat. I have tried melatonin, zzzquil, taking tylenol or other medication not for sleep, staying up all day (many times), and cutting back on caffeine (usually none after 7 pm or so, just because of the times i'm usually awake at) and nothing has worked so far. I'm planning to try to reduce my caffeine intake even more and also quit smoking and see if that works.

Thank you for the suggestions. I went to my counseling/intake appointment, and now i'm really embarassed. I probubly seemed really dysfunctional, because i'm so tired and could barely answer questions, and I think I said way too much. They asked me what my anxiety symptoms were, and
I said "well, for my checking problem, I have to check rooms and doors/windows/locks before I go to sleep, and before I leave my house I have to check some appliances to make sure they're
unplugged." (I have way more symptoms than this, these are just the ones I mentioned). I'm so tired that I wasn't even thinking, just saying all of these things. They asked me if I had any hobbies, and I said I've been reading a book lately, and even though I was reading the book last night, I forgot what it was called when they asked me that, so that was really embarassing. I told them I was really tired right when I got there. Then they asked me what I thought what i'm dealing with could be, and I said "depression, GAD, OCD, Bipolar II" as what I think could be possible, because I have symptoms in all of them. :(

I have some of the same issues in that my body (and my mind) does not tolerate "heat" very much. It doesn't have to be 90 or 100 for me to "feel hot" either, and that's frustrating because those around me will not take it seriously and tell me, "but it's not hot outside!" (Frankly, it doesn't matter what the temperature is,...for ME anyway, there is a low threshold for heat, and what I feel is what I feel...it may not be "hot out" but I DO feel hot. Different.)

I live in New England and walk the dog in the snow with shorts and boots and a lightweight winter jacket. Always have. I have the A/C running constantly. If it's "really hot" (by objective thermometer readings), it's a hit. If it's also humid, it's a double hit. And yes, part of how I react is anxiety.

Just like you, I have MAJOR issues surrounding sleep. So I am highly protective of my sleep. I need real shades in the windows, I need a very dark room, no light coming in, and fortunately our new home in NH has no streetlights blaring in our bedroom window like our house in MA. Inevitably, wherever we've lived, outside lights always seem to fall into whatever available window and strike right at my face level.

I'm also now and always have been a night owl. I function better at night. Even years of working a job that required me to be AT work by 4:45am,....(and no, despite everyone telling me I would eventually adjust, I never did).

Lack of sleep makes me shaky and nervous, and I tend to talk too much, relay too much info, and overwhelm the listener. It's something I'm working on. But therapists work with people like us for a living, so it is the safest place to be when you're feeling on edge. They do understand. They see all sorts of things.


Sookie