- Date posted
- 1y
What is with the massive anxiety when waking up
What is it about OCD that gives us huge anxiety when waking up. I have also been sleeping terribly.
What is it about OCD that gives us huge anxiety when waking up. I have also been sleeping terribly.
It is the worst. The absolute worst. The swirling anxiety in my belly the moment my eyes open, the racing thoughts, the nausea, the chaos of fear that runs through me from adrenaline rushes. It’s miserable. I have come to believe that as soon as I realize Im awake, Im afraid for what lies ahead of me as far as ocd & intrusive thoughts go. What kind of day will I have today? What new thoughts will pop up, etc., etc. I just started taking an anti anxiety med last week and it has helped to slow it down. I take it around 10 each night, asleep by 10:30/10:45 and it has been getting me through the night. The mornings havent been filled with fear. The anxiety is still there, but more tolerable. At least now Im not hunched over holding my belly, pacing the floor, and trying not to barf. Long story short, I completely get you and I swore up & down I was never ever going to get better. Im not better yet, but I do believe my Lexapro & anti anxiety med is helping me manage. Looking forward to the future when this is all a thing of the past. Best of luck to you, and heres to a morning full of peace, calm, and relaxation!
I am just started taking Lexapro. This is my second massive OCD episode, and Lexapro for 3 months completely put me into recovery. Take care friend, one day at a time.
@Torquemada How long dis it take before you saw results from the Lexapro?
This post is so relatable.
@Scared1 2-3 weeks 10mg, but it was gradual, not like on or off, hardest thing is breaking the habit of engaging with the thoughts, after that I felt like my old self.
@Torquemada I am starting out on 5mg and if need be will move up. I was too afraid to jump in too fast. I am hoping I can stay where I am at with it, but who knows. So glad to hear yours is working for you!
I know, right?!
I was just about to post about this! It used to be that sleeping was my safe haven. And it would linger for at least a few hours into the beginning of my day until the intrusive thoughts would pop back in. But not anymore. The second I wake up the intrusive thoughts start coming and immediately the panic washes over me. It’s so awful. I’m trying to think of the thoughts as just that, thoughts, and that I don’t have to give meaning to them. It’s helped, but I’m not back to “normal” yet.
It started when I became an adult, and started receiving my mental health diagnosis. I hyper fixated on each and every action I did and how it could be related to my diagnosis’s. It then lead to fixation to my physical health — making appointments and seeing every specialist I can to rule out every possibility. I currently have been suffering with obstructive sleep. I woke up the past few days with severe pain from the lack of sleep whilst believing I was oversleeping. Luckily my fit watch tracks my sleep cycle and it turns out I am not receiving any sleep. I had an extreme panic attack — bursting into tears on the phone with my mom wondering what this case might be. She told me it could be sleep apnea and that a simple sleep study could figure this out. However, knowing my family history I made appointments to every specialist I can to make sure it is nothing serious. The unknown of health can be scary to me. Watching my mother suffer with her physical health chronically since I was a child lead me to be very conscious and aware of how my body is functioning. This morning was one of the worst moments of physical pain. I should just take one step at a time with the sleep doctor instead of taking measures to see every specialist that could pertain with this issue. However, that is very hard to me. I don’t want to ever wake up in the pain I was this morning. Does anyone else suffer with health-related OCD? And if so, how do you find a sense of ease during moments like I expressed?
I always wake up full of dread and fear. My anxiety is through the roof two seconds after I open my eyes. Someone on this app gave me a similar insight once I believe. But I think anxiety is just the urge to ruminate. About what? It probably doesn’t matter, as long as I can torture myself, as OCD loves. Does anyone else relate to this or agree maybe?
Does anyone have any experience with this? I wake up early with severe, severe anxiety and nothing seems to help. I try embracing the anxiety, breathing, and exercising. But these things only seem to help a little. Fortunately, I do think the length of the attacks are getting shorter (mainly because I'm still trying my best to live normally in spite of them), but they are still lasting a good 5-6 hours. They are quite debilitating. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with these? I've read much about potential solutions (being okay with the anxiety), but I was looking for some personal antecdotes. Thank you
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