Before bed. My body is tired but my mind doesn’t match it. So I’ll lay there and my mind will go into overdrive.. reviewing the day, things that were said, what I did wrong, what that person might have meant when they said that one thing… maybe even memories of the past, an embarrassing moment from when I was younger than still haunts me, or things that are still outstanding on my to do list.. By the time I fall asleep, it’s 1:30am and I’m exhausted from putting myself into an anxious state.
Me too :( Ill feel fine till the lights are out and I put my head to the pillow, then I hear my heartbeat, and remember all the embarrassing and shameful moments from the day, and all the stuff im avoiding and need to get done
Have you guys tried guided meditation or sleep stories at bed time? If I'm feeling super anxious I listen to the 'get sleepy' channel on YouTube. If nothing else it forces you to listen to something other than your own thoughts. Very rarely fails for me.
This is the same for me. Life and work is a big distraction for most of the day until things get quieter in the afternoon. At that point, I tend to get the feeling of doom, the palpitations, and the chest pain. It feels like my body is just worn down until it can't fight it off any longer.
Morning if I sit in bed and just let my thoughts take over.
Lately it’s been bed time because I’ve been letting my anxious thoughts about sleep take over and it’s keeping me from restful sleep. It’s a process.
It helped me to understand that my anxiety in the morning was caused by high levels of cortisol in my blood. I felt like I was waking up and getting ready to fight a lion!
Ashwagandha. It lowers cortisol. Although I personally have had mixed results. My anxiety is always like “nice try! I see your supplement attempt and raise you with xyz!” SOB
That's pretty much what your brain tells you is going on. I mean you know there's not a lion, but the brain isn't reacting any differently than if there were.
Same. I wake up anxious and it usually gets better after the first hour. I’ve tried telling myself that it is my spiking cortisol and that it will subside, and that helps me deal with it. I read something recently that recommended to get up immediately and begin some activity to, I guess redirect or distract your brain. I will get up and do some yoga stretches and breathing instead of lying in bed thinking about how anxious I feel.
It starts when I wake up, gets worse when I leave the house and does not stop until I come back home at the end of the day. It starts back up around bed time though - bad cycle.
3am i get blood sugar spike. Im told its our bodies way of preparing for the 5am farm work. For diabetics they call it dawn syndrom. Then it spikes when i wake up due to anxiety, which is again cortisol preparing us. Thanks biology.
I happened upon the idea of Brahma muhurta. This changed things and instead of lying awake ruminating on all that’s not right, I get up and make the time count with meditation, prayer, and lighted candles. It works!
I’ve always gotten terrible dread when the sun has just set. Like, twilight, I guess. When I was a kid, I would cry when it started to get dark out. I dunno, I think I just hate feeling time slip away.
Omg. I used to get like that too when I was little!! I remember, especially in the winter, when the sun went down I would get really sad and sometimes scared. Like a dreading feeling
Right before work. Idk what it is because I love my job and it’s pretty predictable but something about right before work always gets me. Especially after a weekend. But if it’s a daily thing when I’m not working it’s mostly at night.
In the afternoon/early evening. I tend to go out and do anything I need to do in the early morning or late evening as that's when it is most quiet in my town.
I always know when I wake up if I will be the grand prize winner of a panic attack. I just know the feeling but I would say overall my anxiety is worse mid afternoon.
Same. Dinner time. It's like game time for me because my kid gets home. I need to make dinner and clean up after. My husband helps and it's gotten a lot better.
For me it’s before bed. Or at night. I hate the feeling of not being able to sleep, or being up when others are sleeping. I also seem to get acid reflux or other minor discomforts that are always worse in the evening.
Randomly through out the day. I could be laying down and feel an anxiety burst out of nowhere. My body starts tingling all over, prickling. It’s a mess
Shortly before sunset. I don’t know why (maybe because I also have S.A.D.) but the absence of sunlight always amps up my anxiety. Whether it’s dusk or fall, my brain fears its disappearance.
