Anxiety and insomnia can keep you awake
Anxiety caused by insomnia, or worrying about not sleeping, is guaranteed to keep you awake. This is not the typical stress that can be alleviated by relaxation exercises or deep breathing (although these might help). Anxiety about insomnia is best tackled by keeping the mind focused on something else. As I have recommended to so many people, listen to a instructional CD with a talking voice after turning out the lights and simply listen to the CD. This works well to take your mind out of worry and is the best free remedy I have found for anxiety and insomnia.
Here is a reader’s question on this subject…
Hi
I have suffered from insomnia for 13 years! I tried every sleeping pill but never worked well. In 2005, MD put me on 50mg seroquel at night and I had been getting the best sleep ever! Last summer I got anxiety (don’t know if it was stress,or not) and I got insomnia again. The worst part is the REALLY BAD anxiety I get over worrying whether I will sleep. The minute I can’t sleep,the anxiety starts. Last summer the MD put me on cymbalta in morning and continue seroquel before bed. Also gave me clonazepam for night until cymbalta kicked in. A month ago,I weaned off cymbalta but now I am feeling anxiety come back and worrying about sleep again. I am taking the clonazepam again to sleep frequently with the seroquel. In a nutshell,what the heck do you do for anxiety caused by not sleeping!? ———
Hi
You are on some pretty powerful medications. I certainly would advise against stopping any of these suddenly. They can actually affect the balance of chemicals in the brain, which is probably why you have been prescribed them in the first place.
I am going to send you to the best article I have read on this type of situation. Please read it a few times until you fully understand it (it’s quite long). Then I would search for a natural doctor who also has medical training who should be able to help unwind you from this drug cocktail and get you sleeping properly again. Here is the URL:
It would be wrong of me to advise you any further at this point. My training is in holistic health and not medical. However I can reassure you that you can get back to your natural sleep patterns. Many people have been in this situation and have overcome it and you can too.
Please let me know how you go. I will also post this question in the blog so others may benefit. I hope that’s OK.
Wendy
