16 replies to this topic

[yikespanic]

Any ideas. I keep waking up at 3 and 4 am every night. It seems I lay there trying to get back to sleep. I know I finally do because my alarm wakes me up and I am so tired, it feels like it's the middle of the night. If I am so tired, why can't I sleep when I am supposed to. I hate it also because I feel wierd when I get up in the middle of the night, a little scared, my mind feels like it is racing a bit, it's like my half my mind is caffeined up and flying and the other half is dead tired. I need some sleep

Kim

[Sunfish]

i don't have answers for you but know that i've heard many others echo similar issues. for me i was waking up at LEAST ten times a night...minimum....until my apnea diagnosis/treatment. i still wake up several times a night and miss the "old days" where i slept through peacefully from night til morning.

my only specific thought would be if you've started any new meds...even in the past few months? or stopped anything for that matter?

hang in there...
melissa

[yikespanic]

I've stopped florinef and metoprolol in early feb and started celexa on feb 15th. I was having this while still on metoprolol and florinef, I hope it's not the celexa, I have high hopes that it will be the one to work. So far my anxiety level is down from what it was before. Thanks for the ideas.

Kim

[yogini]

I don't know what to tell you. I get this too, and it is worse around times of stress. OTC sleep meds don't work for me, so I am planning to go to the doctor to ask for a prescription later this week. A lack of sleep makes things soooo much worse for me. Hope you get some sleep soon.

-Rita

[blondie]

I'm normally up around 2 or 3am. Get on here and we can chat our ways back to sleep! lol.
Actually, I went about a month with normal sleeping patterns and about 2 weeks ago I'm back to my old self. I have very vivid dreaming, night sweats/chills, and heart racings. And to top it all off I'm dead tired cause I just started physical therapy. You would think I would sleep all the time.
As far as help, you could try talking to your doctor. Like the others mentioned, maybe a sleeping aid would help. I myself refuse to have to take anymore medications, my luck I would be up all night!
Or you could try home remedies like warm milk, lavender, a peaceful noise maker (like the ones that make ocean noises), something of this nature.

I do hope you find rest soon!

Nicole

[dizzygirl]

hmm.. my thought was hyperadrengic pots..Isuggests this b/c of the racing mind.. its just a thought)b/c Um I have my worst adrenaline surges at about between 3-5am.. same with syncope spells.. they are worst between 3-5 regardless of weather it is daytime or night time.. weird I know..but that is why I am up at 3-5 am most nights.. I am surging and sicker then a green monster!! YUCK!

I hope that you feel better soon and get som much needed sleep soon as well!

[Lulu]

hey Kim-
celexa can cause "hypomanic" symptoms and disrupted sleep, while lopressor (metoprolol) is a beta blocker and generally makes one a bit sleepy. the combo of dropping one and picking up the other may be contributing to the problem?? maybe you just have to ride it out? in the meantime, you might consider a sleep aid to help you over the "hump." ask your doc. celexa is a great med, it'll take a few weeks for your system to get used to it though, like any SSRI. don't give up on it yet, is my suggestion.

i've been in that vicious (sp?) cycle too, where i wake up, it's not time to wake up, then i worry about sleep and can't sleep, worry more about not sleeping.....look at the clock and think if i go to sleep now, i'll get 3 hours sleep....if i go to sleep now, i'll get 1 hour sleep......if i go to sleep now, I"ll be LATE! it's rough! I hope you get your rest....it always makes POTSY World worse for me w/o good rest. (just another thing to worry me in the night:P)

good luck!
peace and sweet dreams,
lulu

[Lily Pearl]

Any ideas. I keep waking up at 3 and 4 am every night. It seems I lay there trying to get back to sleep. I know I finally do because my alarm wakes me up and I am so tired, it feels like it's the middle of the night. If I am so tired, why can't I sleep when I am supposed to. I hate it also because I feel wierd when I get up in the middle of the night, a little scared, my mind feels like it is racing a bit, it's like my half my mind is caffeined up and flying and the other half is dead tired. I need some sleep

Kim

Hi Kim,

I used to (and still do) wake up at four AM. I find that what helps me is eating a low carb diet (meat, fish, cheese, eggs, nuts, seeds and vegetables - no potatoes, rice, bread, sugar or pasta) I eat very small bowl of home made granola every night and it seems to help me to get about five or six hours of sleep every night. I suspect that waking in the middle of the night is caused by adrenalin and blood sugar fluctuations and by watching what you eat, those things can be controlled. Also, stay away from the caffeine, period, not only at night. It might take awhile before you notice that you are sleeping through the night, but it is definitely worth it! Oh, and eat at least six small meals a day instead of three larger ones...