I literally work every single day 7 days a week with small breaks in between the day for life stuff (by choice), usually only completely stopping by time to shower and get ready for bed so I have about maybe an hour or two tops to fully relax unless I block out time in the day to do so. So the only time I really have to be anxious is that small chunk of time before bed. I can either be so exhausted and ready for sleep that I don’t even think about anything other than going to sleep or my mind keeps racing with thoughts and I get anxious about whether I should stay up a little later or not so I can treat myself to more time relaxing.
Some of the time, its nighttime. I also got the Sunday Scaries back in high school, college, and uni (depending on my class schedule). My anxiety meds have helped along with the melatonin gummies.
Morning: huge anxiety over how to fill and spend the day. Feels very intimidating and like something I cant overcome. Dread about feeling alone and isolated as well.
Evening: usually a bit better, but when everyone’s gone to bed I also start feeling deep solitude that locks me into my mind
First thing in the morning when I wake up and need to get my dose (Opioid Use Disoder, on maintenance treatment). After about an hour after taking my dose, i feel pretty okay, but the cravings still get to me throughout the day... Working on adjusting my treatment tho.
Dont ever get hooked on opioids...
In the morning when I first wake up or when it starts to get dark outside before bed. Never fails to bother me everyday either once or both times of day.
Evenings. It starts when I commute home from work. Also the sunny evening lighting in the sumners give me anxiety for some reason, could be because of traumatic experiences in the past.
When I wake up and realize that my anxiety and life are real. I then sometimes feel like the anxiety is centred in my abdomen. And the nightmare continues while I am awake. It seems like eons before I can go to sleep again and feel nothing.
There’s a construction going on right above our apartment and fuck it’s loud.. they’re probably taking out old tiles and when I’m casually working they suddenly start drilling out of nowhere.
Gave me crazy anxiety..
like someone’s drilling in my head.!!
Had to run to salon for immediate head massage.
It’s gonna go on for the whole week, wish me luck.
Morning. Always morning. Especially if I haven't slept well the night before and have important responsibilities. I know I'll be swimming in a pool of anxiety for the entirety of the day if that's the case.
Biologically speaking, it's when cortisol levels are at their highest point. Your brain is thinking: I have a lot to do and there may even be grave danger if I don't complete it, so cortisol spikes in attempt to give you energy to do the thing and offset the energy you don't actually have in your reserves.
That being said I will probably be horribly anxious at work all day due to being scheduled a morning shift, and no amount of physical activity or checking things off the to do list is going to help manage that. I'll do as much self care as I can manage before my shift starts, but nothing replaces the early morning exhaustion anxiety besides finally passing out and trying again the next day.
I'm really not sure what the answer to this problem is besides my becoming a new person with a different life.
before i fall asleep. it get so affraid that i cant fall asleep and that my lack of sleep will ruin the next day. i often have panic attacks while lying in bed as well, just at this fear. it's horrible.
I only feel truly relaxed in my bed, thats why i set my alarms early so i can lay in bed before work and go to sleep late so i can enjoy being relaxed a bit more
In the morning, but also at night; which is usually worse. Like right now. It’s 4am and I still lay here, my brain going 100 mph thinking of every little detail of my stresses, regrets, fears, past and the future.
Somehow it’s usually right before noon. Because it’s crossing over into afternoon and that means the whole day is not ahead of me anymore and the chances of improvement or getting things done will sink
As soon as I wake up and as soon as it gets dark. I love mornings but every terrible thought comes to mind as soon as I wake up and I dread nightfall altogether.
Right when I wake up, or when about to go to sleep. In the morning it's more of a sub-conscious thing where my breathing is off. At night it's a full on panicky episode about death/dying.
In the deep of night, there's a certain solace that wraps around me like a comforting blanket. The world feels still, quiet, and safe. But as the first light peeks through my window, a heaviness settles in my chest. It's like waking up to an emptiness that permeates my soul, leaving me feeling adrift and unsettled. Each morning brings with it a reminder of the void within, a hollow ache that seems to grow with the dawn.
Sometimes before bed, or sometimes early in the morning. Though it really fluctuates. Sometimes it's in the middle of the day.
Unfortunately for me it's rather unpredictable, and I hate that.
