I agree with @JB re getting iron etc checked…that was the root of my RLS which included shortness of breath, heart beat and sleep issues…
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Look into someone who will do cognitive behavioral therapy…it’s been shown to be highly effective with insomnia. I am writing up a research study right now on sleep quality in a immune compromised population, so part of the foundational research is about treatment options. CBT has very strong results…and it’s medication free! It’s highly effective for a lot of stress and behavioral therapy needs. Stress and anxiety will raise BP like that too…so it becomes a cycle that keeps feeding into itself.
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I skimmed replies so sorry if this has been addressed -
Is he on blood pressure meds? High blood pressure feels very much like anxiety - and is anxiety inducing, as you know.
I have gestational hypertension. It also made my anxiety go through the roof. My pulse would be so strong is would rock my body. My anxiety decreased significantly when I started blood pressure medication. Blood pressure medication is also rx’ed for anxiety because anxiety produces adrenal overload and causes blood pressure to spike.
On a recommendation from a naturopath, I started on Magnesium with Ashwagandha and it has really helped me get to sleep and stay asleep through the night. Melatonin did nothing for me. I also find it really helpful to do yoga right before bed. I do it in my pyjamas, after I have brushed my teeth, so I can just roll right into bed. That is a huge help for me too.
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Yoga is a good recommendation; the breathing alone really makes a difference when I’m anxious.
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Thanks for all the input, you guys. It’s a huge help, we both appreciate it. The CBD gummy seemed to help a bit last night, he’s not as sleep deprived today as he was yesterday and previous days. So at least that crutch will get him through the next few days until he can get the referral to the sleep center.
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Healthy , active people can still have high blood pressure. It sounds like his anxiety over the occasional higher blood pressure readings is what is causing the sleep issues?
Get a good BP monitor and have him take readings regularly( record them) and then see if BP meds are needed to keep it steady. I would rather be on BP meds over sleep and anxiety meds( which I would not take).
Most any good pcp would write a script if he needs it and having records would help.
If I eat anything after our dinner at 5pm I find it interrupts my sleep, so I don’t.
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I hope you can get access to a sleep study. In the meantime, consider raising the head of the bed - I get night sweats and poor sleep from acid reflux.
I used to really have trouble falling asleep - taking a very low dose of Ativan when needed, and learning some self hypnosis really helped me quiet my brain for sleep!
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Is the CBD gummy the real deal? I know many people who have found a new lease on life by finally being able to sleep, thanks to the benefits of 5 mgs of an edible (marijuana) at bedtime. It’s legal here soon, and I imagine a lot of people will be resting well in 2023 and beyond.
One problem with the easy availability of wearable health technology and home testing machines is that people stress about their results - often for no real reason. Blood Pressure is actually very hard to measure with any accuracy. Age, sex, time of day, general fitness, emotional state, location, genetics, even sight of a medical white coat etc etc are just some of the variables that affect B/P. It will vary precisely because it is ones body adapting to environmental conditions.
To take a B/P reading, first sit quietly for ten minutes. Then, with the machine at heart level, take three readings. Total up readings and divide by three and that result is a relatively accurate reading at that time and place. But if obsessive, do measurements first flat on a bed, then sitting comfortably in a chair and then standing up. In the morning and in the evening. And then do all these daily OBS and average them over seven days and that is when a GP might say “yup, hypertension”. Alternatively, a 24 hour tape. To repeat, every one has blood pressure that goes up and down because it is supposed to. Unfortunately, one thing that definitely does raise B/P is stress!
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Magnesium supplement has helped me immensely with anxiety, and therefore sleep.
I take Mag Bis-Glycinate. I worked up to 800 mg per day (per health care provider recommendation) and now dropped back to 1/2 that amount.
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@starsandsun CBD is legal in my state and I know people both who find it beneficial and those who don’t notice it at all. The people I know that take medical marijuana, which is also legal, or non medical seem to have better success on things health related. I have gotten CBD treats for my dogs and noticed no difference in it helping with anxiety.
