[metrying]

I have very bad, irritating post nasal drip that constantly interferes with my sleep–so much that I wake up choking on a flood of mucus(I know, gross) when this finally stops, I get severe dry mouth so I have to drink water every two minutes–I did find that Xylimelts help a lot–but all of this craziness has given me a whole phobia of trying to get a good nights sleep–then, when there are neither of these problems, I still have problems. I have areal fear of going to sleep, so I wind up going to sleep at insane hours, like 3am, even 5 or 6 a m. I do have a very part time job( I am semi-retired) where I don’t have to go in to work until 2 or 3 pm, but still, I would not always have to wake up at 11 am or noon and sleep my day away. Also, NO one so far has been able to diagnose my problems, which has also caused me anxiety. All day I keep thinking of if I am going to sleep tonight or have to get up to drink tea, watch TV to calm myself down. Just the thought of trying to go to sleep gives me anxiety.

 

[Martin Reed]

Hello metrying and welcome to the forum. I am not surprised that you have a very real fear of sleep when you are regularly woken with a choking sensation. That must be terrifying and very worrying.

It sounds as though addressing this issue in combination with targetting your sleep problems would be the best strategy. Is the mucus issue more or less resolved now or does it still occur quite regularly?

When it comes to your sleep issues, you should probably discuss CBT-I with your doctor to see whether they feel it would be beneficial for you. It sounds to me as though you would likely benefit since it will help reduce the power your arousal system has over your sleep and it will help you recognize any behaviors (such as constantly worrying or thinking about sleep) that can actually make sleep more difficult.

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