Understanding Morning Anxiety

seems as if 6:00pm is the magic hour for me that I feel "normal" . So I go to bed 10:30 saying oh please God let me wake up feeling the way I do right now....BAM, SLAM, RAM nope...right back at me 1st thing in the morning

Hi, Thank you for posting this info on Morning Anxiety and some tips to manage it. I found this helpful, especially the tip about having a robe nearby to quickly warm the body after getting out of bed. That seems to help me with part. Sometimes little things can mean a lot.

Nice to meet all of you. I'm new here.

why are the adrenal glands and whatever gland it is that gives off cortisol so active during this process?  how does this relate to the gaba receptors i wonder?

 

are the gaba receptors supposed to absorb this stuff

 

I'd really like to know this too. Why are cortisol spikes so noticeable while tapering?

 

Mary Ann

cortisol is from your adrenals and during w/d we are fatiguing the adrenals, thus the spikes etc

It's good to know I'm not the only one having these mornings. It helps me to get through ti if I know what this is abut. I wake up every morning with anxiety. Last Saturday I felt bad until 2 pm.(from 7,30 am).

What I don't understand is this: the mechanism that triggers this morning pleasures is cortisol spike or low blood sugar? I thought is  like this beacuse I started my tapering with the night dose and thought this is the reason. I already started obsessing about when to ake my next cut. - I take bromazepam - short half-life so I take them 3 times a day.-

I just started my taper.  I was on Paxil 10 mg once a day Lunesta 3mg at bedtime and 1mg Klonapin 3x a day.  I have eliminated the Paxil and Lunesta about three months ago.  I thought I could do the same with Klonapin so tried cold turkey.  Felt ok for two days, on third day I felt really good- Day four I thought i was going crazy.  I since spoke to Dr. and went down to 2mg .05 am, .05 afternoon, 1mg night.  I wish there were more Drs out there who support tapering off these meds.  My anxiety came back on that fourth day to the point that put me on meds to begin with.  Have I been using a bandaid for four years?  Once I taper off will I still wake up with my heart pounding in my chest, racing thoughts, uncontrollable fear?

Very helpful information on morning anxiety. Thank you.

I am withdrawing from Klonapin and noticed my panic attacks often come around six in the morning. I am experimenting with taking a beta blocker (Inderal 20 mg short acting) two hours prior, to prevent the attacks. Of course that means being awake at that hour. So far so good. Anyone else try a Beta Blocker to help with panic?

 

I did try the long acting ones but they gave me hypoglycemia, but the short acting are gone in six hours without side effects. This drug is used commonly to prevent performance anxiety.

I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's experience.

Thanks in advance

 

dickie1941

seems as if 6:00pm is the magic hour for me that I feel "normal" . So I go to bed 10:30 saying oh please God let me wake up feeling the way I do right now....BAM, SLAM, RAM nope...right back at me 1st thing in the morning

 

I completely relate to this.  I feel fine at night.  Calm, confident, relaxed.  I wake up in the morning a different person.  Very frustrating and discouraging. Grrrr! 

reading some of this thread early this morning was quite helpful. i don't feel i got enough sleep so my urge was to stay in bed. but i forced myself to get up and start making food. i also turned on my computer and started watching some shows. i showered while the food was cooking, and when it was ready i continued watching while eating. this made me feel better and got me able to get dressed and out the door.

 

strange how the above sounds like it should be incredibly simple and logical. these are the things i should be doing in the morning anyway.  just a reminder that the difficulties we face doing simple things can be conquered.

Hello

It does get better.  I had horrible morning anxiety and body jerks and spasms. All I could do was curl up in a ball and cry. Horrible.

But now at 5 months out it is much better; and has been for a while.  It does all go away. Thank God.

I know how horrible it is.  Stay strong.  This is an elite club....lol  Only the strong can handle this crap and we all just have to stick together and validate each other's symptoms.  It's real and you are not crazy or going crazy; it will pass. 

So many things I'm doing you listed help!  The mornings I eat, even if I feel like I'm not hungry, I definitely feel better.  Also, listening to music right when I wake up puts me in a good mood.  Great information!!

