Post-sleep anxiety

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dgmulf

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This is really getting old.

I have this acute anxiety that occurs right after waking up from any sort of sleep (long stretch, short nap, whatever). The more sleep I get, the better, but it never goes away.

I begin to wake up, I suddenly find myself in a state of stress and anxiety, and generally my body and mind feel really sick and awful. Then over the course of five or ten minutes as I fully awaken and become more conscious of reality, I realize that I'm just chilling in bed, and there's nothing to be afraid of. Then my anxiety melts away almost completely.

Lately, my throat has been consistently sore every morning as well.

I'm really getting fed up with feeling like a dying 90 year old PTSD-afflicted war veteran every morning. I'm 18. I should feel refreshed and healthy in the morning. It's gotten to the point where I'm staying up all night as much as I can get away with, just so I won't have to endure the misery of feeling like I'm dying in the morning. I'm probably gonna have a stroke when I'm in my mid-twenties because of this crap.
 
Have you considered that you are suffering from sleep apnea? I would always wake up from naps, sleep, etc.. totally disoriented, heart racing, unrefreshed - turns out I have sleep disordered breathing (specifically, sleep apnea). I would stop breathing or have shallow breathing while asleep and was totally unaware of it. I was diagnosed at 22, not much older than you are.

The sore throat is also a classic sleep apnea symptom. I would consider talking to a doctor about sleep apnea or some other sleep issues. Its very treatable and has made a PROFOUND difference in my anxiety levels!
 
Hmm. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.

The only reason I didn't consider sleep apnea as a cause was because I thought that the anxiety and disorientation could only be caused by waking up directly as a result of a hypopnea. It happens primarily when I'm woken up by something external, like an alarm going off, or my dog walking into my room. When my own body wakes me up, I actually feel a lot less anxious.

It just feels like the anxiety stems from an instinctive fear of whatever is waking me up. I'm no expert, though.

Does this still sound like sleep apnea?
 
I'd consider seeing a sleep specialist; there are a lot of sleep issues out there, many of them very treatable.

Sleep apnea keeps you from deep sleep. Your body is constantly being aroused into lighter stages of sleep so that you can breathe. In these lighter stages your brain is more aware of external stimuli. Occasionally alarms, or my wife would startle me and I'd jump out of bed in a panic, but my primary problem was the apneas / hypopneas - my body would give me a shot of adrenaline to wake me up so I'd breathe.
 
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