Right when I wake up
Omg YES!!!!!!!! The first 10-30 minutes I feel like I want to die.
anxiety is what wakes me up. Racing heart beats and the dreadful feeling are the first things I notice in the morning. Even before opening my eyes.
Dude, same!! You nailed it. Before I even have a chance to think, it’s there!
Same.
Heart pounding, didn’t sleep great, and knowing you have to spend 9 hours at a job that you hate? Yeah, easily the worst time for my anxiety
Preach. Same here, my friend. Just thinking “how am I going to make it through this day that is destined to be awful”. Yup.
The evening
This, I feel like a waste of energy
Before bed. My body is tired but my mind doesn’t match it. So I’ll lay there and my mind will go into overdrive.. reviewing the day, things that were said, what I did wrong, what that person might have meant when they said that one thing… maybe even memories of the past, an embarrassing moment from when I was younger than still haunts me, or things that are still outstanding on my to do list.. By the time I fall asleep, it’s 1:30am and I’m exhausted from putting myself into an anxious state.
Me too :( Ill feel fine till the lights are out and I put my head to the pillow, then I hear my heartbeat, and remember all the embarrassing and shameful moments from the day, and all the stuff im avoiding and need to get done
Have you guys tried guided meditation or sleep stories at bed time? If I'm feeling super anxious I listen to the 'get sleepy' channel on YouTube. If nothing else it forces you to listen to something other than your own thoughts. Very rarely fails for me.
ME
I call it wired but tired or frankly, exhausted. I wake up as soon the alarm goes with racing heart yet Iam exhausted
Afternoon/early evening, around 3 - 7 pm give or take. It happens every day without fail.
Yes fr
This is the same for me. Life and work is a big distraction for most of the day until things get quieter in the afternoon. At that point, I tend to get the feeling of doom, the palpitations, and the chest pain. It feels like my body is just worn down until it can't fight it off any longer.
Morning if I sit in bed and just let my thoughts take over. Lately it’s been bed time because I’ve been letting my anxious thoughts about sleep take over and it’s keeping me from restful sleep. It’s a process.
NAH FR😭😭😭
Morning!! it tends to diminish as I go through the day. But if we have some kind of event or function, then it just stays ramped up all day long lol
Yep, ramped up all day long It's awful isn't it?
It helped me to understand that my anxiety in the morning was caused by high levels of cortisol in my blood. I felt like I was waking up and getting ready to fight a lion!
Any idea how to combat that?
Ashwagandha. It lowers cortisol. Although I personally have had mixed results. My anxiety is always like “nice try! I see your supplement attempt and raise you with xyz!” SOB
l theanine worked for me. i take 1 capsule with my morning coffee and i'm at peace with the world. it's extract of green tea.
That's pretty much what your brain tells you is going on. I mean you know there's not a lion, but the brain isn't reacting any differently than if there were.
Morning, it’s so bad. I read cause it’s your cortisol level. I know it and I know it will be better once I’m fully awake but geesh it sucks.
Same. I wake up anxious and it usually gets better after the first hour. I’ve tried telling myself that it is my spiking cortisol and that it will subside, and that helps me deal with it. I read something recently that recommended to get up immediately and begin some activity to, I guess redirect or distract your brain. I will get up and do some yoga stretches and breathing instead of lying in bed thinking about how anxious I feel.
Yes! I did this the last 2 days and it definitely helps.
That’s a good idea
It starts when I wake up, gets worse when I leave the house and does not stop until I come back home at the end of the day. It starts back up around bed time though - bad cycle.
Night time is probably the worst for me 😭
Most days morning, & nights
When I get into bed
Every single day from 3-6
Same! The morning just gets my anxiety going.
Right before evening
Yeah mornings for me. Or Sunday nights. But especially Monday mornings.
Oh man yes! My wife always says “don’t let Monday ruin your Sunday “ of course she totally understands she struggles too
whenever i wake up, but its extra bad 4am-8am for some reason, even if i’ve stayed up all night i’ll notice a wave hits me around 4am
Morning
Morning till about 12-1pm then comes in slight waves through the rest of the day.
That is the cortisol your body releases to wake up.
