Insomnia, anxiety and nasal congestion?

[Galway1989]

Hi
I am 20 years old. I take 50mg of eltroxin for an underactive thyroid and this seems to have regulated my periods lately. However I have suffered from worry and anxiety at night and am using lavendar oil and am generally able to calm myself down again. The anxiety was kick started by panicking about leaving home alone next year and going somewhere completely new and strange in another country. Anyway I've decided for financial, family and realistic reasons that i need to stay put and such a drastic move will make me miserable. I am happy with that decision. Then i started worrying about bad things happening in the future e.g parents dying and my life not turning out how i would like it to. Prayer and rational thinking has helped and the anxiety is disappearing but i still suffer from insomnia the past few nights.
I eventually get myself to sleep and wake up two hours later with a really dry mouth. My nose/ sinuses are blocked up and i can't get into a proper breathing rhythm. I had a cold a week or two ago but that is gone. I am wondering is the blocked nose preventing me from falling into a deep sleep and is it interrupting my sleeping pattern? I took sudafed last night just before going to bed and was completely relaxed but it was non drowsy so it probably stopped me from getting to sleep properly. I am exhausted at the end of the day and go to bed, fall asleep after a longer length of time than usual and wake up two hours later and have to ease myself back to sleep again.  

It is depressing me because i usually fall to sleep so easily and fall into a deep sleep. I've had worries before but they never stopped me from going to sleep. The day flies by and all i can think about is hoping for a good sleep each night. How long should i leave it before going to the doctor? I don't want to be sent for counselling or put on sleeping or anxiety tablets as this will only drag out what could be a temporary problem! Is all this sleep interruption down to sinus problems?

[foofooberry]

If you are having stuffy nose issues yes see your doctor, But I have the same issues and I use the breathe strips extra and they work wonderfully.  I have severe anxiety and sleep issues myself.  I do take xanax but still have problems.  But I do go for 20 minute walks after dinner and it does help with my sleep...might give that a try.

[Steven Y Park, MD]

If your nose remains stuffy for more than 2 weeks I would see your doctor about it. If your doctor can't help, then see an ENT doctor. You need to breathe well through your nose for you to sleep well, since nasal congestion can aggravate tongue collapse, leading to less efficient sleep, and increased anxiety issues and fatigue.