Stress, sleeping, anxiety etc

[okgo]

I've been wondering whether to ask a wider populous about this for a while, but recently its reached fever pitch so to speak, so thought it was worth throwing out there to see whether anyone else had gone through similar and had any tips etc.

The long and short of it is that I have seemingly got myself into a state where I cannot sleep, my jaw aches and occasionally my hands shake. As far as I can see its not really work related, and aside from not sleeping I have a fairly happy home life, so I can't really work out where this all stems from. I do struggle to sleep in the same bed as another person, and this has always been the case but I've lived alone for last two years until recently when I'm back to sharing, so perhaps this is contributing...

I've got an appt with doc today to see what they have to say but as you can imagine, getting less than 8 hours total sleep since Sunday is pretty much destroying me. The best night of sleep I had was 4 hours the other night using Zopicline, which was the last of a packet I had from before (my first packet).

I've used various things from Holland and Barrett for stress relief, take Kalms before bed, and last night I even felt knackered, but could not drift off to sleep, I got around two hours last night between the hours of 9.30pm and 7.30am.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[Mothersruin]

Do you exercise?

[okgo]

Mothersruin said:

Do you exercise?

So I had spent the past 7 or 8 years cycling a lot (10-12 hours a week) and then I stopped that last November, and now do a bit of exercise here and there, running, cycling etc. But not as much as previous,

[Mothersruin]

...with the next logical question being, did you sleep better when exercising more consistently?

[okgo]

Mothersruin said:

...with the next logical question being, did you sleep better when exercising more consistently?

I did do yes, but the two years prior to that I was mostly only ever in bed alone. And before that I was with the same person for the entire time so were used to each other. But still I'd have small stints of insomnia, but not like this.

[Mothersruin]

okgo said:

Mothersruin said:

...with the next logical question being, did you sleep better when exercising more consistently?

I did do yes, but the two years prior to that I was mostly only ever in bed alone. And before that I was with the same person for the entire time so were used to each other. But still I'd have small stints of insomnia, but not like this.

Exercise has far more benefits than just tiring you out, it can also allow you to get some 'headspace'. Now you say you're not stressed in any specific way, but it may be a compound of lots of little things and you need time to get them sorted. Getting on the bike for a few hours each time might help with this.

I always find after a long run often it's sorted itself out/prioritised my thinking to solve issues, or left me clear headed enough to face up and confront the bigger ones head on.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Why aren't you cycling anymore? I miss the banter between you and Dizee

I cycling 100-200 miles a week, when I eased off at start of the year to 30 miles a week I got horrid back ache , immune system dropped and I felt like st, when I ramped up the miles again I felt fine, I find my body loves exercise to burn off stress and work all the muscles

Recently I developed shaky hands, and an endless arm and shoulder ache, put it down to anxiety, but I didnt feel anxious? I had a few stressful months (baby/house move etc) , then one night I was watching TV and the shakiness and shoulder ache just disappeared and have not come back since....really odd

Id get back on the exercise if it was me if you can

I also take magnesium before bed, it helps me sleep better and I usually pass out 20 minutes after taking it

Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Wednesday 23 May 14:00

[p1stonhead]

okgo said:

I've been wondering whether to ask a wider populous about this for a while, but recently its reached fever pitch so to speak, so thought it was worth throwing out there to see whether anyone else had gone through similar and had any tips etc.

The long and short of it is that I have seemingly got myself into a state where I cannot sleep, my jaw aches and occasionally my hands shake. As far as I can see its not really work related, and aside from not sleeping I have a fairly happy home life, so I can't really work out where this all stems from. I do struggle to sleep in the same bed as another person, and this has always been the case but I've lived alone for last two years until recently when I'm back to sharing, so perhaps this is contributing...

I've got an appt with doc today to see what they have to say but as you can imagine, getting less than 8 hours total sleep since Sunday is pretty much destroying me. The best night of sleep I had was 4 hours the other night using Zopicline, which was the last of a packet I had from before (my first packet).

I've used various things from Holland and Barrett for stress relief, take Kalms before bed, and last night I even felt knackered, but could not drift off to sleep, I got around two hours last night between the hours of 9.30pm and 7.30am.

Any thoughts or ideas?

The below doesnt address what might be causing your stress but more a symptom;

Could you be grinding your teeth and/or clenching?
You could also have TMJ Disorder.