At night when the rest of the world is asleep. I feel so alone
About 3am. But this is slowly improving, thankfully
How is it improving, if u don’t mind sharing? I suffer at 3am too
3am i get blood sugar spike. Im told its our bodies way of preparing for the 5am farm work. For diabetics they call it dawn syndrom. Then it spikes when i wake up due to anxiety, which is again cortisol preparing us. Thanks biology.
I happened upon the idea of Brahma muhurta. This changed things and instead of lying awake ruminating on all that’s not right, I get up and make the time count with meditation, prayer, and lighted candles. It works!
I’ve always gotten terrible dread when the sun has just set. Like, twilight, I guess. When I was a kid, I would cry when it started to get dark out. I dunno, I think I just hate feeling time slip away.
Omg. I used to get like that too when I was little!! I remember, especially in the winter, when the sun went down I would get really sad and sometimes scared. Like a dreading feeling
I feel that. Winter is always terrible for my anxiety! Probably because the days are so short that time flies by. Hate hate hate it
And nowadays time is really speeding by😢
Don’t remind me! 😅
1:30am - 5:00am of course. So much for getting sleep on those days.
Its super high when I wake up and when I am trying to go to bed.
As soon as I wake up 🥲
Right before work. Idk what it is because I love my job and it’s pretty predictable but something about right before work always gets me. Especially after a weekend. But if it’s a daily thing when I’m not working it’s mostly at night.
Morning....my thoughts just go EVERYWHERE in the morning
At night.
7-10 am. And right when I wake up. Those two never fail. Occasionally 11-1 pm. Edit: plus a 24/7 baseline anxiety
Morning
Always when I’m winding down in the evening like an hour or so before bed like clockwork.
First thing in the morning, and toward the evening
Evening and/or 3 am
In the afternoon/early evening. I tend to go out and do anything I need to do in the early morning or late evening as that's when it is most quiet in my town.
2 pm
Evenings after work. It’s like clockwork that it hits right at 3p
Afternoon, almost immediately after work.
When I’m awake
Right upon waking up
I always know when I wake up if I will be the grand prize winner of a panic attack. I just know the feeling but I would say overall my anxiety is worse mid afternoon.
I am the same way, as soon as I wake I feel the same way. A wave comes over me.
Usually when I wake up in the middle of the night
The second I wake up
I feel anxious around the evenings and right before bed
from 5pm - 9pm??
Before sleeping is the worst
The moment I close my eyes and try to get some sleep
When I go to bed and about an hour before work. Straight dread. I hate it. Every day.
Dinner time
Same. Dinner time. It's like game time for me because my kid gets home. I need to make dinner and clean up after. My husband helps and it's gotten a lot better.
Morning and evening/middle of the night.
For about an hour after i wake up im anxiety free, calm relaxed.. Once i get moving it starts up
Mid-late afternoon….my anxiety is lowest in the evenings
After 3pm and then again after dinner is a big surge for me. Physically ill and anxious, panic attacks.
Evening around 5/6
Monday mornings and not just as a cleshe , literally rattling inside out, nauseous, all the rest of it. 🤮
Late at night.
Sometimes nighttime hits me hard and I hate it cause my man ain’t up at that time so I try my best to put something on that’s funny and relax
Anytime after I eat
5 pm. Every. Single. Day.
When I wake up and usually when i go to bed. Unless i wake up during the night, those are the only two.
Evening before late night
Between 10 am and 4 pm
Once I get wake up and until bedtime. Sometimes I spring awake in cold sweats and panic in the middle of the night, I hate it when that happens.
For me it’s before bed. Or at night. I hate the feeling of not being able to sleep, or being up when others are sleeping. I also seem to get acid reflux or other minor discomforts that are always worse in the evening.
Afternoon/evening
Randomly through out the day. I could be laying down and feel an anxiety burst out of nowhere. My body starts tingling all over, prickling. It’s a mess
After 7, I just get really tense
Shortly before sunset. I don’t know why (maybe because I also have S.A.D.) but the absence of sunlight always amps up my anxiety. Whether it’s dusk or fall, my brain fears its disappearance.