No alarm clock needed here, I'm woken by my own cortisol, without fail as soon as the sun starts to rise.  By 8am its reached its peak and I"m shaking from the inside, freezing and trembling at my core, no matter what the temperature is.  A robe and slippers makes no difference.  Food isn't possible, it increases my nausea.  By 8:30 I'm certain that my body is somehow connected to a light socket and I'm slowly being electrocuted, the pressure builds and I struggle to hold onto sanity as my mind desperately searches for an escape from the torment.

 

My vision and hearing are distorted, nothing is as it should be,  movement causes dizziness, so I stay home and keep still, waiting for it to pass.  By mid-afternoon, usually, if I'm lucky, this 'anxiety' starts to recede and I'm overcome with exhaustion.  If I had wanted to do something, I now no longer have the energy for it.  Maybe tomorrow. 

This is a great thread and I would just like to add a couple things I do myself to fight the mornings. My anxiety is 100x worse in the morning than it is during the day. I wake up with my heart pounding like I'm about to have a panic attack. It never gets to that point thankfully but it's extremely uncomfortable. I work a full time job usually 8:30-7:00 PM on Mon-Fri and rolling over and staying in bed is simply not an option for me. Here are a few things that I do :

 

1. Softer and more soothing alarm clocks. Back in the day I would set one extremely loud alarm clock to wake me up. I found that playing something softer and setting 2-3 alarms is much more pleasant and doesn't wake me up in such a jolt. It's like a soft and gentle wake up.

 

2. Prepare the night before. I am not sure if this contributes to decreased morning anxiety but I find it helpful to prepare everything I need for work the night before. This saves about 15 minutes of time which if I'm having a difficult morning can be very helpful. I can do a lot to relax me in 15 minutes such as the following:

 

3. Stretching. I find that if I do about 5-10 minutes of stretching in the morning, it helps relax and de-stress me. My muscles feel looser and after a long nights sleep this feels good.

 

4. Music / TV : I almost always put on some comforting music or tv shows that comfort me. Not sure if I'm the only one but there are some tv shows that are very comforting for me to watch. I won't watch these, but they will be playing in the background as I'm getting ready.

 

5.'the shower! The most important part for me is the shower. I bought a new shower head that is extremely soothing and waking  up an extra 10 minutes early to spend a little extra time showering and relaxing really helps.

 

Lastly getting dressed and just leaving my apartment and heading to work just distracts me from my morning anxiety. It's usually still there a bit by the time I get to work but then I have other distractions that keep me from thinking about it. I find that forcing myself out of the house and being productive is one of the most important things.

 

I hope this will help some people as it has surely helped me.

I might be having something different i wake up at 6 every day with tingling arms and hands so i get out of bed seems like i just cant wake up like i am in a dream or a trance some days are better than others is this normal for withdraw in the morning

 

These wakes and tingles (pins and needles) happen to me but usually from 3-4am. I am always too tired to get out of bed but the anxiety until my alarm at 7 is a nightmare.

 

I also find naps toxic. I always assumed it was cortisol surges.

Hi! Amazing article. I only rarely get morning anxiety. Does anyone know if there is a link to nighttime anxiety sufferers? Mine kicks in around 7 p.m. and I do that dance unail about midnight.

thanks,

 

Hi! Amazing article. I only rarely get morning anxiety. Does anyone know if there is a link to nighttime anxiety sufferers? Mine kicks in around 7 p.m. and I do that dance unail about midnight.

thanks,

 

I suffer from the nighttime anxiety. It's new. I recently started getting insomnia so now from 4pm, my stomach goes into knots. The knots tighten with each hour. By 7pm, I'm a mess.

Great Topic. For whatever reason mornings usually are the worst. Most of the years that I was taking Xananx, usually it was a small dose in the AM to "take off the edge". I think that if i could have found other ways to deal with morning anxiety I never would have gotten myself into this situation.

