Suzieq17

A little over 30 days sober. Been up for almost an hour and a half with what I would call an anxiety attack —worrying that I did something to make someone mad, about if I picked the right place for my kids birthday party, etc. I used to get like this when I drank—waking up in the middle of the night with anxiety—but this is odd to me. Anyone relate? I can’t fall back asleep.

Ghostlight1

Yes, I can relate.
Only I can't go to sleep because of the anxiety. It's 3:45 am here and I'm up worrying about something on Saturday.
I don't do this a lot, but enough for it to be troublesome.
You're not alone.

August252015

Suzie, I relate too - it's not fun when it happens and my sleep is about the best it's been in awhile now as my body has settled into about a 430 wake up,and generally 2-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep for a few weeks now. I'm almost 3 yrs sober and anxiety is my biggest prob.

30 days is awesome and very early - everyone's progress is different (lots of people see sleep resolve itself well!!) but I know that not drinking is the key to whatever our specific best selves are.

firstymer

When I was drinking heavily I would wake up virtually every morning at 2 or 3 am, horribly anxious and worried about what effects my drinking was having on my life and my family. Now, years later and finally sober, I still rarely sleep through the night. Bit at least the guilt and anxiety have subsided. Try to be patient. With time, I think you will find that your sleep will improve.

ljc267

It's crazy what the thoughts of the future do to us right? I try to stay in the moment. I am a perfectionist and my greatest fear is not being prepared and making mistakes. When my mind starts to compile all of the things I need to do, in which order they need to be done in, etc.. I get anxious. Who wouldn't?
I work on it all the time and it does take time. Stay in the present. Realize that 99% of the things you are worrying about won't happen and that you are prepared/have it under control and focus on something else. Whether it is watching tv, listening to music, or even walking. Just stay focused on it and breathe slowly. At night I would turn on the fan and focus on the sound of the fan and the wind hitting my face. Believe it or not that helped.

dafunbra

I relate, Suzieq. I'm over 2 months sober and I will be awake for days on end, no sleep at all. Then I will finally fall asleep and be that way for 10 hours or more. Then back to not sleeping. I'm hoping this will go away once my other issues are moving towards resolution, but its very frustrating. I do meditations and pray a lot when that happens. I am able to be somewhat rested and able to attack the next day, even without having slept. Good luck and good thoughts.

Anna

I've had middle of the night anxiety attacks, long before I began to drink and they continue now. You can learn simple breathing techniques that will help to calm you, and you can find ways to distract yourself with reading, etc. I hope that the anxiety diminishes for you.

SoberCAH

I sought help for this problem with a psychiatrist.

Whenever it occurs now, it is invariably depression trying to penetrate the veneer of my SSRI's, so I up my dosage until the problem resolves.

Middle of the night wake-ups are definitely not fun.

Dee74

I agree with Anna - I had them long before I drank and I still have nights like that.
Sorry you've had this too.

Breathing exercises and reading help me

D

August252015

SoberCAH has a point that applies to me too - my psych and meds are important to everything about my life and balance and emotions. I take a benzo (ativan) as needed for anxiety.

I self-report to her and have been honest about the times I have taken more than the 1-3 a day rx. It doesn't happen often but it is a red flag. This wk I had an especially high anxiety level. I asked my husband to ask me a couple of times during the day Tu - the low point and start of this string - and at night how many I had taken. It was consciously less than 3 ea day, as I know I have other things to try first most of the time. Mon, however, I had taken more than 3 ... Tu am I also consciously and specifically verbalized to him how I was doing and what I needed from him. That is a pretty sophisticated point but it was important for me to try.

All this is a process. I don't know if you have any "signs" of creeping anxiety - I know that for the first 6-9 mo I would get this shortness of breath and beginnings of racing thoughts (like a very mild panic, if that oxymoron makes sense)...it was sign to take one pill. My "cues" have varied over time - looking for them, though, helps me deal.

I hope you are seeing some respite. Glad you are sharing.

SoberCAH

My anxiety is the omnipresent GAD condition as opposed to panic attacks.

One of my meds for this (Buspar) has been on back-order for several months, and I can really tell a difference (not a pleasant one, I might add).

When it comes to my having to take a potentially addictive med (namely, an opioid following a surgery), my wife initially dispensed them to me.

After a couple of surgeries, she and I discussed the matter and we were both comfortable with my taking them as needed.

All of my surgeries have been rather painful orthopedic ones (all caused by my decision that weight-lifting was a good idea), and I have been pretty good about getting off the pain pills asap post-op.

The combination of my alcoholism (when I was still drinking), my GAD and my chronic depression was absolutely overwhelming.

I haven't had a drink since I started AA, and I have worked with my psychiatrist for ~20 years now in remedying my GAD and depression.

We meet 3 times per year, and he prescribes my meds (after lecturing me about exercise - we work out at the same gym).

Thank God I don't feel like I used to feel every day - it was miserable.