By the way, I'm on Celexa and Florinef and these medications don't seem to bother me.

Hope things work out well for you.

Lily

[dizzygirl]

did you know that dr.streeten (the godfather of dysautonomia!) would referr to the hour of about 3-5 am as the ephinephrine hours?.. i found this to interesting..b/c so many people seem to get symptomatic at this time frame in the am.. if I understand correctly..this is b/c natural the body is suppose to want to wake up when the sun starts coming..(though I cant say that I like that!! or that i ever do! LOL)..so internal clock thing.. but that this is when the body release adrenaline to try and wake your system up.. and sometime it might release a bit too much and you feel cruddy..

I thought i'd sahre that.. b/c for a good 8 yrs.. I get very symptomatic between 2-5am.. and this therory that was recently explained to me makes alot of sense!!

[dianaD]

Drugs!! I take Lunesta -- works well, and I often mix it with Xanax or clonazepam. I wake up feeling so relaxed and sleep a full night.

HOWEVER, I still get tired during the day. Sleep pattern disruptions are a hallmark of this condition, and I think that must occur even "under the influence" of sleep medications.

I still couldn't get by without them, though, and my doctor agrees that sleep is critical to trying to heal this, and that Lunesta shouldn't be habit forming, anyway. I have NO qualms about taking a prescription sleep med.

Good luck and sweet dreams!

[dawn]

Klonopin 1 mg at bedtime works the best for me. The SSRI's prevent us from getting the REM sleep and that is what we need!!!!!!!! On my sleep strudy I would have like 3-5 min of REM sleep. That's when I went off the SSRI's, the pulmonary doc said that would be the only way to get the sleep I needed. Now I sleep but have increased anxiety. Trade one problem for another. It's a cycle.
Good Luck
Dawn

[hmichel]

Yea, I wake up always between 3 and 5am every morning...have for always. I usually do have to be careful then too cause I almost always, always start to grey out...How bad it is determines for me how the day will go... lol

[Evie]

I was comming online to post about this. .. does anyone else sometimes get to the state that they cry because they cant sleep? Last night i wanted to sleep so much but my body was hurting and i just could not get my mind to shut off. It seems to happen and i dont know if its the pain causing me to stay awake or being awake is causing extra pain.... i end up in fits of tears as i am so frustrated by it.. Is this normal in POTSY land?

[Amby]

Evie,
I too get frustrated to tears. Not only at night, but in the normal hours of the day.
Just wanted you to know your not alone.

A good cry sometimes can help, then again sometimes that makes me feel worse. Just another thing to add to the frustration.

Amber

[smiles]

I was comming online to post about this. .. does anyone else sometimes get to the state that they cry because they cant sleep? Last night i wanted to sleep so much but my body was hurting and i just could not get my mind to shut off. It seems to happen and i dont know if its the pain causing me to stay awake or being awake is causing extra pain.... i end up in fits of tears as i am so frustrated by it.. Is this normal in POTSY land?

Me too. Was just diagnosed this month with dysautonomia. Didn't know to ask if it was POTS, but after coming home and researching I have many sympt. of it. I have that sleep problem too. I thought I was going crazy. I was ok with it till I convinced myself that there must be some reason I couldn't sleep. Got introspective. Worried, knowing how yucky I'd feel in the morning after getting a few less hrs of sleep. That all happened after that creapy crawly lack of sleep feeling prevaded my body. Then the tears followed. I don't feel so crazy now. I never in my life have had probl. sleeping till the last year.