For those of you that have gotten past this morning cortisol anxiety How long does this morning cortisol take to eventually ease up and go away? Or does it fade gradually?  I'm day 21 from my valium jump and it's there.  I have it everyday.  Yesterday I didn't have it.  Today it's back.  The article about understanding morning anxiety has good tips I will use.  Thank you for any suggestions or comments!

 

 

Have a great day!

Mine disappeared after 6 months. Good luck. Hang in there.

This is a great thread and I would just like to add a couple things I do myself to fight the mornings. My anxiety is 100x worse in the morning than it is during the day. I wake up with my heart pounding like I'm about to have a panic attack. It never gets to that point thankfully but it's extremely uncomfortable. I work a full time job usually 8:30-7:00 PM on Mon-Fri and rolling over and staying in bed is simply not an option for me. Here are a few things that I do :

 

1. Softer and more soothing alarm clocks. Back in the day I would set one extremely loud alarm clock to wake me up. I found that playing something softer and setting 2-3 alarms is much more pleasant and doesn't wake me up in such a jolt. It's like a soft and gentle wake up.

 

2. Prepare the night before. I am not sure if this contributes to decreased morning anxiety but I find it helpful to prepare everything I need for work the night before. This saves about 15 minutes of time which if I'm having a difficult morning can be very helpful. I can do a lot to relax me in 15 minutes such as the following:

 

3. Stretching. I find that if I do about 5-10 minutes of stretching in the morning, it helps relax and de-stress me. My muscles feel looser and after a long nights sleep this feels good.

 

4. Music / TV : I almost always put on some comforting music or tv shows that comfort me. Not sure if I'm the only one but there are some tv shows that are very comforting for me to watch. I won't watch these, but they will be playing in the background as I'm getting ready.

 

5.'the shower! The most important part for me is the shower. I bought a new shower head that is extremely soothing and waking  up an extra 10 minutes early to spend a little extra time showering and relaxing really helps.

 

Lastly getting dressed and just leaving my apartment and heading to work just distracts me from my morning anxiety. It's usually still there a bit by the time I get to work but then I have other distractions that keep me from thinking about it. I find that forcing myself out of the house and being productive is one of the most important things.

 

I hope this will help some people as it has surely helped me.

 

Great advice!

Mine usually happens right when I wake up and it's such a weird feeling. It usually happens right when I wake up from sleeping. Sometimes I'm so scared of going to bed cause I'm scared of the anxiety happening when I wake up. I wish it would go away and I have no clue on how long this will last for. The only time I get anxiety is when I wake up in the morning. Other than that I don't get anxiety during the day or anything like that. It only happens right when I wake up, that's the only time when I get anxiety. Right now I'm so scared of going to bed, but I know I have to get to bed sometime cause rest is important. My eyes are so ready to close but I keep jerking myself awake cause I'm so terrified of that feeling. I might just give in and lay down and go to sleep, I can't continue to be scared of this forever. 

Pamster,

Thanks for the insight.  My doctors and therapists always have told me my AM anxiety is d/t worry about the upcoming day.  It was only when I read a book by Dhattis Kharrazian where he mentions the high cortisol and adrenaline spikes caused by low blood sugar.  I am going to take your advice and eat something as soon as I wake up. I wonder if having a snack before bed would help?  I am new here, just about 3mos into my Ativan taper and really appreciate this site. Thank you.

Thanks for all the help. I always wake up nervous but I stay in bed till at least 8am and then I get up. I tell myself the feeling will leave in 2 hours and it always does. Dont know the whys or hows but I know it wont last!

I wake up not only in panic but massive confusion too, i have to repeat my name and tell myself im not mad its withdrawel, but this state carries on for quite a while if i eat dress and wash up etc v v scarey, others get confusion too?

Its so weird that this thread popped up after being dormant for awhile since I was going to post on this very subject yet again

 

My mornings are getting worse...not better and I am finding that they are coming earlier also

 

I used to wake and then as I lay in bed I could feel the anxiety creep up

 

now the anxiety actually WAKES me

 

I breathe and pray and take the V and wait to get up at 7:30 every single day...It really does not settle down completely all day but does come down a bit after my walk each morning

 

I HATE THIS..I can not remember what its like to wake without feeling like this