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[westie]

Morning all

Just after a bit of advice from you lovely ladies. Just recently ( for the last couple of weeks) I have had terrible night time anxiety, at least that's what I think it is. I drop off to sleep ok but then am woken in the night , around 2am, with what I can only describe as an adrenaline surge which , no matter what I do (deep breathing etc) just won't go away and stops me sleeping so I wake up completely exhausted. Does anyone else have this? It's driving me mad , I am now so tired I can barely function. I am not on HRT at the mo and am keen to avoid it due to breast issues in the past. Thought I had been managing quite well with this meno lark until this started. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

W xx

[dazned]

Hi it's horrible that early morning anxiety or adrenaline surges isn't it,I do understand those feelings !
Have you tried to ensure that you have a snack last thing at night and a milky drink ,blood sugars dropping can cause these episodes. Also although it sounds counter productive its better to get up and do something until it passes rather than lie there,again have a biscuit or something,that way the adrenaline has something to work on ,somewhere to go.
Hope it settles down soon.

[Justjules]

Morning Westie. I am sitting here this morning trying to recover from such a night. Been like this for a couple of weeks and it's awful. I have started some new ADs which will be making it worse until they kick in but I too try everything to calm myself but only passes once I get up in the morning and get dressed. I can't work at the moment because of it. Anxiety sucks. X

[elainewin]

I remember night anxiety so well ,same as Westie always 2.20am in the morning i woke as if i was frightened,and panicky it just came from no where,
I also read that eating something before you go to sleep ..breakfast cereal,or banana ,or a muffin it does work so worth a try ..
feel well soon x

[Rosie500]

I have enormous sympathy for you, I remember this well and it made me feel wrecked. I'm sorry I don't know the solution for you if you are not able to take HRT, though the ideas already mentioned seem sensible. I used to read/do stuff and occasionally came up with solutions for problems which cheered me up a bit. It was so tiring though. All I will say is that my (?imperfect) understanding is that if, like me, you are post menopausal, taking transdermal oestrogen and progesterone (ie Utrogestan) rather than pills with progestin seems to be the best option with regards to breast cancer.

http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,26990.msg427313/topicseen.html#msg427313

However I don't know how this works for women who have higher risk etc. I would be interested to know.

I hope things get better for you - such a rotten thing to experience.

[westie]

Thank you so much ladies for your kind replies, it does help a little to know I'm not the only one!

Yes I am post menopausal (4years since last period so thought I was doing ok). I will take the advice re eating before bed, I have heard elsewhere that bananas are good so I'll give it a try- anything to stop this exhaustion. I should be thankful that this is so far the only bad symptom as I know many people have far worse, but this is driving me mad.

as always this forum is a whole lot better than a trip to my useless GP!

thank you

W xx

[boxerheaven]

gosh i remember this its awful i feel your pain i used to get 2 hours sleep and wake up with the knot in my stomach horrible not rational i hope you get sorted x

[newbeginnings]

I had this for years too and it is very hard. I had to resort to sleeping tablets was very worried about addiction but for me it got me through an otherwise soul destroying time and I was really pleased to find that it wasn't difficult to drop them eventually. I had to weigh up the effects of the night anxiety and effects of sleepers.

[Clovie]

I get this too.
I wake up suddenly. My eyes just ping open , then it hits me. A wave of utter doom. A feeling like something really bad has just happened. My mind starts spinning with stuff, usually silly stuff which in the morning will seem insignificant, but I can't rationalise how I feel at that point. Usually sad depressing thoughts about illness or dying, or regret or guilt, general anguish . It's awful   
Just wanted to say you're not alone and I sympathise. 

[Justjules]

Think I might have to resort to something for sleeping. Can't cope if I don't get at least 7 hours and that's fast becoming an impossibility.

Clovie, yes, there's a lot of us who are experiencing these night terrors, absolutely awful and can't get back to sleep properly.  Keep posting, as you are obviously having a really awful time and the ladies on here are wonderful and it's such a release to get it all out. X

[babyjane]

A couple of years ago I was waking every 45 -60 minutes and taking over an hour to get back to sleep.  I was exhausted and miserable and felt it would never end.  It did, I now wake once, twice at the most and sleep 3 - 4 hours in between and go back to sleep within 5 - 10 minutes.

Ladies there is hope but it is horrible at the time.

[Js]

Well I was thinking I was depressed and thinking it was me going mad or having a breakdown but I am waking up and thinking something bad is going to happen or has happened why do I think these things and yet in the morning as others say why was I thinking it everything is ok I have been thinking about seeing a councellor . It's a feeling of dread and anxiety my heart is pounding and I'm thinking I've got to go to sleep I have work in the morning but my mind doesn't want to stop thinking  of such weird things  i have a hiatus hernia and my doctor said not to eat  2 hours  before I got to,bed otherwise I get indigestion and reflux I suppose I could have milk if I can't sleep but then I think It will take me longer to get back to sleep oh then I get hot sweats which disturbs my sleep anyway and I am on half hrt as I'm trying to come off it .  I Am seeing  the memo nurse nxt week and see if there is anything I can do .

j s

[CLKD]

 

[Kathleen]

Hello westie.

My adrenaline surges always happened at a reasonable time in the morning or at other points during the day ( so yay, lucky me eh!). However if I wake during the night I find getting up for a drink of milk and/or a biscuit helps me get back to sleep quickly so perhaps this would work for you.

Sending hugs and I hope you feel better soon.

Take care.

K.

[babyjane]

this problem just has to be a physiological thing, surely, as there are so many of us with the same problem