anxiety worse in the mornings, why?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:28 pm

It was explained to me that...adrenaline is what wakes us up every morning. The average person sees it as their internal alarm clock. They get up peacefully. We with anxiety interpret it as a panic like alarm, fight or flight.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:45 pm

I'm in week 9 now and off medication and I too have noticed morning anxiety. I just get up and get busy and it goes away pretty quickly within 30 minutes or so. I also exercise every morning. This really helps get rid of the adrenaline and then I feel great the rest of the day. Interesting that adrenaline is high in the morning, makes sense to me. I was having anxiety before bed prior to this and used the relaxation CD. It worked really well. Sometimes I would fall asleep while listening to the tape!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:02 pm

Hi, everyone. I just started the program today. I too am feeling this in the mornings. Like a cloud around me winding me in slow motion with eveything I am trying to accomplish. I could have so much done everyday if I wasn't feeling this. Does anyoneelse have this feeling?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:58 am

My mornings have been horrible. I've had anxiety for years but am now suffering with depression too. I wake up really early, 4 or 5 am with my heart pounding out of my chest, then the obsessive/racing/negative thoughts start. I end up laying in bed for hours trying to get back to sleep but never do. My husband and kids are still sleeping so I don't know if I should get up...but I'm so exhausted. I just don't know what to do with myself.
Last night I made a plan that I would give myself 1 hr to lay there and try to fall back asleep, if I didn't then I had to get up and do something to burn the adrenaline.
So this morning I think I may have drifted off a few times and ended up staying in bed longer than the hour. I got up and did a short 5 min exercise video then went straight in the shower.
I also leave myself a list of things that I am greatful for and some positive thoughts. My doctor has me taking an Ativan first thing when I wake up until my antidepressant kicks in. I don't like taking them so I also go back and forth whether I should take it or not. It's so exhausting!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:24 am

monkey35= I started viewing the adrenaline thing in the morning as "this is my body's way of saying OK it is time to get up because that's what the adrenaline us supposed to do" and boy did it help. Thought of it not as anxiety but as an energy instead.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:34 pm

I seem to have more anxiety between 6 am -11 am.... therapist advised me this is normal for most who suffer with anxiety and depression, linking it to sugar levels. I am usually ok once i eat. I still have an attack at night though, seems like i fall into this deep sleep for 10 mins and wake up with heart racing ect. I then can go back to sleep with no problem very strange!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:18 pm

i had the same anxiety schedule-- i would get up at 4 or 5 am and my heart would pound like crazy and i would think thoughts over and over again-- ativan is horrible-- tell your doctor that you want to get of of it-- it is addicting. i didn't personally get addicted to it, but my body did. i made the mistake of stopping it abruptly and my body went nuts--- the withdrawals were horrible-- and i was on a small dose (.5 mg) -- all i can say is get off the drugs-- i'm on one now that i want to get off of-- drugs are bad and only mask the problem temporarily while possibly creating a new one

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:38 am

I am having problems sleeping again, so will try what Kris10 suggested...going to bed with a gratitude list and some positive thoughts beside the bed. I woke at 4 a.m. and never got back to sleep and try as hard as I could, I could NOT come up with positive replacement thoughts in the middle of the night. I am just starting week 3 again on my second time through the program, so it is timely I guess. I think I will make a separate post there asking for some ideas. This morning all I came up with is: "It is OK to have insomnia. It is OK to feel tired." Any ideas?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:42 am

Have you tried eating something small in the middle of the night for the blood sugar levels? I put a piece of oat bran bread and a banana next to my bed. Crazy, but one of my doctors somewhere down the line suggested that maybe I was overly sensitive to the drop in blood sugar levels that happen when I sleep. I mentioned these before but now can't remember which post it was! Books on tape help because it displaces my worry thoughts. The counting thing also helps. Well, hope I haven't repeated myself too much.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:22 am

Mary Wargo: That is a good idea no one has suggested to me before! It is certainly worth a try. I know I am VERY susceptible to hypoglycemia during the mornings (I have to have a morning snack, and have been known to eat lunch at 11:00 am!). So it definitely is possible. I'll try that tonight.

I have been walking for 30 minutes daily, no caffeine for over a year, but that hasn't made a difference in the past. I don't feel worried when I wake up,but I get there pretty quickly when I don't go right back to sleep.