@Willesdon - I totally get it that people stress out about those types of tests! The test recommended for me was a multi sleep latency test; it is an overnight and then more testing the following morning. I don’t tend to sleep well when I’m not at home in my bed and out of my sleep routine which is why I am waiting to see my rheum first before scheduling anything further. If I could do it at home, I’d be much more inclined to do it.
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CBD != THC. “Edibles” contain THC. You can get CBD products with, and without THC. I know quite a lot of people now who take THC-free CBD to help with sleep. Some choose low levels of THC.
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As a doctor told me once, one high blood pressure reading can be high as a result of taking your blood pressure itself. 
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CBD seems to be helping. Lower BP readings. He knows to take multiple readings throughout the day, we have a home monitor. He took this monitor with him with it’s history of recent readings to show the doctor on that first visit. The doc REFUSED to even look at it!!! This really raises my ire. She put her own monitor on him in her office, and announced that his hr was 70, so "no white coat syndrome’. He says he was so stunned by her refusal to look at HIS monitor readings, which had some low readings and some higher readings, that he did NOT speak up to say that his normal hr is 50.
Docs appointment is now Dec 6. I think that all this doc is good for is to sign the dam referral to the sleep center. He is NOT taking the heavy duty anti anxiety pills she prescribed. But he’s ok with taking the CBD as needed, and it is seeming to help.
On top of it all, we had some vehicle issues last night with our current -30C weather, and didn’t get home until 1 am last night, with a borrowed vehicle, and are now unsure about the future of our old reliable farm truck, which is currently abandoned on the side of the road 50 miles away. I want to call a tow truck and have it towed 5 miles to a good repair garage, have them plug in the heater to thaw it, and if that does not fix the issue because there are other issues, fix the other issues so that we can go get it and get it home. He wants to go fix any issues with the truck himself on the side of the road with no way to warm the engine before attempting to start it at -25C this morning with no tools or parts at hand. Because of the cost of towing and repairs. We are not destitute, if the truck just needs to be towed and thawed out, or some minor issues fixed,we CAN afford to pay the bill. SEE how he creates his own stresses in life? Anyway… That’s my bitch for the day. Did I mention that when we parked that truck on the side of the road last night, I suggested that we instead park in our friends driveway, so that we could plug it in so that it would be warm and be happy to start when we needed to drive it home last night? No??
In some defense of the Doctor, the monitor used in the surgery will have been tested and calibrated to ensure it is working properly. Home monitors are not. That is probably why she refused to look. But on the other hand, poor “bedside manner” not to.
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Mr Squirrel’s cardiologist has him bring our home BP monitor in when he has appointments. The nurse takes his BP with their monitor first then with ours and compares them to check for accuracy. Pleased to say our monitor is very accurate.
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Is there cognitive stuff happening? On top of the anxiety?
From all the details to me it sounds like the sleep issues are anxiety based. You absolutely can get into a cycle of anxiety and adrenalin poisoning that’s self propelled. I’ve experienced it during some stressful life events. For me a combination of solving the problems and deliberately relaxing got me through it. But once you are in that space everything turns into a crisis.
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qualifying this with the fact that I’m soooo far from being any sort of mental health professional. Is there something about his upbringing that forced (or he felt like he was forced) to be entirely self-sufficient and that things had to be done right now no matter what? I realize sleep issues can cause and exacerbate anxiety issues, but this sound like anxiety is the root of most of this, which then started causing sleep issues, which just compounds the anxiety, and so on.
I hate that he was Rx’d some heavy duty anxiety meds right off the bat, that’s not how this should work. It IS promising that the CBD is helping (can I ask what product?).
do you think he’d be open to reading any book on this sort of thing? There are 1000s of really good books on working on these sorts of issues, but they do require the person to be actively interested since they have to actually pick up the book and read it, so the interest has to be even greater than only interested enough to go into an office and sit down and talk to someone.
Strongly suggest yoga and meditation, together. He sounds like the type of guy likely to take seriously, and work on, things that are likely to improve his health. These definitely are. And are wonderful at reducing stress AND clearing the mind, which leads to better decisions.
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