Too much sleeping causing causing anxiety?

[Varjo]

So I've managed to get to a point where I can cope pretty well with my anxiety, don't even notice it always. Can manage to have a good time with friends and do work without it bothering me most of the time, sometimes I do still get "the fear" though.

But I've noticed this, if I ever oversleep (As in sleep around 12h) or nap too long during the day when I wake up I'll be a complete mess. Firstly, I'll feel dazed and and the world will seem very dream-like, and I'll keep having flashbacks from the dreams I had and it'll confuse me. Then I won't have an appetite at all, and eventually I'll start to feel ill. I'll get a huge migraine and start to panic quite badly. But this seems to only happen when I sleep too long.

I've read about people without anxiety experiencing similar symptoms and they call it "sleep hangover", but I was wondering if anyone else has these experiences and how could too much sleep result in increased anxiety?

[mamascrazy1985]

I really wish i knew the answer to that. lol but i can say that this has happened many many many times to me. when i panic or have high anxiety i know that it will all go away in my sleep. i have noticed here lately my high stress has alot to do with my anxiety....symptoms that i have been experiencing went away until something dramatic or really bad happens then its back again. so shew on those symptoms but anyways i have noticed that. i will sleep and wake up feeling better but if i sleep to long i feel like horrid crap and all i want to do is go back to sleep. like for instance right now is my bad point in the day. its 6 pm est. this is where all my anxiety bunches up in the day and tries to start panic mode. it takes about a good 45 mins to pass but when it does its relief and i get to laugh at myself again.. lol

[RockyJones]

I hope you'll pardon me for wakening an old thread, but I just want to share my own experience regarding oversleeping and anxiety.

I didn't sleep well last night, so I stayed in bed until late this morning, waking up, falling back asleep, waking up again, etc. Finally, I got up and got ready for work, then headed out the door.

I felt very weird all day today, and it seems that almost every time I don't make an effort to get out of bed when I'm supposed to, I get these weird feeling. As a result, I've been wondering if too much sleep can indeed increase anxiety levels, and after reading the testimonials here and elsewhere on the web, I'm almost convinced it could be a primary cause for some people. After all, if a lack of sleep can make a person feel groggy, then it only seems logical that too many zzz's could leave a person feeling too awake and alert, with too much energy. My mind was racing today, and I just couldn't slow down and relax. Then the anxiety caused stress. Or maybe it was just stress all along. But nothing else happened today that could've produced these unwanted feelings. Aside from the weird sensations and tense muscles, it was just a routine workday. Maybe there is something worse than walking around groggy all day. I call it "hyperwakefulness."

Thanks for listening! Please chime in.

[Cobra]

When your blood sugar drops, your body responds by producing adrenalin and cortisol to create glucose for energy. I am gypoglycemic and if I don't eat, my anxiety goes crazy. I figure its the extra adrenalin my body releases to try to bring up my glucose. Mornings are the worst for me because I've fasted the whole time I was asleep. Maybe that's the culprit behind your issues.

[Lin]

Never had the problem because I can't sleep when ill rather than over sleep.
The only time I have felt like you describe is when an anti depressant is still too much in my symptom the next day and I spend the whole day in a drugged sleep mode.
My present tablets I have to take one early evening and one at bedtime, so not drugged next day, but bedtime one meant to help me sleep. But doesn't always work when head too bad.

[sloumeau]

I believe "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook" recommends that people with anxiety may want to get no more than 5-6 hours sleep since sleeping more than that often causes them increased anxiety. I, myself, have found that too much sleep can increase my anxiety level.

[JustaGal]

When your blood sugar drops, your body responds by producing adrenalin and cortisol to create glucose for energy. I am gypoglycemic and if I don't eat, my anxiety goes crazy. I figure its the extra adrenalin my body releases to try to bring up my glucose. Mornings are the worst for me because I've fasted the whole time I was asleep. Maybe that's the culprit behind your issues.

I agree with this.

[Two One]

Honestly, I envy the fact that you can sleep. I find that when I don't get enough sleep my anxiety skyrockets the next day, it's awful. It's not falling asleep that's the trouble for me, it's always staying asleep. I wake up a few times in the middle of the night and occasionally I will wake up in a panic. I've had the feeling of being in a daze quite a few times, though.

[Kuma]

I find the same thing -- I often cannot sleep well. It is a vicious cycle -- anxiety causes sleeplessness and sleeplessness increases anxiety. It is necessary to break the cycle. I am still working on that....

[Dahila]

I would switch with OP , having insomnia for whole life is no easy at all...In the last 48 hours I got maybe together 7.5 h of sleep