Lived Experience Forum

[Razzle]

@Zoe7  Your right, it does make it hard to function.  I feel frozen to the spot.  I’m trying to count my breaths in and out, making them deep and slow.  I feel like I’m in flight or fight mode, but there’s not actually anything to fly from. It’s a terrible sensation.

[Zoe7]

It really is a terrible sensation @Razzle It feels like the world is closing in on you but there is no real threat although everything we see in our own minds and feel says that there is. That is never a good place to be and incredibly hard to deal with. Keep up the breathing - as hard as that is it does help to regulate the part of us that we can control. Nights like these are just ones to get through Hon - they are excruciating and feel like they will never end but it does end eventually - riding it out with you 

[Razzle]

Thankyou @Zoe7   I’m sorry you have had to go through these kinds of nights too.  It does help to know I’m not alone here

[Zoe7]

You are definitely not alone here @Razzle and as hard as those nights have been for me they at least give me some understanding of what you are going through Hon - I wish it was not the case for you but I am more than happy to sit with you through this. 

[Razzle]

@Zoe7   I’ve just taken a couple of Panadol to help with the headache, hopefully it will slow my brain down too.  My jaw is so sore, I didn’t realise just how hard I had it clenched until I opened my mouth to take the

Panadol

[Zoe7]

That would be making your headache worse too @Razzle and also causing extra stress. I hope the pain meds help with the headache because it will be next to impossible to sleep whilst you are in pain. Have you been drinking plenty of water too - I know even that is hard when you feel like this but it is super important you keep hydrated.

[Razzle]

@Zoe7   I feel like I have just run a marathon just getting to the kitchen and back just to take the Panadol.  I’m exhausted, both in my body and my head.  I can’t remember ever feeling like this 

[Razzle]

@Zoe7  I’ve been sipping water all night hoping it would settle my tummy.  I feel like I need a dark room before it turns into a migraine, but then I’ll only see the vision

[Zoe7]

Oh @Razzle I hope it doesn't turn into a migraine - that is the last thing you need. I totally get that feeling of the darkened room and the 'monsters' that live there - I often sleep with a light on to avoid such nights - and it helps when I have nightmares to find my barings when I wake suddenly. Maybe tonight a soft light would help a little to not feel so encompassed in that darkness.

I am glad you have been sipping water too Hon - how are you going with your breathing?

[Razzle]

@Zoe7  I usually can’t sleep with any light, but my room here is next to my mums, and she gets a little confused during the night and can’t find the bathroom, so I leave the bathroom light on for her, it does lighten my room too.  

I have have been getting migraines often for most of my adult life.  I’ve stopped clenching my jaw which has helped.  

My breathing got a bit erratic before, I stopped concentrating on it while I was trying to relax my jaw, but I’ve started counting again