[Sleepybear776]

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum and signed up for the free email sequence, hoping to get some help with my sleep struggles.

I’ve struggled with my sleep since I was in my twenties. But lately, the struggle is much worse! I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue last Spring and was suggested sleeping supplements which seemed to help, but then it seemed like my body got used to them because they stopped working. Then it seemed that sleep got a little better, then bad again.

Anyway, over the past month of tracking my sleep, I have been averaging 2-3.5 hour nights!!!! Last month (March 2022), I got 11 days of 5-6 hours of sleep per night. About three of those nights were 7-hour nights. And those nights were not consolidated sleep but junk sleep. Waking up two or more times during the night to pee.

Anyway, I turn 46 next week and don’t want to spend the next 20 or 30 years struggling to sleep. Health naturally declines as we age, and poor sleep will exacerbate future health challenges. Tonight I’m going to stay up until 12:30 am. According to the sleep restriction, I should aim for no less than 5 hours of sleep. So I’ll “wake up” at 6 am. I mean, I’ll be awake anyway. Anyway, negativity aside, I hope that this CBT-I will help. Right now, 5 hours each night sounds good.

[Martin Reed]

Your experience sounds difficult and not unique or unusual — you aren’t alone!

It sounds as though you’ve decided to start implementing a sleep widow so the amount of time you allot for sleep is a bit more closely aligned to your average nightly sleep duration. This can help move you away from chasing after sleep — something that can make it even more elusive!

Good luck and do let us know how you get on with it!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Sleepybear776]

Wow, I didn’t expect a response from you, Martin.
As far as results go, I know it will take a few weeks, and I try to remind myself each night. It’s only been a few nights, and the execution isn’t perfect. I decided to implement a few techniques. I’m not sure of all the terminologies but:

-Shortening sleep window (though I don’t always get out of bed at exactly 6 am-I, ‘ve slept past this time once or twice as sleep is still not elusive, so I don’t set an alarm; I just let my body wake up on its own)

-I get out of bed after 10-20 minutes and read, use my adult coloring book, and word search while listening to rainstorms on Youtube. I heard that I could also watch tv. But not sure that watching Youtube or something else on my phone would be a good idea, even with blue light-blocking glasses. But I try to resist looking at my phone (unless I want to change Youtube channels –and then I just listen to the audio anyway.)

-I have minimal contact with my phone after 11 or 11:30pm. I listen to podcasts or videos between 11 or 11:30 till my bedtime while reading, coloring, and word search while using an amber light reading light.

-I still take sleep supplements and continue to take L-theanine, and phosphatidylserine, a supplement my naturopathic doctor recommended to decrease the excess cortisol my body produces between 5 pm to 5 am.

This Saturday will make a week, and I’ll leave an update.

[Martin Reed]

Thanks for sharing all those examples of how you’re approaching sleep!

Does your approach toward doing things each day that are aligned with your values, that are important to you, and that keep you moving toward the life you want to live — independently of sleep and even in the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings — get at least as much attention?

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Sleepybear776]

Sorry, Martin, I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking.

[Martin Reed]

My apologies for any confusion! To clarify:

1. It sounds as though you are (understandably) spending a lot of time focusing on sleep.

2. Are you spending at least as much time doing activities that are aligned with your values and that move you toward the life you want to live? Doing things that represent who you are and who you want to be?

Sleep cannot be directly or permanently controlled — but our actions can be. And, it’s our actions that ultimately determine the whether we move toward the life we want to live or away from the life we want to live.

I hope this helps!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Sleepybear776]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your reply. I guess I’m slow or something, but I’m still confused as to your question. Did I say something in the last post to indicate that I was overly worried about sleep? Thought I was documenting my experience with these CBT-I techniques. I still have my usual daytime routine, but luckily, I don’t have to leave the house as I work from home. But I still try to work out most days.

So as far as an update goes, I started doing some CBT-I techniques on April 8th or technically April 9th since I started with a 12 am to 6 am sleep window. My sleep was slightly better with the 4.5 hours of fragmented sleep than my usual 2-3.5 hours.

There as a stretch of five days, I got 5 hours of sleep per night, though fragmented. Then my sleep got terrible again, and last night only got 2 hours and 48 minutes. Maybe my mistake was not adhering to the set bedtime.

After the first few attempts, I started getting INCREDIBLY SLEEPY AROUND 10 or 11, and it was REALLY hard to keep my eyes open. So I stopped fighting it and just started going to bed between 11:15-11:30. Last night, I gave in and went to bed at 11:03 after fighting to stay awake since 9:30.

But I nearly got 3 hours of sleep.

FRUSTRATING.

[Sleepybear776]

I just did my sleep efficiency scores for the first month. I started doing sleep restriction and stimulus control on 4/8.

Week 1: 58%
Week 2: 67%
Week 3: 56%
Week 4: 50%

Not good at all.

The second week I was getting 5 hours (fragmented) sleep, then I slipped back to 3-4 hour nights in the last two weeks. I struggle with maintaining that bedtime of 11 pm. At nine or 9:30, I am fighting to stay awake and almost feel anxious fighting to stay awake. I can’t go out for a walk that late, friends aren’t around to talk to, don’t want to exercise cause that will keep me up. I try watching Youtube, but that doesn’t help either.

Any suggestions?

[Martin Reed]

Do you think you might find it helpful to move away from trying to fight or avoid nighttime wakefulness and trying to make sleep happen at night? Do you think there’s any chance all the trying and all the effort (if it exists) might be making things more difficult?

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Sleepybear776]

I’m still not sure what I wrote to indicate that I’m doing too much or trying too hard to make sleep happen. I am only performing the CBT-I techniques. How is this doing too much???

Am I annoyed and frustrated? Sure. But I think that’s normal.

[Author]

Posts