Afraid of sleep

[Estes40]

Lately I'm afraid to fall asleep because I'm afraid I won't wake up in the morning. I few weeks ago, I took a pain pill which actually caught myself forgetting to take a breath when I was trying to go to sleep. Now everytime I try to sleep I think I'm going to forget to breath. I don't know what to do. Does this mean death is coming. I'm starting to feel anxious everytime I go to bed. Now, I'm just as tired when I wake up as when I go to sleep because I'm waking up every few minuates just to make sure I can.

[allmymarbles]

What the member describes happened to me once long ago. Breathing becomes voluntary, not involuntary. In other words you have to tell yourself to breathe. And this works. There is no struggling for breath and no feeling of suffocation. But not being able to breathe automatically is scary, to say the least. The episode, at least in my case, was extremely brief. As you can imagine, as much as I benefited from that pill, I never took it again.

[allmymarbles]

If this is the only  problem causing your anxiety, forget about it. The pill does not have a lasting effect.

[Estes40]

Yes, I'm sure the pill was the initial problem, and I haven't taken one since this started but I don't know if it's stress from everything else going on in my personal life but I can't get this feeling like I'll die if I go to sleep. Some of my friends think I'm need an anti-depressant to help me relax.

[kickanxietysbutt]

Ditto to what Allmymarbles said...you can't forget to breathe, as this is an involuntary response.  You may feel at times like you are struggling to breathe, but if you really weren't breathing, you'd pass out.  Try to relax!

[allmymarbles]

It was undoubtedly the pain pill which caused you to stop breathing naturally. Normally breathing is involuntary. However, barbiturates and some other drugs can suppress this. Don't take those pills again and don't worry about your breathing stopping while you are asleep. It was the pill and only the pill that caused the fright.