Does anyone get "wired"in this manner?

[Edward764]

Occasionally I will not be able to get to sleep in the middle of the night upon awakening, due to a "wired" state that concerns me.
I am afraid such a state might develop when in a dentist chair, with three appointments coming up, or if I should ever become bed ridden or bound to a wheel chair. I fear I would become insane.

What brings on this wired state is the realization that my hundreds of life altering experiences, my awareness of these experiences, and my reaction to these experiences, will never be understood by anyone else because they are so unique and bizarre. I sometimes feel as as though I live in a parallel universe that is foreign to every other living being. This is a very lonely feeling which is a struggle to live with.

The onset of this wired sensation seems to be triggered by nasal congestion, and/or weird dreams that are complex that I am not capable of recalling or understanding.

When this happens, I am incapable of sitting still or laying down. I get very jittery, as if I am high on caffeine. I feel I must walk around outside to regain my sanity.

I am concerned about what would happen if this developed while in a hospital bed where I could not move after surgery, or in the middle of dental work which I will soon undergo. I am afraid I would shake uncontrollably in my chair and would need restraint.

Recently, this has only happened in the middle of the night, and occurs on average about twice a month. It used to be less often.

Has anyone had such experiences? If so, how did you cope?

 

[GadAbout]

Yeah, I have, but not recently. I have had a lot of training and practice in relaxation techniques and meditation, so if I start tensing up like you describe, I know exactly how to relax my body, maybe not completely but sufficiently. I also find that when a patient either at a dental or doctor office, I have learned to just adopt a submissive, trusting mindset.

You can learn these things from books or guided by videos on YouTube. You can also take classes at a myriad of places. Sometimes they are even offered in health clinics. Meditation and/or relaxation practices have many beneficial effects besides better sleep, but sleep is so important, it probably affects all those other problems. I would not try to learn it for the first time when you wake in the night; but once you have practiced it a while, you can then use it for those mid-night wakings.

And having said that, I'm afraid I don't practice what I preach, at least not as to sleep interruptions. I generally get up, have a snack and a shot of whiskey, and try again. I am hiding this information from my doctor who doesn't approve!

 

[Streetwise]

i've had it ,I think for me it's when I have an infection and I also have a diagnosis of panic disorder ,and any infection or injury makes panic disorder worse ,there seems to be a stage of a particular infection that causes the state that you describe,it was only started happening to me in the last few years I'm wondering if it's connected to change in hormone balance.
as I'm still trying to understand how autism is part of me anything like this is unbearable my last period of panic has just finished in the last day or so ,so I'm still sensitised hoping for a break from it .

 

[Solphire]

I have had similar experiences with sleep problems. What I have found is that even one night of disturbed sleep will affect every night there after. So what I do is use my doctor prescribed sleep aid, trazodone, for a couple of nights (at bedtime) to reset my circadian rhythm back to normal. I pray it gets better for you Edward!

 

[H-Kath]

That sounds like an anxiety attack. I've had something similar happen during periods of stress. The things that helped were putting f.lux on my computer, exercising regularly, stimming, and lifting weights to exhaustion whenever I wake up prematurely. I'm also on daily meds for GAD.

You might want to consider requesting rescue meds for your dental visits.

 

[SusanLR]

Many years of practicing relaxation techniques and daily meditation time has helped with these sudden
anxiety attacks.
I used to wake suddenly at night in a panic because I would wake up with the sensation I wasn't breathing.
Sleep tests showed nothing. No apnea or any physical reason for these horrible episodes.
I finally came to realise that falling asleep quickly without sufficient time to relax my mind and body in
bed was the problem.
The main physical distress I experience from anxiety is the feeling of air hunger which causes chronic
hyperventilation. Falling asleep in this state of tension with the need to hyperventilate was like going from
that wired, keyed up sensation to a sudden state of collapse into sleep and my brain still had those thoughts on it so I would be awakened with the feeling and thought of suffocating.

