[ak]

My sleep problems have gotten worse. I went from falling asleep easily but waking up and not being able to go to bed to not being able to sleep at all and having anxiety about it all day and night. I have good sleep hygiene, force myself out of bed in morning and don’t nap, and try not sleep o go to bed until sleepy. I’ve done the 2 week emails with Martin and kept a sleep diary. Got better for a week and then worse. Feels like I am rewiring my brain not to be able to sleep and would love help overcoming.

[hiker]

Hi ak, I can relate to the anxiety about sleeping. Seems like it can pop up anytime, even after sleeping well for a while.

It popped up for me last night, actually. By 3:15 a.m., that was it, no more sleep, so I just got up. And okay, I will be tired today. Done it before.

The trick for me is to not assume that because I sleep poorly for a night, or several nights, that this means I’m sort of sliding into a lifetime of exhaustion. And I know it is easy to slide into that line of thinking when tired. I try to remember they are just thoughts, and I don’t automatically buy into whatever pops into my head. Especially when I am tired and inclined to view a setback as a lifetime catastrophe.

I totally get that it is easier said than done. But there is a huge difference in “I’m having the thought that I will not sleep well tonight,” and “I will not sleep well tonight.”

Take care, you are not alone in this.

[JimRainy]

I undergo the same stuff , i would like to ask hiker though , what if you cant sleep after that day again . Its really frustrating not getting enough sleep or no sleep at all. The past 6 months , i worry all the time about falling asleep and guess what , there are times that i dont fall asleep. Anyway , indeed ak , you are not alone in this , we undergo the same thing , for me , when i got a job in a workshop and felt the urge to fulfill my duties there , got me again in a good sleeping routine. What i mean is that if you manage to do something that carries your mind away and gets you off bed relatively early is a good thing.For example , try to become fitter and wake up early every morning , without caring so much about whether u slept adequatly last night . Or you could set a goal of becoming even better at your job or if you dont have one , then find a job that gets you off bed very early . In that manner , you wont care about sleeping no more , because you will have to show up everyday at your job .Dont also worry seeming vulnerable with friends or family . Sometimes , we need to talk it through in order to feel better and be honest about it . But definately the most important thing is to become workaholic , with a higher purpose . All the other stuff wont solve the problem and make it come and go eventually , in my opinion , of course .

[hiker]

Hi Jim Rainy, in response to your question about “what if you can’t sleep after that day again..”

Actually, my response is not changed. When I go several nights without adequate sleep, I find it is usually because I am starting to obsess about it. When I can let go and just say, ‘I would rather get a good night’s sleep tonight, but if I don’t, I can deal with it, done it before’ I generally do get a good sleep.

I used to think of insomnia as a problem to solve. No doubt it can be problematic, being tired a lot. But I have found that trying to solve it does not work in the long run.

You sound like a hard worker, and that attitude usually leads to success in a job or career. I think insomnia is different: if we try to solve it, it sort of hangs around. Maybe this is especially hard for Americans like me (us?) to accept: we have a “can do” attitude which works well in a lot of ways; here, not so much.

[Author]

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