Yes I just use the Chamomile tea bags or any tea that I can find that has calming properties without valerian as that did not agree with me.
I, too, found Valerian to have a severely negative effect. It provoked extreme nightmares. Odd, that. Also, I buy my organic chamomile in bulk. This provides many more of the actual flowers, and thus is bit more effective.
I got really tired after being awake for a couple of hours this morning and decided to try and go back to sleep. However the anxiety hit again when I tried to sleep. It feels like it happens automatically. My body catches itself just as I'm dozing off and I get a surge of adrenaline/fear that wakes me back up. I'm not aware of any thoughts because I'm just dozing off. I was in bed for about 2 hours and I did fall asleep maybe after an hour, but then I had 2 bad dreams. One fear based and one guilt based. I woke feeling depressed and anxious.
Diminishing the fear of pain is a major step in working with TMS issues. When the fear of pain is reduced, the anxiety surrounding the pain is reduced. What isn't talked about so much is fear of sleep, which I found to be even more complicated.
It might help to set up a 'plan' when wakefulness occurs. Use the wakefulness to repeat a mantra (any set of repetitive words which can mean lyrics, poetry, affirmations, etc). Or use it to visualize a desired reality. You might also consider Alternative Nostril Breathing, which is used to create a pre-meditative state (you can google this). I use this one often. And consider this: What is the worst thing that can happen if you have a rough night? You already know this, and you have gotten through it. So why fear it? You will have another opportunity the following night to practice various ways in which to improve your sleep.
Sometimes, when I've had a not-so-lovely night, I sit up, take a deep breath, and murmur to my self, "Well, that didn't go so well," which diminishes the seriousness of it and makes it more like you just routinely did a practice of something and recognize you need more practice. (example: I'm trying to learn a belly dancing move which looks oooooh so easy, yet my body is like huh? and at first there was frustration, but then I shifted my perspective and it turned rather comic. So I said prosaically to my husband, "Oh yeahhhh do I need practice!").
Everything is just a practice.
Sleep is a primal need, and our emotions are wildly out of control when in this state. (even typing this triggered a heat-flash, which caused me to pause so I could self-soothe, not with fear, but with simple acknowledgement ... and my body relaxed again).
Patience. Self-kindness. Self-compassion. Patience. Self-soothing. Gentleness. Patience.
Don't think about what you would LIKE to do. Just DO it.
Rather than thinking what you
want to be, just ...
be it.
Over-thinking is not your friend. Create new thought habits. Practice. Practice. Patience and more practice.
All of this just means ... don't criticize yourself for not achieving the goals you set for yourself within a made-up timeline.
It WILL happen when you release your judgment of it.
Remember your strength and remember your radiance.
.... always with Love and Gratitude ^_^
She said that this would prevent future attacks instead of trying to deal with them when they happen. I told her that I planned to be better in much less then 2 months with the help of therapy (I started with a TMS therapist last week). It's sad that therapy is the very last thing discussed by doctors and that they still know so very little about the mind-body connection.