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strange sleep problems

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KTKat

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I'm terrified right now. Please tell me this is another anxiety related thing!
My anxiety causes me alot of insomnia, especially at night. But the depersonalization definately makes it worse. sometimes I’m so in tune with my body I can feel myself falling asleep. I think its called the hynogogic (sp) state of sleep. Has anyone ever heard of this? It was made obvious tonight while I was going to sleep. I was thinking, and strange subconsios thoughts kept popping up as usual. But I was still consious. Then my husband startled me and asked if I was ok. I said yea why? He said I was breathing fast. It freaked me out because I could hear the fast breathing but thought it was the dog or something. I guess I was dreaming but thinking at the same time??? So now I’m terrified to go back to sleep. Anyone else experience anything similar to this, sleep paralysis anything? I hate it. Now I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack, which I havent had since March.
 

TheMainException

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Wait...you haven't had a heartattack since march or you haven't felt like you were going to since then? Just checking...

sleep paralysis is normal...what is less normal is waking up paralyzed. That doesn't mean that it's horrific, it's just a tad scary, yeah...especially since your sleeping brain is still VERY active and seeing things becomes more of a possibility....but find comfort in that...you are actually in a between state....and so just close your eyes and take deep breathes and realize that you can drop back into sleep. There's nothing to worry about...and did you know that only a small percentage of your anxiety is chemical? A much larger percentage of your anxiety is based upon HOW you think and WHAT you think. If you can curb the thoughts that cause excess anxiety...you can stop the spiral from occurring before it drags you into that anxious state.

Now...the dreaming/thinking thing...it might have been lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is the ability to control your dreams. It's something that some people aquire very easily and others need to practice at...you could simply have an increased ability to control your dream life.

It is definitely an anxiety issue...if you aren't seeing a counselor to help you to analyze and reform your thoughts, I suggest that you see one.
 
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KTKat

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Yea my anxiety is definately related to my thinking patterns. It has just become a habit. But I'm slowly learning to just let the anxious thoughts pass and not focus on them.
and if this whole sleeping thing wasn't soooo damn scary and strange feeling, I would say "cool I can control my dreams!!!" Which may have been the case because I have some weird thoughts that come into my head, and that equals some very strange dreams! But now I'm scared to go to bed tonight, hopefully it wont turn into a regular occurence.
Thanks for the replys
 
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Natural1

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I've found controlled (deep) breathing throughout the day helps normalize my breathing at night, particulary when I try to sleep or am already asleep. As far as the near-conscious sleeping, it IS actually sleep. We actually sleep in stages (1-4) and I believe it is Stage 2 where we are actually asleep & capable of dreaming, but also semiconscious and can awake easily. Stages 3-4 are what are referred to as "deep sleep".
Most insomniacs, or people going thru an insomniac period, have alot of anxiety going on which often keeps them from entering stage 3-4 sleep, and wake up more easily as a result...exacerbating the situation. I'm a veteran insomniac myself who still goes thru it during certain periods, so I'll try coach you thru it should you have any more questions.
 
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TheMainException

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I just wanted to let you know that I've been having dreams and then...in the dreams, or like...aside the dreams, I start thinking separately...it's not exactly scary, but it freaks me out sometimes because of the content of the dreams...like...the one night I dreamt that I was waking up early to smoke cigs in my room...and after i dreamt that, while still dreaming, i'm going "Oh no...I can't believe I did that...my mom is so totally gonna be able to tell as soon as she walks into the room and one my breath!" And then i woke up for real and had to think for a second and debunk the thoughts and dreams I just had. So....I thought that my situation was somewhat similar to yours in that I was thinking while dreaming and it was weird.

As for the fast breathing...it's your body's response to stress and internal pressure that your thoughts cause. Slowing your breathing will aid your anxiety and letting go of the thoughts will help the fast breathing...it's something that involves more than one simple thing. Focusing in on your body and your breathing will help to stop the thoughts while slowing the breathing. Don't think about what you're doing, just focus on the in and out of your slow, deep breaths.
 
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