"Sharks and fish can be friends" from Finding Nemo

[AntoniaB]

Punkin that is how I was--it was all in my shoulders and neck something terrible--till I finally started to sleep better. I take ambien but not every night. If I take it every night, after the 3rd or 4th night, I get migraines the next day. I have to do like one night on, then 2-3 nights off, and on the off nights I take herbal stuff (valerian/passionflower in a pill) and melatonin. The herbs and melatonin are OTC and not as effective at knocking me out a good 7 hours or so, but I get some sleep.

All that means that in the day I don't feel as bottled up as I used to, I feel more relaxed. I know you were having sleep problems, and I wonder if this alone is responsible for a lot of the way you feel in the day. Lack of enough sleep can make you crazy, for real.

Are you seeing a doctor for any of this? Maybe you just need to find the right combo of herbs/natural stuff and prescritpion drugs. Oh there is also a book I've read through called The Insomnia Solution that talks about non-drug methods for sleep/lowering the anxiety at night, and mainly it talks about small movements you synchronize with your breathing, like fold your hands together and move your thumb slowly across your other hand as you breathe with that movement, to slow down your nervous system...