BigGyro09

Date posted: 20h

Insomnia

Every night I can't go to sleep unless it's 4 in the morning. If I lay in bed before hand I will not sleep. If I lay in bed and wait until 4 am I will not sleep. If I try to sleep earlier, I will not sleep. I haven't slept the entire night because I just wanted to try and relax and not play video games until 4 AM. I can't sleep because my mind won't let me. I tried deep breathing in bed and that didn't work. What did work at one point is doing it at 10pm and sort of being able to sleep a few hours ahead. I forget why I stopped doing that other than a relapse from anxiety. I can't help but dread sleep now. When it's time to go to sleep that's when I'm most anxious now.

Victoriella

Date posted: 20h

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Lack of sleep is so difficult. I recommend meditating before you go to bed. Only go when you are absolutely exhausted, like you can’t keep your eyes open. Some people are true night owls while others are early risers. It just depends on your schedule. Take naps throughout the day if that does help. Know that you are not alone. Another thing I recommend doing is going on YouTube and joining a live LoFi. Others who cannot sleep usually can help keep you company. I hope this helps.

BigGyro09

Date posted: 19h

Thank you. It's just been so difficult to wind down my brain without a distraction. I'm usually always having something to take my focus away from my thoughts, but that very same thing is hurting me in the long run. I left my room because staying in there in my bed only makes it worse. I'm not even sure if background soundscapes help anymore

Anonymous

Date posted: 19h

No sleep is awful. It's like taking on the day when you're on battery saver. Sucks. My insomnia got slowly managed by doing more physical exercises in the afternoon, walking and jogging mostly. But sometimes I would do Beat Saber and other movement games to build up a good sweat. Having a doggie helps too. That extra level of exhaustion will tell your brain it's time to REST. And might help beat out some of your unhelpful thoughts.

BigGyro09

Date posted: 18h

I do need to start working out again. I haven't been doing it as much. When sleep was good, I was doing stretches before bed and deep breathing. That stopped when I had a bad anxiety relapse.

Anonymous

Date posted: 18h

@BigGyro09 Sometimes just sitting in a stretched pose for awhile can release a lot of anxiety. Where does your physical stress feel the worst?

BigGyro09

Date posted: 16h

@Anonymous I can only assume my stomach aside from my mind. It's all ruminating and intrusive thoughts that are random.

worryywart

Date posted: 19h

i’m sorry you’re struggling with this again, i remember you’d posted about it before :( if none of the stuff i mentioned before helps, maybe try a weighted blanket, that really helped me with some of my sleep issues once i got one.

BigGyro09

Date posted: 19h

Hey, thanks. I just wish I could figure it out. I haven't heard of a weighted blanket, but it may help. I just want to feel relaxed when I'm going to sleep but I just don't. :( It hasn't been this bad before and I think it's because of a bad anxiety relapse that I guess my mind didn't forget. And several times I've had bad sleep in my room.

worryywart

Date posted: 18h

@BigGyro09 aw that’s horrible, anxiety just likes to makes life miserable :/ is it like a sensory thing for you or just overall anxiety when you try to go to sleep? ik sometimes sleeping on the couch helps as well if you’re not sleeping well in your room, or moving some things around your room too. maybe even sleeping in a different position. for me the weighted blanket helps cuz it’s like a bit of pressure, like a warm hug, some of them are a bit pricey but there’s cheaper ones out there, i got mine on amazon for like $30 something. they’re not too heavy or anything to the point where you can’t move. also this might sound a bit silly but cuddling with some kind of stuffed animal, pillow, etc has helped me with sleeping and getting more comfortable

