[giorojasxx]

Hi,
I have been suffering insomnia since September 2019 as I had a very bad fear of sleeping. I used to be a very sound sleeper before this happened and would sleep at anytime and anywhere so this is unusual to me. I’ve gone to a psychologist which did not really help and I’ve been on melatonin for a couple months. I am now doing sleep therapy and trying to incorporate sleep restriction. At first I was given a window of 7 hours which worked but I still had short nights. Then this window was decreased to 6 hours and it has been a wreck. I was supposed to do from 1 am to 7 am but waiting until 7 am gave me major anxiety so instead I told my therapist if we could work with my natural cues and make it from 12 to 6 am and she said yes. It worked for 3 nights and then on the 4th night and 5th night I had to sleep later as my mum got ill and I had to take care of her during the night. Now I developed sleep maintenance which was not there before and I’m sleeping around 4 hours if I’m lucky. I believe I am not applying SR properly so I don’t know if someone could help me. This are some of the things Im doing that I believe may be hindering progress but I’m not too sure.

1. I usually do my wind-down in my couch but I’ve realised that I am having microsleeps constantly while I’m on the couch but I am scared that if I keep myself awake, I’m not going to be drowsy enough to actually sleep.
2. I am getting up 15-30 minutes later accidentally and I am unsure if I have to be precise with my 6 am time to wake up.
3. I don’t want to stand up from bed when I wake up at night because I am too anxious that I won’t sleep for the rest of the night. So I try to do some relaxing things in bed. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. And I don’t want to turn on a light to read outside because it scares me that this will wake me up.

Its basically a lot of anxiety surrounding this 6 hour window for some reason. I’ve become so distressed that I got prescribed Atarax for a couple nights just to see if I can snap out of the cycle and give me more confidence to follow it properly. Will taking Atarax for a couple nights while doing my SR throw away my progress or hinder my progress?

Thanks for all the help!

[DrummerFrank]

Atarax did absolutely nothing for me.. I honestly am starting to feel hopeless, even though it’s only been 2 months of this.. I slept really well last Friday, but since Friday, I’ve maybe gotten 3 hrs sleep TOTAL.. Anytime I enter dream phase, I snap right back out of it.. It’s just hard for me to convince myself that I can sleep normally again.. Starting to feel angry and frustrated.

[Martin Reed]

For best results with the sleep window, it can be so helpful to take an attitude of “set it and forget it”. If you engage in ongoing experimentation and modifications, it can be difficult to make progress.

Ultimately, if you want to enjoy consistent sleep, a consistent sleep window is really helpful. This means sticking to a consistent and appropriate sleep window for at least two weeks before even thinking about drawing any conclusions!

It can be helpful to think of the start of your sleep window as simply your earliest possible bedtime. If you don’t feel sleepy enough for sleep when your sleep window begins, it can be a good idea to avoid going to bed until you do feel sleepy enough for sleep.

Regardless of how well or how poorly you sleep, it’s quite important to try to get out of bed by the end of your sleep window every single day. This gives your body clock a strong morning anchor and helps ensure you are allowing enough time for sleep drive to build during the day to help you sleep at night.

It’s usually a more appealing alternative to get out of bed and do something relaxing and somewhat enjoyable when being in bed during your sleep window doesn’t feel good. You aren’t going to become more awake, because awake is awake! However, you will shift that unpleasant wakefulness away from the bed and this will prevent you from reinforcing a negative association between the bed and unpleasant wakefulness.

Getting out of bed instead of struggling in bed can also reduce anxiety since it gives your mind something else to focus on. If nothing else, getting out of bed and doing something else can be a good mental distraction.

Finally, since medication doesn’t generate sleep, any sleep you get when you take medication is still sleep you are generating. So ultimately, it’s not going to have much of an effect on your progress.

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.

[Author]

Posts