WindPines

Good morning!
On night two, I started experiencing some pretty intense night terrors. I kept waking up every half-hour to hour, sweating and feeling quite literally, scared.
How did you manage through the night terrors, if you had any?

Thanks all,
good day!

Haris2014

I never had night terrors but I did jump myself awake in the first couple of weeks...think it’s our bodies dealing with some quite major chemical changes going on =..I don’t know if they worked or if I was just on the mend, but I drank detox teas, herbal teas for relaxation and sleep...loads of water and meditation before sleep..no phones, screens etc for 30 mins before bed

advbike

Extreme anxiety at night was the single primary reason I quit drinking. I was not drinking heavily but I would pop wide awake at 3am or so when the alcohol wore off, then it was a battle. For me it was an amplification of my normal fears - they were all blown out of proportion. Health fears, money fears, fear about loved ones, you name it. It is clear in retrospect that I was not turning things over to my higher power but was stuck in my head, with my ego running the show.

The ego loves fear because it is usually self-focused. So to answer your question, I found it necessary to re-connect with my higher power, to trust things will be alright. If you believe in God (or even not) a prayer can be very comforting. And in the prayer, expressing gratitude, which is another component of reducing anxiety, Having and expressing gratitude for what we do have is very helpful in all aspects of recovery.

tornrealization

I had them sprinkled with auditory hallucinations of very loud screaming and it was very awful. You struggle to even sleep and then that happens. I had to keep a tv on with sound super low and somehow after I passed out from exhaustion that would ease my brain out of the night terror because it was recognized as real TV with real sounds. Now that’s not gonna work probably for most people. It calms down and after three weeks I could sleep without the nightmares but it was still really bad sleep compared to 2-3 months in. Now I sleep like a champ most nights. I also take OTC melatonin on occasion but......that didn’t do a lick of help for early days and nightmares. Just had to get through them. You’re in the hard part, it will get better.