Putting on relaxing music or nature sounds, tense and release muscle relaxation and aroma therapy
with a few flameless candles in the room made the difference. I rarely get this sensation disrupting my
sleep now.

I've been in the hospital many times and some was major surgery.
The first time in a hospital I couldn't sleep and shook all night.
The doctor gave me a sleep med which worked so easily that it just felt natural and after a few
times overnight, I got to where I could fall asleep anywhere in a hospital.
Even in an MRI machine!

Find some relaxation techniques that you like and practice daily.
In time it does get through to the subconscious areas and you learn ways to calm yourself.

 

[Suzanne]

I believe I have experienced this in the past, but thankfully, not for years.

Each time I closed my eyes, I felt that I was sinking and my head felt so weird, that indeed, I had the sensation that if I did not grasp hold of reality, I would be looking down upon myself. I would also have unpresidented shaking, to the extent that my teeth would rattle and I felt my whole body was like a tight wire.

I actually think it was due to being on prozac, because I have not experienced it in years and no longer on that awful drug.

 

[Edward764]

Very good feedback presented here.. I lift weights twice a week, but also need to start walking more, and getting more cardio.
Caring for elderly parents part time, one with dementia, and the other highly stressed, is also a stressful for me.
I also take melatonin on some nights, but never unless I am planning on eight hours of sleep.
I need to notice if this only happens on nights I have not taken melatonin

 

[Solphire]

Well the good thing about trazodone is that it is also used for anxiety, and makes you super sleepy (great for when those late night ruminations begin as one replays all the past failed social interactions of the day). I hate when I have anxiety about being not able to fall asleep. Being unable to sleep because you are afraid you cannot shut your brain to get to sleep is the worst!

 

[Edward764]

I hope I am going through a phase that will soon end.
Tonight I was at the movie theatre to see Godzilla, when I got this wired feeling.

I had to leave my seat and walk back and forth in the lobby a few minutes. I then stood up to watch the movie in the hallway for about 20 minutes. I then took a seat in the front so I did not need to walk down the stairs in case it happened again, but I was fine until the end of the movie.

And now just five minutes ago, just past midnight, the mere thought of becoming wired gave me a wired sensation, aided by my cold and nasal congestion.
I need to stop thinking about it happening, or I will continue to sabotage myself.

 

[Solphire]

Oh! Edward! I think I understand now! Yes! The wired feeling!

I have pinpointed it in myself years ago, but I describe it differently. It is like an powerful surge of electricity that is in the middle of my back. In my case, it makes me jerk my back involuntarily very quickly.

I deduced it is in fact, an adrenaline rush caused by a spike of fear (from an anxious thought usually). I believe it is adrenaline because after my body does the shiver-jerk it dissipates immediately. Now, if only I could get my family to stop asking if I am alright when it happens...

 

[Edward764]

My sensation is somewhat different in that it permeates throughout my body.
It results from my inability to come to grips with the fact I am a support group of one, existing in my own bizarre universe of which no one can identify.
The greatest general symptom is emotional pain stemming from no sense of satisfaction, and no learning from 25 years in the classroom, due to seemingly endless bizarre distractions and toxic friendships which destroyed me academically, along with my own bad decisions, learning disabilities, sensitivities, and fetishes.
These wired sensations are specific symptoms that manifest themselves due to my inability to cope with my unique bizarre existence. They are exacerbated by nasal congestion.
And it is off to the dentist in a few hours.

 

[Edward764]

Unfortunately, I am going through something similar to what I went through about 12 years ago.
It is now chronic, and I am feeling wired about five times a day.
I will be fine for awhile, and then I suddenly become conscious of my breathing, and then become wired, forcing me to walk around outside.
I was sound asleep at 3AM yesterday morning, when my neighbor used his water, creating a loud jack hammer sound that awakened me, as it does frequently.
Although I was tired, I suddenly became aware of my breathing, got wired, and had to go outside. I fell asleep four hours later.
Unless my nasal passages are 100% clear, partial congestion will initiate the wired sensation.
Any bit of resistance to air inside my nasal passages will make me wired and claustrophobic to being indoors, and I need to go outside for some relief.
I just bought some saline solution which did not help much.
I am wondering if buying nasal strips used to prevent snoring might open up my nasal passages, thus eliminating the resistance to air, and give me full 100% breathing through my nose.
This will not eliminate the cause, but could temper the symptoms so I can relax.