BigGyro09

Date posted: 18h

@worryywart I was feeling overloaded with dopamine and straight burned out mentally last night and most, if not all of the time I'm feeling that sense of dread when I'm trying to sleep because I know I'm just going to have intrusive thoughts be visualized before my brain hopefully goes "Okay, we need to push this aside so you can sleep" I remember being very tired on the couch to the point where I couldn't fight the sleep but as soon as I went to my bed I couldn't sleep and was no longer tired. It's definitely anxiety at work. I'm glad the blanket works for you. Deep breathing did work for me and the only other thing that could work is any liquid drink that has melatonin or a gel. I've taken one that was intended for sleep before while I had a headache and that was the best sleep I had in a while. I just haven't gotten the sleep that I wanted in a very long time.

worryywart

Date posted: 17h

@BigGyro09 shit yea i only recently found out what dopamine burnout is, its legit terrible, i went through it a few months ago. its hard to reconnect with things that bring you genuine joy and it’s hard to just sit with the intrusive thoughts when you want to relax. there’s not much you can do about the intrusive thought other than try not to engage with them. i’m glad you were at least able to find something that works! i’d say if they had a positive effect then maybe trying the deep breathing and melatonin again. if it’s really that bad then and over the counter things don’t work, maybe talking to a doctor if you’re able to.

BigGyro09

Date posted: 16h

@worryywart If it begins to no longer work then yeah I may have to talk to my doctor about this.

LittleBright

Date posted: 16h

I was having a lot of trouble sleeping, having a night time routine helps alottt because it tells your body to start winding down and expecting sleep. Also turning off all LED lights 2 hours before bed makes a difference because it triggers in your brain that night is coming. I started listening to podcast when I fell asleep, that way instead of my brain just going on and on I’m able to just drown it out and listen to something while I fall asleep! It’ll get better!

BigGyro09

Date posted: 16h

That's what I'm trying to practice. It worked at first but an anxiety relapse ruined that. I'll try again though.

CrazyLizardLady

Date posted: 24w

Does anyone struggle the worst at night?

I feel like it’s just me. But at night when I start to fall asleep, play on my phone, or watch TV; I’ll get major intrusive thoughts and a butt load of anxiety. Has anyone felt the same about this? How have you managed it? It’s getting exhausting and even causes me to sleep-less.

nicollehryn

Date posted: 9w

Sleep anxiety and OCD

So for like two and a half weeks I’ve been dealing with my OCD being so strong I can’t sleep. Like insomnia. And it’s all revolves around thoughts of that I won’t sleep, my body/brain doesn’t remember how to sleep, I’ll never sleep again. It’s the struggle of falling asleep. For a week I had true sleeping problems because of it, but since then I have been sleeping every night but the thoughts still ruminate. I was getting better but it got worse again and I’m afraid I’m going to fall into not sleeping again. Like, I’ve had sleep anxiety for years but I’ve been able to push it off by being able to sleep and fall into my life. I am in therapy and am taking the steps… I just want to know if there’s any advice from anyone about it or if anyone has experienced this? I also do take melatonin, magnesium glycinate and have an herbal sleepy tea— I mostly take these to shut my thoughts up but it doesn’t always work. Ps: I am working with a therapist. And I have spoken to a psychiatrist and got no sleeping meds, just a Zoloft prescription which I’m not fond of taking medicine due to a previous bad experience. As well as Zoloft has a side effect of insomnia so I don’t want that for obvious reasons. I would really prefer to tackle this without medicine if I can! Thank you for the understanding.

Thesadastronaut

Date posted: 5w

I can't really sleep!

For the last week, I have gotten little sleep. The first 3 or 4 days, I would lay on the couch shaking, having like full body jerks, exhausted but laying there with my eyes closed all night. Tossing and turning for hours and maybe slept a total of 30-60 minutes very broken up through the night. The last few days, I'll feel a bit better and try to go to sleep and wake up 45-60 minutes later or an hour and a half later it I'm lucky, before everything floods back. I get jerky and shaky, my stomach has a pit, I feel that dread, anger, anxiety, and I'll be tossing and turning again with bits where I fall asleep for 20-40 minutes maybe 2-4 times through the entire night and morning. It's driving me insane. It's scary that I can't sleep much and when I do, it feels like torture and I'll have nightmares for the little bits I do get.

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