My stress has always manifested itself unconciously while I sleep. My teeth were ground down to basically nothing before I even realised.

Unfortunately my jaw is now fairly fked although I dont have any pain (yet). Will possibly need surgery in the future if it gets worse.

[okgo]

Yes, makes good sense. I mostly have knocked it back as I wasn't really enjoying it, and without races I cba to ride a bike much, and I couldn't be arsed to race anymore. Have been doing a bit of running, but nowhere near as much as what I was doing on the bike obviously. I also probably drink a lot more now than I did, which I am sure cannot help anything as I'm not purging the body as much with exercise as I was?

Re the jaw thing, I sleep with my mouth open (as my grim morning breath can attest to) so not sure that's happening...

Just picked up some more sleepers so will do those and do a bit more moving and less boozing and see if it helps.

[Mothersruin]

Hope it works out.

[Patch1875]

I suffer from similar.

Generally feel tense all the time but seems to get worse while I sleep.

I don’t sleep to bad as above I take magnesium before bed which definitely helps and I also have been prescribed amitriptyline which I’m
unsure it’s actually doing anything.

Had a bad episode of anxiety a few years ago and this seems be the after affect from it as I generally feel ok but I can’t shake of the tension, during the night I wake up with my brain in overdrive clenched fists sometimes I don’t seem to grind my teeth but my tongue gets tense and I wake up with it clamped to the roof of my mouth.

Apart from that I’m fine

[okgo]

Blimey, well I've bought some mag, I did used to take this before actually so will hope it helps.

I wonder how long it takes to reduce levels, I get the impression its not over night.

[Hoofy]

Try mindfulness meditation. Very good for reducing stress and you can easily fit it into your busy lifestyle.

[LosingGrip]

I realise this is going to come across all hippie like, but Sleepy has been a life safer for me.

I wasn't as bad as you, but would struggle to get more than four/five hours a night. This I can be asleep within ten minutes of getting into bed with it on.

[AlexC1981]

Try listening to some of the sleep hypnosis videos on youtube. I tried a few to encourage me to eat more healthily when I was having trouble sticking to a more healthy eating regime and found them calming and I drifted off to sleep quickly whilst listening to them.

Some of them have silly voices, "you are feeling sleeeeeepyyyyy" but the ones by Michael Sealey are pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJ9IXL4wY4

I've been listening to the one below each night for the last week and I'm out like a light after a few minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHNIQpZemR0

[anonymous-user]

As mentioned earlier cycling again could help. Maybe you need a social club to do it with- I know it's a lot more therapeutic for me riding in a group. You could also try meditation - there's an app called headspace which I have found really helpful and you can try it for free. It frequently sends me to sleep.

[TSCfree]

I'm really sorry to hear this Okgo.

Stopping cycling for me has spectacularly lead to a meltdown of epic proportions. The one that thing has has started to get me out of a hole is going back to the things I love. Those exercise endorphins are really powerful and i know you trained an awful lot.

Zopiclone is good but it should only be a stop gap until you've identified your stressors.

Small steps and build those goals back to what you're happy with.

[anonymous-user]

Might be worth looking at CBD Oil to help calm you down a bit. This would also help when it comes to your sleep pattern.

Clearly you are suffering from anxiety and this is why you have these issues.

You can also go down the antidepressant route but obviously you will get certain side effects. Getting off these if you have been on them a long time is also difficult.

If you do look into CBD oil then only buy the quality stuff which will cost much more.

Just stay away from the Holland and Barrett and anything off eBay. eBay tends to be mostly fake rubbish.

Here is some information and you can also buy from this site. But again research it and see how you feel.

https://www.cbdoilsuk.com/discover/faqs/

I tried the Charlotte's Web one for anxiety. It helped but it is expensive.

[Brads67]

Jesus, I have stopped cycling for 5 weeks due to a back issue and my bloody mood and body is all over the place. Sleep ! hah! no chance, until its time to get up, then I`m sleepy.

Stopping exercise is definitely a factor in mood swings, stress and all that comes with it.

[okgo]

I think the exercise thing obviously I had underestimated. That coupled with some rather aggressive drinking of late, lots of stuff going on at home and work probably has made a perfect storm.

I've got a session with someone in soon, to have a chat etc, so be interesting to see what comes of that too.