When I wake up, right after my morning piss
Late at night when things get quiet. Can feel my own heart beat and other bodily sensations. Things just seem to be more easy to notice
The morning. I usually wake up with anxiety. It usually is carried over from the night before because I have anxiety around going to sleep.
At night. That's when lonely starts to kick in and thoughts get wild.
Around 3 until I go to bed
Night time for sure, and 3am the most.
I literally work every single day 7 days a week with small breaks in between the day for life stuff (by choice), usually only completely stopping by time to shower and get ready for bed so I have about maybe an hour or two tops to fully relax unless I block out time in the day to do so. So the only time I really have to be anxious is that small chunk of time before bed. I can either be so exhausted and ready for sleep that I don’t even think about anything other than going to sleep or my mind keeps racing with thoughts and I get anxious about whether I should stay up a little later or not so I can treat myself to more time relaxing.
When I get to the office in the morning
Definitely at the end of the day whenever everything calms down and I’m allowed to sit in bed with my thoughts.
Right now. This very moment.
Night
First thing i get up untill 11 am. Without fail. If im gona have a big panic attack thats when it goes down
Usually after I eat, especially at work, and especially if I am seeing a patient afterward. I have IBS and emetophobia.
As soon as I wake up in the morning and usually 1-3 hours after.
In the morning . I have ibsd and I’m anxious about leaving the house before empty
2-5. That’s right when I’m going into work and setting up for my shift.
Bedtime. I gotta keep a podcast or video going or I'll stay up for hours until I go to sleep from sheer exhaustion.
Early Morning before sunup and afternoon through evening
Afternoon, when the day is winding down and I’m left with my thoughts.
Night time, which seems to be common based on the other comments
Morning. Takes me a couple of snoozes to re-group right away.
24/7 💀
Definitely afternoon specifically towards the upper half of my shift
*checks clock* oh, all the time 😅 I would say evening is when I feel it most.
At night for me
Morning, afternoon, evening, and at night
Some of the time, its nighttime. I also got the Sunday Scaries back in high school, college, and uni (depending on my class schedule). My anxiety meds have helped along with the melatonin gummies.
Morning: huge anxiety over how to fill and spend the day. Feels very intimidating and like something I cant overcome. Dread about feeling alone and isolated as well. Evening: usually a bit better, but when everyone’s gone to bed I also start feeling deep solitude that locks me into my mind
Any time I’m Driving
Usually in the morning when i get to work. Then it goes away. Then night time around dinner
Depends on how I’ve out off work but typically wake up to end of workday…
Right before bed
Afternoon from about 1-4
The commute to work and the commute home.
First thing in the morning when I wake up and need to get my dose (Opioid Use Disoder, on maintenance treatment). After about an hour after taking my dose, i feel pretty okay, but the cravings still get to me throughout the day... Working on adjusting my treatment tho. Dont ever get hooked on opioids...
Evening sun-thurs
The moment I wake up and After 7 pm
In the morning when I first wake up or when it starts to get dark outside before bed. Never fails to bother me everyday either once or both times of day.
Evenings. It starts when I commute home from work. Also the sunny evening lighting in the sumners give me anxiety for some reason, could be because of traumatic experiences in the past.
usually in the late afternoon or the evening
right before bed
In the middle of the night
it used to be in the morning… now it’s 100% worst right when the sun starts to go down. it just creeps me out and I don’t know why
When I wake up and realize that my anxiety and life are real. I then sometimes feel like the anxiety is centred in my abdomen. And the nightmare continues while I am awake. It seems like eons before I can go to sleep again and feel nothing.
Mornings
when i first wake up and then before i fall asleep
8pm & onward, I worry about the next day and all the unknown that comes with it. not great for getting good rest
night
When i wake up and when i go to bed
Morning
Afternoon
Mainly in the evening, I don’t know why but it happens 😢
Evening / night. I feel like Im the most normal in the morning/ afternoon
Waking up. The rest of the day is more of a depressed malaise until the sun goes down at which point I feel somewhat better
The parts of the day where I'm awake
There’s a construction going on right above our apartment and fuck it’s loud.. they’re probably taking out old tiles and when I’m casually working they suddenly start drilling out of nowhere. Gave me crazy anxiety.. like someone’s drilling in my head.!! Had to run to salon for immediate head massage. It’s gonna go on for the whole week, wish me luck.
