Morning Anxiety

Hi, @packer2 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. That would be challenging to have anxiety in the mornings and not understand what might be prompting it.

Hoping that other members in this conversation like @petangelkat1 @brit @manno @parus and others will have some thoughts for you on morning anxiety.

@packer2 - have you noted anything that helps calm this anxiety?

Something I would like to mention about caffeine. I stopped caffeine entirely for a year or so thinking it could be one of the culprits. For me it was not. There are things that will make morning anxiety worse for me and I endeavor to steer clear of...fear of the unknown being one of them. All of those “what if” thoughts and wanting to have a plan in place for them. Does not make sense. Living in the moment is a gargantuan obstacle that has a grip on me. This and waiting on the other shoe to fall. I get myself worked into such a state it takes most of the morning to find my rational mind. It does help doing the short morning routines of Tai Chi, Qigong and Louhan (an ancient form of tapping) Patting. I have found I look forward to starting my day this way. I also purchased some Chandrika soap for a family member and found the fragrance to be helpful. Yup, got a bar for myself and the aroma fills the room.
Got wordy again.

My anxiety has always been worse in the mornings. The only thing I can think of the cause is that you have the entire day before you and having to put up with this awful feeling most of the time. God Bless

Hmmm, I believe in aromatherapy, but had never heard of Chandrika soap. I'll have to look into that, @parus. I'm a little worked-up today. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist and I have a lot of material I want to present and questions to ask. She is an exceptionally good doctor and a great listener, my only concern is that I give her all the information that I need. My list of questions is a mile long as are my research printouts.

I hope you appointment with the pain specialists goes well for you, @parus

You might read the post by @parus from a couple of hours ago, @brit. She presents some good ideas regarding morning routines and activities to get centered, etc. Have you tried any of them?

@hopeful33250 I can understand your angst. I can say having a list of research you have done could be helpful. To start with you may give your endo doc a chance for input to your questions/concerns prior to bringing out what you have found. It is always wise to arrive prepared and confident with a list of questions. Be sure to remember insurance cards etc that you need. It is the 1st of the year and they typically need these even if there are no changes. Only bring out your big guns if necessary I would say. The timid one. Parus

Thanks, @parus. You are a gem! I especially appreciate the comment about the "big guns." It gave me a smile and I'll take that smile with me to the appointment today.

@hopeful33250 Again, YEAH TEAM!! Anxious to hear about the visit. 😊

@parus- Beautifully said. I'd like to expand a bit on this if you don't mind @parus. Knowledge and preparation go a long way in lowering anxiety, especially for me. If I have a situation, especially one that I have no control over, like CT scans or even a bad family situation I try and line up all the scenarios before hand. It's like picking out a wardrobe for a meeting the night before. If it's with a family member I know that I have no control over how they will act or what they would say or ask. My twin sister was like that for me. She was a demanding and sick person. Her entire social life was rapped up in addiction so she really didn't know how to have a decent conversation without bringing herself into it, or asking for things. I decided that unless there was a definite need for something I said no. I told her that I couldn't afford something if she asked why. She understood that. I tried to think of things that she might want instead of going back over things that drove me nuts and sad and angry.
Again, knowledge is everything to me. It empowers me because knowledge gives me understanding. It lowers my anxiety, maybe not all of it, but some of it. That's why I'm always nagging about research. There''s nothing like getting a handle on things!

@hopeful- Good luck! Can you combine any of the questions. I always have a long list and what I do is tell the doctor that you have question. I don't make it a conversation. I turns out to be a question and answer period. It saves a lot of time.