Need help with sleep!

[Meche]

I have just had the worst night of my life. For a few nights I have been experiencing what I can only describe as 'jerks! I am on the verge of falling asleep when my arm, leg or head will suddenly spasm and wake me up. I can also get a feeling of lightheadedness. It is SO scary. I also sometimes feel little sparks going off in my neck/head. Even scarier. I end up in a complete panic. I will tremble, feel sick and my whole body tenses up. The only thing I can do is get out of bed, walk around and calm myself down. Out of bed I have none of these symptoms apart from the panic and fear that something sinister is going on with my head. This has only started happening within the past week and last night was the first night that it happened EVERY time I tried to sleep. I have now been awake for over 24 hours and although feeling calmer now, am in fear of tonight coming around. Does anybody else suffer anything similar and if so, how have you dealt with it. Thanks.

[alankay]

Yep I had similar feelings but you need to get started with treatment via a GP or counselor to get this all under better control. PM me any time. Alankay.

[caera]

I have just had the worst night of my life. For a few nights I have been experiencing what I can only describe as 'jerks! I am on the verge of falling asleep when my arm, leg or head will suddenly spasm and wake me up. I can also get a feeling of lightheadedness. It is SO scary. I also sometimes feel little sparks going off in my neck/head. Even scarier. I end up in a complete panic. I will tremble, feel sick and my whole body tenses up. The only thing I can do is get out of bed, walk around and calm myself down. Out of bed I have none of these symptoms apart from the panic and fear that something sinister is going on with my head. This has only started happening within the past week and last night was the first night that it happened EVERY time I tried to sleep. I have now been awake for over 24 hours and although feeling calmer now, am in fear of tonight coming around. Does anybody else suffer anything similar and if so, how have you dealt with it. Thanks.



This could mean you were anxious and haven't done your relaxation before going to sleep or Did you wake up because you couldn't breathe. This could mean sleep apnea or some side effects from any medication you may be taking which may be suppressing your breathing .

[Meche]

Hi Caera - my anxiety was never that bad before these jerks. It's this that has made me very anxious and petrified. I have never had breathing issues and I am not on any medication. It got so bad last night I ended up at A&E. Diazepam was described to relax my muscles and help me sleep but so far it's done little if anything which is frustrating. It was only a 2mg dose which I don't think is very high. I have an appointment with my own GP this afternoon to go over the events of last night so I just have to go from there.

[scared&worried]

Hi Meche. I know exactly how you are feeling. A few months back, I was experiencing the worst/scariest physical symptoms ever. I would be afraid to go asleep, always feeling light headed, and feeling like a "jolt" in my body, and I would suddenly sit up, and be very panicked. I would be afraid that if I fell asleep that I wasn't going to wake up. I would go periods of 24-72 hours with no sleep. I was starting to feel like I was going crazy because of the lack of sleep. I started taking sleeping pills, but found that they were causing me to become really depressed.....I still suffer from anxiety symptoms, but mostly during the day, and mainly just related to chronic stomach pain and some tingling in my scalp....Overall, my sleep has improved significantly. Here are some things that I have been doing, which I believe have helped me to sleep:

-progressive muscle relaxation exercises (daily)
-exercise
-drinking lots of chamomile tea
-going swimming
-getting regular fresh air/sunshine
-avoiding alcohol, avoiding caffeine, and avoiding violent tv shows/movies

I finally feel like I am starting to function better....now just need to figure out how to get rid of this stomach pain (have had it since start of October!).

I hope you start feeling better soon.

[Meche]

Thank you. I managed a 5 hour sleep on Diazepam which is great but I have woken with shakes in my legs. This is down to having had 2 major anxiety attacks this week which left me shaking beyond control so my legs are VERY VERY tense and nervousness - they are occassionally twitching on their own. I have gotten up believing I was going to have another attack but have and still am, managing to stay calm (done some stretching, deep breathing, a bit of reading/internet). Events of the other night are still fresh in my head and every time I think about it I can feel my anxiety rising. I am due back to work today so praying getting back to my routine will both take my mind of things and ease my tension. I have another course of diazepam which I will take tonight but after that I'm on my own. Need to find ways to relax my body and mind before bedtime. This is my 'danger' trigger at the moment as all my panic/anxiety is happening as I'm about to go to sleep or I wake up in the middle of the night with it. I start getting wound up about 4-5 hours before bedtime (nervous shake, fluttery tummy) and I desparately need to overcome this before it becomes a major issue.