Anxiety in the Morning

Jan 21, 2020 at 09:02 PM

Does anyone else feel anxiety only in the mornings? I feel it worst after i get up, then it loosens in the afternoon and by evening i feel fine. It's always been this way with me, even before i got on meds. I have benzos but i don't want to take then as i am already dependent and i don't want it to get any worse. In fact, getting off benzos entirely is on my list of things to do.

I keep getting up later and later hoping to skip the anxiety but it's just as bad. It's to do with rehoming my dog, which is the best decision for all of us but my cells just feel soaked in poison in the morning.

Does anyone else feel their anxiety is worse earlier in the day?

Rick7892 · Jan 21, 2020 at 09:27 PM

While doing mood charting, I started seeing a pattern of having much more anxiety in the AM. I started splitting my charting into AM and PM and discovered that I have intense anxiety in the morning about about 2-4 times more often than later.

For me, if I can hang on to about 11 AM, things usually get better. But if I have a lot of stressors, I also have anxiety later in the day. But usually not as intense and overwhelming.

We are not alone!

Informative pages about morning anxiety include Anxiety Disorders Association of Victoria (Morning Anxiety | ADAVIC Anxiety Disorders Association of Victoria, Inc) and Healthline's "Why Do I Have Anxiety in the Morning?"
(Why Do I Feel Anxious When I Wake Up in the Morning?).

Best!

Jan 21, 2020 at 10:00 PM

Thanks Rick. It's good to know that morning anxiety is a phenomenon and not just something i have. I think it's the surge of cortisol that is hitting me so hard. I actually sleep rather well. Not looking forward to tomorrow morning. I'll try the grounding techniques.

zapatoes · Jan 22, 2020 at 12:11 AM

Yes have more anxiety in the morning since I’m nervous about my job in general and about getting to work on time and sometimes almost late. My anxiety is often better after lunch.

~Christina · Jan 22, 2020 at 12:34 AM

Do you have a morning schedule ?? Things you do each morning upon waking up !?

If I slept I usually wake to one if not two dogs staring a hole through my head. I take them out to the pasture , come back in , brush teeth, wash my face , do skin care, I fill there food bowls , fresh water bowl, my husband had a big jug he drinks from , I empty and refill with fresh unsweet Tea, I pull out his coffees, I have coffee pot ready to go, he just flips the switch,
As soon as he’s out of bed I am either making it or stripping it , I wash my sheets every 2 days, I’ll usually hop on Facebook for a few , then on to running the vac or clean bathroom , kitchen etc etc pop on here for a few then on to something else,

When I’m not doing well I get up and usually sit back down, then anxiety begins.

Maybe having chores or giving yourself a facial even .. just don’t be still. Do something as a distraction.

Action=distraction

Jan 22, 2020 at 12:16 PM

I agree with Christina -- try to make use of distractions. The more we focus on anxiety, the worse it gets (IMO).

As for your dog -- I haven't kept up 100% with what you've said, but I think you're giving your dog to your neighbor whose dog recently passed away? If that's the case, you could help out your neighbor with the dog. I think it's perfectly okay to ask if you can help out and explain that you want to visit your dog from time to time. In fact, you can ask to bring the dog out on walks. Your neighbor might not mind you doing that because that's one less walk she has to do with the dog and more time she has to run errands, for example. And the great thing is that you don't HAVE to walk the dog everyday if you don't want to, because it's not your dog anymore, but you may be able to do it often if the lady lets you. Then maybe your anxiety will lessen?

winter4me · Jan 22, 2020 at 02:01 PM

Yes. It isn't all the time but when it happens it happens for days or weeks off and on---I wake up with the worst right there...
It is better if I get up and push myself to do something (make coffee, shower if really bad, take time...) but sometimes I feel a "need" to try to catch where it springs from...

Fuzzybear · Jan 22, 2020 at 03:17 PM

I can relate to experiencing severe anxiety in the mornings

sarahsweets · Jan 25, 2020 at 06:26 AM

That crushing weight I used to feel when I woke up I was able to get rid of with buspar. It took about 6-8 weeks but one day I woke up and didnt feel like I have an elephant sitting on my chest or feel like I was on the edge of a cliff. I have an emergency supply of benzos that I hardly use but for the most part buspar helped tremendously. A lot of people try it for 3 weeks thinking it eases severe anxiety in a way like benzos but it doesnt. It sort of chips away at the anxiety over time. It really helped me.

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Anonymous41462 Guest Posts: n/a	Jan 21, 2020 at 10:00 PM #3 Thanks Rick. It's good to know that morning anxiety is a phenomenon and not just something i have. I think it's the surge of cortisol that is hitting me so hard. I actually sleep rather well. Not looking forward to tomorrow morning. I'll try the grounding techniques.
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zapatoes Grand Magnate Member Since Sep 2018 Location: Islandia Posts: 4,263 (SuperPoster!) 5 10.9k hugs given	Jan 22, 2020 at 12:11 AM #4 Yes have more anxiety in the morning since I’m nervous about my job in general and about getting to work on time and sometimes almost late. My anxiety is often better after lunch.
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Fuzzybear Wisest Elder Ever Member Since Nov 2002 Location: Cave. Posts: 96,325 (SuperPoster!) 21 81.2k hugs given	Jan 22, 2020 at 03:17 PM #8 I can relate to experiencing severe anxiety in the mornings __________________
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