Sleepless in California-

T-twins · Post by **T-twins** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:55 am

Please please help! I am in week 2 of the program and I am trying to work on stopping my panic attacks. The problem I see is that mostly my panic attacks come at night when I think about trying to sleep. I,like most people with this problem' don't sleep well. I get into a panic when someone even mentions the word "bed". When I try to lay down and go to sleep, its like I can't turn off my brain. Then I start to panic and think I'm not going to sleep tonight. I pace the house at 2 and 3am while everyone is resting peacefully and I'm awake. I really feel like I am going crazy some nights. Sleeping pills only brought around 3-4 hrs of sleep. I can't seem to break this cycle. It would seem that after a few nights of poor sleep, you would just pass out but not me.
With the program, you are supposed to face,accept, breathe, positive , and get busy. But a 2am, what can you get busy doing? I would love to have some suggestions to deal with this. I am so tired but can't sleep. Does anyone have any methods that work for night time panic attacks? I hate to beg but I am. I am running out of ideas and need some help!

Thanks to all!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:05 am

Oh my gosh. I know this doesn't help, but I could have written every word of your post. Please know for what it's worth, you are not alone. I have the EXACT same problem. The only thing I can tell you is that I have a call into my doctor about referral to a sleep disorder clinic. I am desparate. My hubby says I will sleep when my body gets tired, but the mind won't let it. Two Ambien CR's don't cut it. You described the situation to a tee. There have been some other good posts on here about not sleeping so you might want to search through the messages to see if there's any ideas that might work for you. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking of you and praying for you, esp. when we're both up at 2 am. Beverly

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:30 am

How about a good game of solitaire scrabble. (Playing both sides is really fun.) or Rummy Cube. Again, playing both sides is quite challenging, and trying not to cheat makes it that much more fun.

If you didn't care one way or the other if you got good sleep at night, you'd be getting good sleep at night. (Read that again.)

Be prepared for those sleepless nights and just say to yourself: OK - I've got this game to play or that game, cards, I've got a good book ready to read, crossword puzzles, watch tv or a video and now I'm armed and ready.

Use your breathing exercises to breathe into the feelings. Hold a soft rubber ball when you can't get back to sleep and focus on this ball. "I'd prefer to be asleep right now but since that is not what is going on I'll make the best of it. I'll nap later for an hour. Not a big deal." The less importance you give it the freer you become. Sleep will come when you no longer worry about getting sleep.

You can function on four hours of sleep a night. What you are going through will pass. Be patient. Let it run it's course.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:40 am

Hello Sleepless in California: But the good news is that I went through the program starting in fall 2006, and I have had very few problems since then. It did take a couple months to be able to sleep all night (I started out with only being able to sleep an hour or two every night. I would wake up in the middle of a full blown panic attack! "Sleep panic" my psychiatrist called it. I think I was so over-anxious about insomnia, my body would realize it was waking up and have a panic attack! It was a slow process, but week to week I would sleep a little more each time. Hang in there...there is some good information about sleep scattered throughout the program. And Boon is SO SMART! "If you didn't care one way or the other if you got good sleep at night, you'd be getting good sleep at night. (Read that again.)" Brilliant. Believe me, I know that insomnia sucks, and makes it harder to handle anxiety. But you can do it! Here is what I do: First, try to adopt a "so what" attitude to insomnia. "I am awake, at 2 a.m. So what? I have managed to make it through the day on a very little amount of sleep before, and I can do it again. It's no big deal." Second, when I wake up at night, I do the 2-4 slow breathing cycle. Eight times on my back, 16 times on my right side, 24 times on my left side (I read that somewhere!). I do that whole cycle twice, and if I am still awake I get up. You could try reading something, I channel surf until I am drowsy. Or write in my journal. I had the good luck to see a psychotherapist who works at a sleep disorder center (I found her quite by accident), and she recommends that when you feel drowsy, go back to the bed. You are not supposed to stay in your bed for anything but sleep (or sex), so that your bed is associated with sleep. Good luck, you'll make it.

