Anxiety/sleep

I was wondering if anyone has experianced almost going to sleep then a wave of anxiety hits. You then have to calm down until you are almost asleep then it hits again. This goes on for litteraly days.

Yes, this has been happening to me for the past week.  It's extremely annoying and exhausting.  I had a major panic attack in my sleep around a week ago and ever since I've had trouble falling asleep.  If I do end up falling asleep I will wake up within an hour with intense anxiety.

Yes it is exhausting. Have you found any relief? I keep hoping it is just a short lived symptom.

That's what prompted me to get off benzos. It lasted a good two weeks or so from my last dose of Ativan.

This happened to me last night.  Today I'm such a mess I feel like I could vomit. 

I've been experiencing this. Was put on 80mg of Prednisone last week for a mild case of Bell's Palsy. It was fine in the beginning but by day 5-6 I had some serious insomnia/anxiety side effects from it after never really suffering from either. Prednisone probably only amplified the anxiety and stress I had from what was going on. Had a full blown panic attack.

 

Called up the doctor and she prescribed me 12 1mg tablets of Lorazepam to take 1 as needed every 8 hours or 2 to get to sleep. I just said yeah because I didn't know what it was really. Looking it up is how I ended up on these boards. I've only been taking them to try and get to sleep the past few nights because I get this exact feeling whenever I am juuuust about the doze off. You can feel yourself slipping into sleep and then you just jolt awake with a wave of anxiety and a pit in your stomach. It's so frustrating.

 

I did manage to fall asleep last night at 4am without taking a lorazepam but that was only after laying in bed for 2 hours...and then I woke myself up at 5am in a mild panic anyway. Gave in and took 2 to try and fall asleep. Dozed off by 5:45am and slept until 9:30ish and managed to doze off until 11.

 

I always end up typing way more then I meant to, Just looking for a place to vent, I guess.

Please be very careful.  If you have been reading the posts on this site you know the potential dangers of the benzo.

I've been experiencing this. Was put on 80mg of Prednisone last week for a mild case of Bell's Palsy. It was fine in the beginning but by day 5-6 I had some serious insomnia/anxiety side effects from it after never really suffering from either. Prednisone probably only amplified the anxiety and stress I had from what was going on. Had a full blown panic attack.

 

Called up the doctor and she prescribed me 12 1mg tablets of Lorazepam to take 1 as needed every 8 hours or 2 to get to sleep. I just said yeah because I didn't know what it was really. Looking it up is how I ended up on these boards. I've only been taking them to try and get to sleep the past few nights because I get this exact feeling whenever I am juuuust about the doze off. You can feel yourself slipping into sleep and then you just jolt awake with a wave of anxiety and a pit in your stomach. It's so frustrating.

 

I did manage to fall asleep last night at 4am without taking a lorazepam but that was only after laying in bed for 2 hours...and then I woke myself up at 5am in a mild panic anyway. Gave in and took 2 to try and fall asleep. Dozed off by 5:45am and slept until 9:30ish and managed to doze off until 11.

 

I always end up typing way more then I meant to, Just looking for a place to vent, I guess.

 

If you read any of my other posts, you will realize I am anti Rx drugs for any situation unless they can save your life.  Bells Palsy is not life threatening and is only temporary.  It typically goes away on its own without any treatment.  So if the Prednisone is causing you insomnia, why take it?  Doctors are way too quick to prescribe Rx drugs as that is all they are taught in medical school.  Prednisone is a dangerous steroid that has a laundry list of side effects.  Ativan is a dangerous Benzo.  There have been some buddies on this site that only took Benzos for 1 week and were hit with prolonged withdrawal and a prolonged recovery process that included months of poor sleep.  I would avoid Ativan (Lorazepam) like you would avoid the plague.

 

I would not reach for Ativan or any other Rx drug to knock you out.  A few nights of poor sleep will not hurt you.  Regardless of what others might say, I would flush the Ativan and the Prednisone and find a natural alternative for inflammation.  Turmeric is a good anti-inflammatory supplement that is natural, safe and fairly inexpensive.