Anyone else get a racing heart feeling when they try to sleep? I feel like I'm hyper focused on my breathing and it's been preventing me to go to sleep tonight. Now I'm scared that it'll come up and bother me if I try again. I have a bad headache due to this happening for 3 days straight. I know it's my anxiety disorder, but I don't know what to do.
As an insomnia sufferer the one thing I don't recommend is forcing it. If you find you can't sleep in 20 minutes, get up, splash some cool water on your face, drink water, tea, grab a crossword puzzle, book, or something relaxing and sit down in the living room. Try to sleep once you've calmed down. Therapy in a Nutshell om YouTube has some great videos about anxiety, highly recommend them. Another tip that helps my insomnia is coming up with sleep hygiene habits. I'll give you an example of my own (sleep hygiene is not a schedule, you also don't have to do ALL the things, all it does is tell your body is its time to start winding down. Whatever that looks like for you)... 1. Text my peeps goodnight 2. Make my bed 3. Set out my night guard (TMJ, is fun) 4. Take a bath or shower 5. Brush my teeth 6. Make tea 7. Watch a relaxing show or movie I like 8. Nightly affirmations (celebrate my victories) 9. Lay in bed and rest The only thing I do for sure every night is brush my teeth. The other things? All things I do because they feel good. All sleep hygiene does is send signals to the brain that you're getting ready to rest. I don't even say "sleep," anymore. I just say "it's time for rest." I hope this helps. Also, sleep hygiene takes time. So give it a few weeks to work. I hope this helps! Be patient. Don't force it.
Trying to sleep when my OCD is bad is the worst, but some things that help me in order to get myself to get that anxiety down. 1. ERP exercises like an hour or so before bed so it's been focused on and I don't have to think about it before I go to sleep 2. Warm, slow bath or shower with your favorite soaps 3. Having some "Cup of Calm" tea by Traditional Medicinals (lavender tea is heavenlyyyyy) 4. Brush teeth 5. Read some of my book 6. Say some prayers to my deities for guidance/meditate and just focus on my body taking up space, not any feelings in particular 7. Snuggle up with my favorite stuffed animals (fr tho invest in weighted stuffed animals, some of the best anxiety help ever), blankets, and in bf's (very oversized so very comfy) clothes/pjs 8. Hum a song I love so my mind doesn't wander 9. Listen to black screen rain videos while I doze off to keep those thoughts at bay
I love this! I cannot stress enough the stuffed animals, blankets, and comfy pjs
So I just went to sleep and finally got passed the heart palpitations but only got about 2 hours of sleep. It's 4 in the morning and my eyes feel really heavy. I wonder why I'm even going through this. I just don't understand and I wish I could take back what I did on that Sunday
2 hrs of sleep is a victory! Be gentle with yourself. One day at a time. Lots of self care.
@ResilientTaurus I really really appreciate the support. That means a lot to me. Will this go away?? I've never struggles with insomnia before. Only shortness of breath last summer. Right now I'm just eating just so I don't have to worry about it later.
I’m so sorry ❤️
Learning about insomnia (especially related to OCD) and practicing sleep hygiene, even when I don't need it is what really helped. Understanding your brain and what it's doing in these moments can be really helpful, because then you'll one day go, "Oh! Im getting anxious. Alright. Let's take a second to get some water and know I'm going to be okay." I read recently the worst part about anxiety & panic is it always tells you, "THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT." When in reality, it's not, but our brain is in survival mode when it does that. So, it makes sense why anxiety is so scary sometimes. Insomnia is absolutely treatable! OCD & anxiety are treatable. It just takes time. Nathan Peterson & Ali Greymond on YouTube are OCD specialists I HIGHLY recommend looking them up for tips & tricks to manage anxiety & OCD. I think they have some sleep videos, too!
That's exactly what I do when I get too anxious at times, ha. Either that or deep breathing to calm my body down. Right now my heart is beating heavily and I'm trying not to let it be too much of a disturbance. OCD is currently trying to latch onto an event but I'm letting it pass every time it shows up. The list you and jjshea put out are very helpful and I might use them for my next trip to bedtime. I know all about those OCD YouTubers and they help a lot. Thank you!
Currently really anxious. Lately I've had the obsession that I won't be able to sleep again. I lay down at night, doze off for 15min to and hour, then wake up even more anxious like "I won't be able to fall back asleep again."
Does anyone have somatic OCD specific to breathing? Sounds crazy, but whenever i get in bed these days I cant help but start focusing on my breathing (because, diabolically, I know it makes it difficult to breathe). It’ll then become impossible for me to sleep, my breathing will be irregular, and I cant get my mind off it unless I become super busy. Has anyone found any solutions to this problem, between therapy, medication, etc? I exercise/otherwise take care of my health, but have had this problem the last 8 years and its getting more and more debilitating I dont want keeping busy to be the only solution- I want to be able to relax and not be plagued with the thought of breathing Thanks
I'm honestly not feeling well tonight. Things usually feel negative at night. My mind as usual keeps thinking too hard and I can't relax. I haven't felt the feeling of true relaxation in a long time. That meaning no worrisome thoughts, no weird feelings, no trouble breathing, and no chest tightness. I was just laying down googling and listening to a YouTube video until I got tired and doze off. Then I woke up gasping for air. Before I went for the nap, it felt harder to breathe as I was laying down. As if my body was going into fight or flight over basically nothing. I hate this. It's very annoying. I also always feel tense in an area like my left hip, shoulder blades, my head feeling heavy, or my back. I really hate this.
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