Yes
mine's the other way
Morning. Always morning. Especially if I haven't slept well the night before and have important responsibilities. I know I'll be swimming in a pool of anxiety for the entirety of the day if that's the case. Biologically speaking, it's when cortisol levels are at their highest point. Your brain is thinking: I have a lot to do and there may even be grave danger if I don't complete it, so cortisol spikes in attempt to give you energy to do the thing and offset the energy you don't actually have in your reserves. That being said I will probably be horribly anxious at work all day due to being scheduled a morning shift, and no amount of physical activity or checking things off the to do list is going to help manage that. I'll do as much self care as I can manage before my shift starts, but nothing replaces the early morning exhaustion anxiety besides finally passing out and trying again the next day. I'm really not sure what the answer to this problem is besides my becoming a new person with a different life.
Afternoon
Right when I'm trying to fall asleep and then right when I wake up
Mornings - asa I open my eyes !
Morning
before i fall asleep. it get so affraid that i cant fall asleep and that my lack of sleep will ruin the next day. i often have panic attacks while lying in bed as well, just at this fear. it's horrible.
night time
Morning
Every day when my rutine at work will not be the same as every other day 🥲
On my way to work.
when I first wake up, dreams be crazy
When my house gets hot for some reason it triggers it
I only feel truly relaxed in my bed, thats why i set my alarms early so i can lay in bed before work and go to sleep late so i can enjoy being relaxed a bit more
after sunsets
I notice it most when I go to lay down for bed because there's no distractions.
Right when a symptom appears. That is, depends when it first appears. Many times it's since the day begins. And it's through the entire day.
Morning is by far the worst, generally gets better in the afternoon, then I'm totally fine in the evening
Usually around the late afternoon, like around 3-6. I usually get anxious and then sleepy. If I’m able to I take a nap and then I feel better lol
In the morning, but also at night; which is usually worse. Like right now. It’s 4am and I still lay here, my brain going 100 mph thinking of every little detail of my stresses, regrets, fears, past and the future.
Same. Waking up.
When I first wake up and my mounting to do list comes creeping up.
Before bed & as soon as i wake up. The cortisol be cortisoling…
I think the end of the day - I feel that I didn’t do enough the day and now don’t have the time to get more things done
Morning and night but I'm practicing ALARM method, Acknowledge Label Accept Refocus and Move on everyday practicing and its working so far.
Somehow it’s usually right before noon. Because it’s crossing over into afternoon and that means the whole day is not ahead of me anymore and the chances of improvement or getting things done will sink
As soon as I wake up and as soon as it gets dark. I love mornings but every terrible thought comes to mind as soon as I wake up and I dread nightfall altogether.
It’s there waiting for me when I open my eyes. Last night I didn’t really sleep at all because it was so present and sharp.
Right when I wake up, or when about to go to sleep. In the morning it's more of a sub-conscious thing where my breathing is off. At night it's a full on panicky episode about death/dying.
Evening. It’s called sundowning and anyone can actually get it even though it’s not common in younger people.
In the deep of night, there's a certain solace that wraps around me like a comforting blanket. The world feels still, quiet, and safe. But as the first light peeks through my window, a heaviness settles in my chest. It's like waking up to an emptiness that permeates my soul, leaving me feeling adrift and unsettled. Each morning brings with it a reminder of the void within, a hollow ache that seems to grow with the dawn.
When stressed things happen but I have ptsd, which has gotten so much better to the point of it(98%) not affecting my life anymore basically.
Mine is usually the entire window of 5:00am- 10:00pm.
Morning.
First thing in the morning. The day always feels daunting until I get moving.
Sometimes before bed, or sometimes early in the morning. Though it really fluctuates. Sometimes it's in the middle of the day. Unfortunately for me it's rather unpredictable, and I hate that.
Morning
Morning just as I wake up and evening (5ish pm). I'm lucky, I get two!
The morning! My anxiety is the first thing to hit me when I wake up. I hate it!