Mornings

[kaialian]

I have always found that mornings are the worst for me. I wake up and feel the anxiety right away. I do try to ignore it, sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Does anyone else have this?

[chemlabrat]

I change from time to time. Some times I'll go for a week or two and feel great in the mornings, and then start to feel bad around noon. Sometimes I'll go for awhile where I wake up feeling awful, and then gradually get better as the day goes by. And for some reason, when I wake up bad, I usually have a bad time around lunch too.

[Jay12345]

Yes kaialian, the mornings were always worst me.. or even late at night.. The reason why i was bad was because ill wake up feeling fine, then ill be like 'Im supposed to be anxious' and then it all just comes on. It's very common, hope it all goes well for you!

[kaialian]

Thank you! It's comforting knowing that I'm not alone. I didn't think I was, but it's always nice to get confirmation!

I am working on deep breathing this morning, as well as distraction. Going OK so far.

Thanks again.

[northstar]

i know exactly what you mean! waking up in the morning and straight away there it is, the anxity in knots at the bottom of your stomach :( or waking up in the middle of the night with a panic, or unable to sleep at all because of the anxiety.

i eventually learned that there is a reason for this and it's easily solved simply by a good breakfast! what happens is that during the night, because you haven't eaten for several hours, your blood sugar begins to drop. your body then releases adrenaline to make up for the loss in blood sugar and in those of us who are sensitive & prone to anxiety the adrenaline = anxiety and/or panic attack with varying symptoms from just a feeling of tension to full blown heart pounding, sweaty panic.

i quickly discovered that having a snack before i went to bed really helped me to sleep through the night (and i still do that all the time). also avoiding things like coffee/alcohol/tea/coke/sugary things/pizzas/fast burning carbs a couple of hours before you sleep really helps. when my anxiety was really bad i used to keep a banana by my bed and if i woke in the night with anxiety i would eat it and i'd be feeling ok again not long after. sometimes i still wake up in the middle of the night (after a day of not very healthy eating and tea drinking) and have a snack of peanut butter on wholemeal bread and it always helps :)

in the mornings the best thing you can do for yourself is have a good breakfast as soon as possible, and NO coffee or tea! even fruit juices can upset you if you're extremely sensitive. and by good breakfast i mean a relatively sugar free cereal, not frosties or coco pops lol. i find that a boiled egg with some wholewheat toast (no white breads!) is really great. i often eat a banana first thing too.

other things that really helped me in the morning when my anxiety was really bad (i don't really suffer from it any more, so i do these things less):

exercise (important to get good hormones flowing

putting on your favourite music really loudly and dancing round the house (i swear this helped me lighten up when i felt sooo bad!)

positive affirmations

grounding/meditation

but most of all breakfast is the most important! i hope this helps :)

[kaialian]

I have never thought about food until you mentioned it. And thinking back to the last couple of days, I have woken up pretty hungry, but didn't eat because I was feeling anxious. When I get anxious, I will feel quite sick to my stomache after so I don't eat.

Yesterday however, I ate breakfast shortly after getting up and I did feel better! Isn't that interesting!

Thanks for the insight!

[northstar]

i hope this helps kaialian! it took me a long time to figure out that it was blood sugars that were the problem - not a single person who helped me along the way was able to tell me about the link between eating correcly and anxiety, so i don't think it is widely known and i try to share the information where ever i can. what i went through was so terrible i want to share the answers i found with anyone who feels even remotely the same, the thought of any one else experiencing what i did is horrible so me. unfortunately i find that quite a lot of people don't want to hear it, they don't want to be told to give up their coffee and cola and sugar, even if only for a while. and lots more people only want to hear about drugs, they don't want the answer to be in their own strength, it's very frustrating.

if you notice that eating affects your anxiety levels then i strongly reccommend that you try googling the words "hypoglycemia" or "hypoglycemia and anxiety" and you'll come up with a wealth of information on how not eating correctly can create anxiety and panic, it's amazing :)

discovering it turned my life around and now i am relatively anxiety & panic free, it only returns when i fall off the wagon and have one too many cups of tea or glasses of coke or too many take aways lol. of course i had to go for counselling etc. to deal with irrational worry patterns and learn to deal with stress a whole lot better, but eating was the key to my recovery and i hope that it can be of some help to you too.

[northstar]

I have never thought about food until you mentioned it. And thinking back to the last couple of days, I have woken up pretty hungry, but didn't eat because I was feeling anxious. When I get anxious, I will feel quite sick to my stomache after so I don't eat.


exactly my point! i thought i was having a mental meltdown, no one ever thought that food could be the problem! it's so simple!

and i know that feeling of not being able to eat because of anxiety. at the beginning i had to force myself to sit down at eat something sometimes, but it was worth it as i began to get better :D

[Jay12345]

I have always found that mornings are the worst for me. I wake up and feel the anxiety right away. I do try to ignore it, sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Does anyone else have this?

Don't try to ignore it... It will only make it worse and feed the anxiety.. this is one of the most common mistakes people make! You have to just accept that it is anxiety and that nothing is going to happen to you! As soon as you begin to accept, then the symptoms will decrease.. The only reason why its happening is firstly, your associating the mornings and being anxious.. and secondly your scared of the anxiety, so therefore it just comes back!

[kaialian]

That is also quite true Jay!! I have been working on accepting it (I think you mentioned accepting anxiety in another post). It is also helping me. I am feeling MUCH better over the last couple of days.