Posted by King Vultan on June 23, 2004, at 17:01:14
In reply to Can anybody help, trouble with sleep anxiety..., posted by Azurebluesky on June 23, 2004, at 6:51:25
Well, I don't have a problem falling asleep, but as I know some others do, I have trouble falling back asleep in the middle of the night after I've woken up. In my case, anyway, sleep anxiety does kick in at this point because there have been so many times that I haven't been able to get back to sleep in that situation that I tend to feel a little anxious about it. I've noticed my thoughts will also race from one subject to another, which I think contributes to the problem.
As I've mentioned before, what I've recently started doing to help combat my MAOI insomnia, which mainly consists of waking up throughout the night, is to use a sleep/relaxation CD. The one I use is designed to generate delta waves in the brain, which helps you sleep better. I am also alternating every other night between using 50 mg Benadryl and 0.125 mg Halcion, but I would say the sleep CD is probably just as important as the drugs.
Alternatively, you can try to approach this from a cognitive behavioral standpoint, perhaps trying to come to terms with your anxiety through therapy or perhaps with insights gained from a self help book. I would also suggest you might want to explore ways to relax, meditation, etc. What it comes down to is that you want to divert your attention from your anxiety to something else where you have the opportunity to relax and fall asleep. Even doing something as simple as slowly counting backwards from 100 can help you relax and induce sleepiness. If you would then care to supplement with drugs in a more relaxed/less anxious state, I believe you would find them to be more effective.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:359320
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040621/msgs/359523.html