 

[Edward764]

I am at the point now where just a quick thought will initiate the wired sensation, which after disappearing for a few days, now occurs suddenly during the day.
Today, it was caused by the thought of the frustrating discrepancy between my intelligence and my absurd heightened awareness of the hundreds of events and how they have created hundreds of butterfly effects which have altered my existence and created unlikely realities that have led to a life of gross underachievement with no hobbies or developed skills.

The frustration stems from my inability to utilize this same intense level of awareness of these butterfly effects and apply it to an understanding of things that matter, such as understanding mathematical formulas and chemical equations, and being able to apply them so I could have been successful in life.

I am so intensely aware of the hundreds of synchronized and interwoven events , of which any single one of them alone could have altered my life, but yet I was never smart enough to apply this level of awareness to STEM academics. I could never apply the same awareness of cause and effect in my life events to cause and effect in the world of science and math.
This contrast upset me in just a couple seconds, and wired me today, and I had to go outside for a walk

 

[Edward764]

Today I have been wired most of the day.
My Mom learned today that she would likely never drive again due to failing her driving test a couple weeks ago. She thought she would get a 2nd chance, but the DMV says no, despite her 70 year perfect driving record before a miner accident that was more bad luck than bad driving.
She feels she was blackballed by the DMV instructor who made up mistakes in his report that she is certain she did not commit. She feels this instructor just does not want to pass elderly drivers, so he made things up in her report that she is certain she did not do on the test.
This created an even greater burden for her as she tries to take care of my 87 year old dad with dementia, who needs to be taken care of for changing and toileting. She is 86, and the situation has her very anxious and depressed.
It is her depression that exacerbates my being wired. As an ARSD person myself, I do not have the patience to stay around and give her as much support as she needs, and we have no other family. I never dated, so I have no children or grand children to assist, unlike 99% of 61 year olds.
The wired sensation is centered mostly in my chest.

 

[BraidedPony]

Sorry Edward, your life sounds miserable right now.
Does Medicare offer any home health care? Or something similar depending on the country you live in?
Or, if your parents have money, pay to have someone come in to help a few days a week.
You need more support!

 

[Edward764]

My dad was denied home health care due to his diabetes, and home health care would be about $100,000 a year.
Also, home care aides do not drive, unless you pay extra to find one who might, and when my mom is driven to appointments, she needs a 2nd person to stay with my dad when she is gone.
She also has a difficult task of arranging his medication, which home aides are not allowed to do, unless she/he is a nurse, so this would cost even more.
I need to get some advice from our local senior center. Both my mom and I need to break down and buy a smart phone, We both have flip ups which is very limiting. My mom does not feel like she is capable of learning to use a smart phone. I hope I can learn it and maybe help her. My learning disabilities don't make things easier.

Adding to this is the fact that I honestly do feel I am the most bizarre person to have ever lived, and I can barely sit still. I have been walking around outside all day because I am not smart enough to understand myself.
Nevertheless, I have gone 12 years without feeling wired, so I hope I can get over this.
When and if I get over this, I hope to take another step towards my autobiography

I bought a cassette player today to review some 32 year old tapes I made, but I lost two of the 18 hours I made at the time, adding to my wired state.
Unfortunately, I am a very emotionally sick man, and always have been.
My symptoms are just manifesting themselves in an other worldly way right now.

 

[Edward764]

The herbal remedy HTP-5 seems to have abated my symptoms about 65-70%

This is significant, especially considering my sister just disowned my mother and no longer wants anything to do with her, adding to normal stress for both of us.