Awake

[vaneramos]

There has been another more mysterious matter: every morning I lie awake for a while listening for the alarm until it drives me crazy. So I roll over and check the time. It is always somewhere between 4:15 and 5:00. So I immediately go back to sleep until the radio comes on at 5:55.

I slept poorly all my life, and the worst bouts of insomnia were accompanied by depression, anxiety and panic attacks until I started taking Remeron/mirtazapine in 2004. So sleep disturbances make me nervous.

Since 2004 I have been a sound sleeper and my state of mind has steadily improved. Lately I have been getting to bed by 11:30 at the latest, so I sleep at least six hours, which is enough. This habit of waking up too early is probably just part of adjusting to a new routine. Hopefully it will stop soon.

Comments

[threestarblue.livejournal.com]

i might like to suggest an epsom salt bath at least once a week or twice. do not use other soaps as it blocks benefits. you can add lavender oil and patchouli to the water 5 drops each. the minerals in the epsom salts have been proven to help with sleep and also anxiety as well as other things. i have found it to be very helpful and calming. :)

[artricia.livejournal.com]

Is it mainly the magnesium?

[threestarblue.livejournal.com]

http://www.thepeacefamily.force9.co.uk/epsom.html

:)

[artricia.livejournal.com]

Wild. Thanks.

[threestarblue.livejournal.com]

oh sure. i had picked some up to help ease a rash and then found this site. i thought it was really interesting too. :)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Very interesting! A few months ago I cut back a lot in the amount of soap I use. I will try this.

[hankdmoose.livejournal.com]

Are you feeling obligated to not slip up on the new routine to make you at all anxious about sleeping through the alarm? I've found that alone is enough to ruin a night of sleep.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say I feel obligated, but establishing this new routine is very important to me. So there is evidently something happening at a subconscious level that makes me wake up early. This morning it was something like 3:30. But it only lasts a few minutes, until I roll over and look at the clock, so it isn't ruining my sleep. It's more amusing than bothersome. I expect it will go away once the habit has been established for a while and I become more confident in it.

[(Anonymous)]

Many years ago when I was suffering from something like bouts of depression, I noticed there was a pattern to the bouts. First, I would start feeling blue, then I would start awfulizing and catastrophising, and I knew I was spiraling down and I would fight it and fight it until I just gave up and went to bed and pulled the covers over my head because I figured my world was coming to an end. After I was in bed for a while, I would get bored, and get up and get moving and I was fine. Start to end was 2-3 days.

I do not know how I figured this out -- maybe I twigged to something when reading Bill O'Hanlon's "Do One Thing Different: Ten Simple Ways to Change Your Life" -- but when I started feeling blue, I would simply spend 10 minutes awfulizing, then go to bed and pull the covers over my head. Then I would get bored, and get up. In effect, it was the same sequence of events, only I was going through it much faster. I think I got it down to a half hour.

Not sure this idea would work for you, but you might try it. ~ knitterguy

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Hi there, good to hear from you!

I seem to have recently emerged from a period of low-grade anxiety and depression that lasted most of 2009, but considering Dad's unexpected illness last winter, some distress was to be expected. It's hard to know how we will react to things (Mom's death in 2008 came as a relief because she did not suffer the long decline we expected, and it did not depress me at all). So we just have to give ourselves time and roll with it. Since the holidays I feel like a weight has been lifted. I'm ready to move on and tackle projects that used to seem overwhelming.

When I do get depressed or anxious I am typically too restless to go to bed. I usually distract myself by playing computer games. But the idea of giving myself over to those negative thoughts for a brief time is interesting. If I were to stop and make myself listen to what I was thinking, I would get bored pretty quickly. Maybe it would help avert days or weeks of avoidance.

[jeffbriggs.livejournal.com]

I so wish I could exist on 6 hours sleep. I unfortunately could sleep my life away if it were possible.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I wish I slept a little more than 6, because one late night is all it takes for me to feel a deficit. 7 would be ideal, but actually I probably average about 6-1/2.

A counsellor once told me that good sleep hygiene depends on always getting up at the same time. It has been difficult to develop consistency, but when I do, the rest of the routine seems to fall in line. If I'm up too late one night, the following night I am passing out an hour early.