Night time anxiety

[Darkside]

Just stumbled on this thread. About 5 or 6 years ago I started having night time anxiety. I began taking Klonopin to help me fall asleep, but when it wore off I would wake up. Waking and not being able to go back to sleep induced more anxiety. I weaned myself off Klonopin and started reading and listening to music. That helped but in the last month the night time anxiety has come back. It's as if I am afraid to sleep because my body jerks (which startles me) as I drop into sleep. It just compounds from there.

I actually think long term use of Benzodiazepines made it worse for me but when I get into a cycle of not sleeping due to anxiety I will use it every other night to break that cycle. Almost always a few sleepless nights are followed by a couple of nights of deep restful sleep. Hasn't happened this time yet, but I know it will.

I just have to remember to practice good sleep hygiene and to not beat myself up if I have a few bad nights once in awhile.

 

[PrincessX]

Interesting Thread. I do not know if I have anxiety at night. I "like" to wake up at 3-4 am and think while in bed. It just feels quiet and I can focus on my thoughts and pay some attention to my emotions too. I can even secretly cry without worrying that someone might see me. That is usually when I have things to think about or feel indecisive about. Sometimes it actually helps me to feel "free" of these emotions during the day or to speed up decisions. I mean, I have resolved some problems some of these nights. It is not the best thing to do if you have to get up early though. I can kind of control the habit or at least I like to believe so. It just feels that days are too busy and noisy to pay attention to the things that matter.