Waking up in the middle of the night is something I deal with often. I have a fast paced, high stress job and rarely finish a day where I don't have 17 things left over on my to-do list for tomorrow. I often wake up in the middle of the night thinking about stuff that needs to be done. When this happens, I can't get my mind to stop working long enough to get back to sleep. Working from home this past year has been sort of a blessing because I could always just walk in to my office and do some work. People actually got used to my firing off emails at all hours of the night, and it worked out because I could then sleep in, or take naps the next day as needed.

Over the years, I've learned to identify a few triggers that would make it more likely for me to wake up this way and they are all diet related. Drinking coffee after 2-3PM, eating a late dinner (within an hour or 2 of bedtime), and eating excessive amounts of sugar all seem to play a role. None of those things are particularly difficult to avoid if you are aware of them.

My other trick when it happens is to read a novel. And for me, it has to be a novel. I need a whimsical story to get lost in for my mind to move away from work. Also, I've found that a soft lamp light lets me fall asleep better than the white light from a computer or TV screen.

get a hobby that you can do at home. something productive. Volunteer work. Helping others always makes us feel better.

Vitamins can help. Many mental (and general health) issues stem from vitamin deficiencies. Magnesium, vit B, D, iron, zinc are all extremely common deficiencies that can take a toll on your health. There are also certain vitamins/supplements that can directly aid in stress relief. I take a pretty solid regimen and a portion of those are specifically for stress/anxiety. Ill post them below, along with some additional possibilities that may help.

Morning:
Vitamin B12 - general health, energy, mood
Vitamin D3 - general health, energy, mood
Acetyl-L-Carnitine - Testosterone, energy (Low T levels have a direct effect on mental health in males). Also strong evidence that this can reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms, memory issues, aging issues in the brain, etc
Magnesium - general health, brain function (many people with chronic headaches are magnesium deficient)
Fish oil - general health

Afternoon:
Multi vitamin - cover your bases
Vitamin C - general health, immune
L-Tyrosine - Mental alertness, anxiety, sleep, depression
Magnesium

Bedtime:
Zinc - general health
L-theanine - sleep, relaxation, anxiety/stress
Magnesium again (body has a hard time absorbing large doses of magnesium all at once, so it is recommended to space out dosage)


Acetyl-L-Carnitine, L-theanine, L-tyrosine are specifically for mental wellness. On top of that, i would suggest B12, D3, and magnesium as these will increase overall brain function.

Other possibly helpful options:
Melatonin - sleep
5-HTP - serotonin precursor (increases serotonin in brain. SSRI antidepressants target this same neurotransmitter by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin.) I would suggest looking into this and see if it is something that may help
Ashwagandah - probably butchered the spelling but this helps with stress relief, anxiety, etc


Most, if not all, of these can be found at your local grocery store for cheap. I buy the HEB store brand of pretty much everything. I'm not some crazy dude dropping hundreds of dollars per month on vitamins but i truly do believe they can be very helpful.

You still selling cars? Then you know it is the one of the most stressful jobs you can have. Most people hate car salesmen which make the job even more stressful. Was a salesman for nine years and then a manager for eleven and being manager was even worse. Drank too much, smoked too much and had crappy meals all those years. Sound familiar? Best thing I found was to come home and go and sit on the back porch for a while and unwind. Then go in (many times as late as 11pm) and have a GOOD meal. Then I would sit down and read for at least 30 minutes. I always read Westerns, Sci-fi and detective stuff to clean my mind. My day off in the week was for me to go fishing, yard work or the gun range. Sundays was always family time. Did it work? Not all the time but when we were having a bad month it helped. Don't know if this will help but I know how it can be and wish you good luck.

Yup, go see your dr… worst place I’ve had it was on a plane back from Atlanta. I was up against the window and felt stuck that I was trapped. Kept telling myself it’s ok but it just kept getting worse. I had to tell my wife and the passenger beside her that I had a bathroom emergency and get me out of there! I thought I was never going to catch my breath

It's not as bad here with customers hating us. If I get that feeling I call them out on it right away. Show em pics of my kids, give them a tour, that type of stuff. But the customers that call in, sheesh some of them are aggressive and rude. "don't you need to go speak to your manager" type stuff.

Thanks everyone for the input. It's been much worse since the new way of eating. I have just been eating very low calorie. My wife who is pretty fit says Im not eating enough. I'm taking in 1500-1600 calories daily.

FInd out what your resting metabolic rate is and this will help you decide how much of a deficit you need to create to lose weight. I know I don't look like I know much about that kind of stuff, but I do, and I agree with your wife, you aren't eating enough.

There is a sense of comfort with good food so it is not surprising that the anxiety is getting worse with the change in diet. You know I have dealt with it my whole life for reasons that you know. Go fishing as much as you can. It helps me tremendously and is very relaxing. I have dealt with depression since the pandemic started and actually did counseling for a while. Just as you said. Some days I woke up ready to take on the world and some days I woke up with what felt like a dark cloud following me. She told me fish at least twice a week if you can as it is beneficial. I personally do not believe in the meds as it just put the issues under the rug so to speak. I was on Paxil for years as a teenager and just didn't like feeling numb. I just decided I wasn't going to take it one day and haven't since. I now try to focus on coping mechanisms and changing the way I think. Let me know if there is anything I can do brother.

We need to keep in mind, not all medication makes you feel out of it. They don't give zanax like candy anymore.

Some great advice I've read so far. I'm going to read it all again. Thanks to everyone! My take is get yourself in shape and do something you love, especially helping others. I love some TFF OT. Y'all are my sanity sometimes. I used to be a fearless badass, now i'm scared of alot of crappie. Don't think I was stupid and now wise all the sudden. Just not made of rubber.

Peace to our Vets. I haven't been through sheet.

Your brain is looking for replacement of other addictions, start exercising

The brain is the number one user of glucose in your body. I know no carb is in the vogue now but make sure you get enough glucose in you diet. It may be that simple.