I was having one of my random freakouts last night (full moon coming?), who knows why. That's why I call them random. Almost came here and shared, but frankly...I didn't want to hear anything that would get me MORE freaked out!

Sometimes it just comes over me. Have to have the lights on, watch something gentle on TV, play uplifting music, recite Scripture, pray, stay up as late as I can so I'll fall asleep whether I want to or not...

You know what I mean? No particular reason, just the heeby-jeebies. If I accidentally watch something scary on the news (shark attack, drug wars, etc.), then I'm doomed. Bring on the nightmares and WHAT WAS THAT SOUND??

B2Y....

I hope you got some sleep. It's terrible to feel afraid and anxious especially at night.

Have you tried those white noise machines? They project sounds like the ocean or rain. DS had one and it was very subtle and relaxing. I need to get one. It would be nice to have as background noise even if you weren't trying to fall asleep.

Hi, Kitty, and thanks! Ironically, I'm back-end-to, and that kind of noise (a/c, fan, etc.) actually makes me worse when I'm in one of those creeped out moods! It's almost a claustrophobic feeling, that I can't hear what's going on. Not that there's ever anything going on, but once you get irrational, it's hard to put 'er in reverse.

I totally understand. Sometimes I'll hear a strange noise but the A/C is on and it muffles out some of the sounds. I don't want to get up to turn it off because I don't know what made the noise (it's always something stupid like the refrigerator or the house settling) but I want it to be quiet so I can hear what's scaring me! Makes no sense!

I started having these last summer. At first I thought it was situational...since we had several stresses on vacation.

But this middle of the night awakening and anxiety continued.

I think it is related to age, and blood sugar. A dip in blood sugar does happen in the night and for some as we get older, the brain suffers. People who have a tendency to type II diabetes, often report disturbing dreams or nightmares in the wee hours.
When the blood sugar falls, there is a slight delay until the liver kicks in and releases more glucose for you. This will show up as a slightly elevated morning fasting glucose on testing. It is called the dawn phenomenon.

I keep a Zone nutrition bar by the bed and use it about once a week. It stops those feelings cold. I can recall one aunt in the past who had strange anxiety in the night when she was older. She used to obsess that mice got in her house and nibbled on match heads and would burn her down! (so she kept all the matches in glass jars). Then I saw an article in the newspaper about this VERY THING...as a cause of home fires! (Imagine how guilty we felt being critical of her obsession!)

I used to get anxious every night, but I have started a supplement called d-ribose, and it seems to block the anxiety and change my metabolism. I have also used l-tryptophan in 2 week bursts for this, and it is also helpful. I have hubby on it now, before our long trip by car...which seems to make him very anxious as well. (this trip is tough and requires we take alot of "things" because there is limited food choices up there, no electricity and no running water. --highly challenging as we are old, and have 3 old cats with special needs).

[I want it to be quiet so I can hear what's scaring me! Makes no sense! [/QUOTE]
Makes PERFECT sense to me, Kitty!!

Hmm, MrsD. I'll have to keep track of things that might be affecting my blood sugar. My freakouts seldom happen DURING the night, but start mid- to late afternoon, usually getting increasingly worse as the evening wears on. Sometimes I can head it off, but usually I work myself into a state, as Grandma said.

I hope I'm not going to be a sundowner like my Mom. Although I deal with a certain level of anxiety, these hyper-freakouts only happen sporadically...maybe every two-four weeks. Maybe it IS the moon!

I hate those freak out moments. its like this cloud lowers over you and you simply cant find the way out.

I hope you feel better.

There're the ones I hate the most!

You've no idea how noisy our refrigerator gets at night! I never hear it during the day, but I sure do if I'm lying awake at midnight, unable to get to sleep. Also, I'm certain that settling houses don't make that much noise! When I hear those noises I feel it must be a burglar trying to lift the screens off the back windows ... or maybe there's some-one under the house?

Hubby eventually gets sick of me if I get in one of those moods and will finally go check if I annoy him enough! I daresay he knows that I won't let him go to sleep until he does