Morning Anxiety

My sister found the perfect solution to same problem. She got a sound machine that is time programable. Her favorite sound in the world is hard rain hitting the roof. She always wakes up at six. So she set the machine to start at 5:50 increasing in volume. She said since that is the first thing she hears...it sets the tone for the morning.

This seems like it has become a "programmed" reaction for you.

I like cia's suggestion alot.

I think it would help too if you recognize that you may be causing this...by reinforcing to yourself that THIS WILL HAPPEN DAILY.

Start telling yourself when you wake up panicked...that you are causing it....start thinking about what you did the night before (when you were relaxed) and start thinking about what you will do that night....Distract yourself (basically) from being anxious.

It also could be the medication that you are on.  SSRIs can make some people more anxious...they did me....and I didn't realize it until I got off of Citalopram...I felt like a whole different person...more relaxed..and I have plenty to be anxious about.

 

Two things i wants to mention for this. One is is it anxiety you are feeling or is this shakiness and jittery for a bit then wears off. Because low blood pressure can do that. As well as unbalanced sugar levels. Blood pressure drops whilst asleep and this isnt uncommon to awaken shaky. That is easy to find out u take your blood pressure when you wake up. I do not know if you are on blood pressure pills or if your meds lower blood pressure. So you can check that.... Okay saying that it is important for you to understand how the suconcious  works and how to train yourself to be positive or negative. Research shows that your mind is the most open and receptive to receiving information during the first and last five minutes of every day. Why? Because those are the times your mind is transitioning between consciousness and subconsciousness – the beneficial Alpha state.The Alpha state produces your most creative and rewarding ideas.wether  it is real or not its irrelevant the mind has no clue. So always always use positice affirmations ( i am healthy, i feel good..etc..) during these times. You want  to "create" your dreams or create your day not destroy it. 

I'm currently taking 15mg of Remeron at night and 15mg of Cipralex in the morning. I've been on Remerson since 2012 and went down from 30mg to 15mg the last few week. The Cipralex I just started 8 weeks ago and went from 5mg to 10mg and now 15mg for the last 4 days. I am also taking Lorazapam to help me when I'm really anxious. The plan is to move to 20mg of Cipralex  in 3 days and try to stabilze on it for the next 2 to 6 weeks. 

It will get better again!! I had a ton of morning anxiety when I was first diagnosed. It was explained to me this way: the amygdala, the part of your brain that feels fear, is where anxiety comes from. That part of your brain actually "wakes up" a few milliseconds before you are actually conscious in the morning. Evolutionarily, this makes sense - if you were a zebra, you needed your "DANGER!!" indicators to be really fast, or you'd get eaten while sleeping!

The trouble is, when you are having anxiety, your amygdala is on high alert, like, all the time. So it wakes up yelling, "DANGER!" before your conscious mind wakes up to tell it that nothing is wrong.

What saved me during this period was yoga. I had never done it before and was learning out of a book. So I'd basically leap out of bed, and the 30 seconds before I got into a pose were just agony. But then I had to put my focus on figuring out where my arm was supposed to go, etc, and that plus the breathing instructions helped calm me. It got to the point where it was uncomfortable, but I knew it would be gone by the time I was done with my shower. So I'd just wait it out while I did my morning routine. Eventually it went away completely.

The best advice I got from my therapist then was that no matter when you wake up, do NOT just lie there in bed. Get moving so you have something else to focus on, and just wait it out. And do all your normal self-care that you do when your anxiety is up, of course.

Hang in there. I logged on tonight because just had a really anxious evening and I was seeking some reassurance. You reminded me just with your question that I just need to wait it out, and it always goes away eventually. So, thank you!

Beth

This happens to me too, frequently. I believe it is a programmed reaction, but also related to the amygdala as mentioned here before. I either wake up peacefully but secons later have this panicky "Oh sh*t!! Anxiety alert!!" reaction, or then I have the reaction just before I'm consciously awake.

At those moments it's very intuitive to lay on the bed and try to think it through. Yet it's rarely helpful. It's often better to just get up and start your day. However, getting up doesn't alwayd help either. At least for me, the anxiety may last hours, usually subsiding by noon.