LKP · Post by **LKP** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:25 pm

Thank you- thank you- thank you.....you have no idea how much your words of encouragement helped me. I feel like I am the only person who can't sleep. I do have panic at times during the day but find I can distract myself so much easier than at night. It seems the only thing to do at night is to sleep and if your not sleeping, you should be. PLEASE KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING! I would love to keep this forum going so I can come to it at night during these panic and know I am not alone. Bev, Boon, & Sleepless thanks for your suggestions and PM me if you would like.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:24 pm

I would really like to reply to this.
I was exactly where you were one year ago. All of a sudden, I had terrible panic attacks that would last for hours and hours, and I had to consult with my doctor. He put me on Xanax and things calmed down. Well, I decided that I didn't want to be on medication, and I stopped. I had no idea that the xanax was helping me sleep. So that's when I developed insomnia. I couldn't fall asleep. I would lay down, and I would start to drift off and I would have this frightening feeling of falling, and I would jolt awake. Then I developed my fear of sleeping. I developed a fear of my bed room and when it started getting dark, I would start panicking. I did not want to go back on the meds, and I know that everyone reading this can understand that feeling. It is awful to be afraid of your bed! If you tried to explain this to someone who does not have anxiety, they will not be able to understand.
Anyways, please believe me, things got better-much better. It is just like the program-step by step. I thought that I would never have a good nights sleep again-but I do now. And I don't take any meds. I bought alot of relaxation cds and I played them over and over again all night long. I would try to meditate during the day, and believe me, that really works. As I relaxed, the sleeping returned.
All I can say is, I have been there. I feel so much better now-It can and will happen for you.
Don't despair.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:36 pm

Hi,
I also have the trouble sleeping, well falling asleep, but once I am asleep I can stay that way. I work a job now where I go in the afternoon so when I can't fall asleep right away I don't feel so anxious. I know I can sleep late in the morning if i need to and this has helped me relax about sleeping so that I can sleep better. I hope that made sense. I also found out that my best cycle of sleep is in the early morning hours, from about 3am to 10am. Anyway, I always take Benadryl before bed time and that turns off the part of my brain that doesn't know how to quit thinking.Sometimes when it wears off I have to take more in the middle of the night.

One reason I decided to respond to this is to ask about something my daughter is going
through. She is afraid to sleep because she has been having terrible nightmares. She is 19 yrs old and has been going through traumatic times in her life recently. She told me that she thinks she is having out of body experiences when she sleeps because she dreams that she is falling but when she hits the ground she sees herself entering her body and it hurts. What is this? Has anyone else had this?

DeniseD

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:20 pm

I had this problem for 8 months before I started the program in November 06. I listened to the relaxation CD on headphones when I woke up. Over and over again, until I fell asleep again. It took a few months and gradually I began to sleep again. But ultimately, it was accepting that it was okay that I woke up and was awake that allowed me to sleep again. Exercise also helped alot. I started going for walks everyday and eventually joined a gym so I could walk when it was rainy. What you are experiencing is anticipatory anxiety. Lesson 8 helps with this specific issue, anticipation of not sleeping. I stopped having sleeping trouble after lesson 8. I would listen to the part of it they discuss this issue everyday after work. I have overcome this problem without drugs. I too tried the sleeping pills and xanax, but it didn't help and made me more depressed. You will overcome this. You just don't have the skills yet, but you are learning them and will develop them better and better.

Denise, sounds like your daughter is having lucid dreams. I had reoccuring nightmares as a child and went to therapy. They had me draw out the nightmare and tear it up and burn it. I did it every night before bed for weeks and it eventually stopped.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:06 am

You could also try the "sleep mantra" they mention somewhere in the program. I put this on a sticky note by my bed, and read it out loud every night before I went to sleep. I figured it can't hurt! And it really seemed to help. I added the last 2 lines myself, since my problem was staying asleep. Here it is:
I am a great sleeper. I love my bed. I love to go to bed, and as soon as my head hits the pillow I am relaxed and calm and sleepy. I am a great sleeper. When I go to bed tonight, I am going to enjoy a wonderful night's sleep. I no longer have a problem with insomnia. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I just roll over and go back to sleep.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:14 pm

I have also always had problems getting to sleep. Yes, Xanax works very well for me for sleep and for stopping anxiety attacks, but I also choose not to become dependent on meds. However, there are times when your health and the lack of sleep necessitates taking something. My doctor suggested something called "mirtazepine" (sp?) which is actually an older anti-depressant. But it is not a narcotic or habit forming like Xanax nor is it like Ambien since it is in the anti-depressant class of meds.

I'm only in week 2 of the program, but have already found that the relaxation tape makes me sleepy if I listen to it right before bed. There are also lots of other tapes that are more geared to sleeping, some you can download from iTunes. Let me know if you need some names of them and I'll send.