[Ilovepaint93]

Hi there,

I’ve dealt with insomnia off and on over the last couple of years but I’m having a flareup again right now.
What worked for me in the past really well was just realizing that there were things I could do and things I could not, and what I could do was get out of bed if bed was not comfy and then get back into bed and snuggle up there when I felt like that was appealing again.
Well it’s darn right appealing, but even when first getting in bed and all through the night (last night was an all-nighter) every time I lay down, I’d feel nice for approximately 2 minutes and then end up with a super dry mouth, tossing, turning, stomach churning, heart racing.
I really don’t want to be out of my bed all night long. That’s not comfy either. But obviously being very uncomfortable in my bed is very not helpful either.
So feeling trapped. How am I supposed to give any opportunity for sleep or even just a relaxing rest if adrenaline kicks in with in a couple minutes every time? Just seem to be on a constant overdrive, day and night and it’s only eased by activity or reading or something.
Where do I go from here?

Trying super hard to stay chill about it and just take it one night at a time. I’ve been here before, I know I’ll sleep again, I just don’t know when and that’s hard. I have 5 kids and we homeschool so it’s full on.

[Chee2308]

Hello and welcome

I think there is a lot of self-blaming and a relentless drive to seek perfection in everything going on there. Things like;

1. How am I supposed to…
2. I feel comfortable for 2 mins and then this and that happens…
3. I have a ton of things going on
4. I have 5 kids etc etc…
5. How am I supposed to sleep with all that going on??

The reality is there is no perfect moment in life. There is no perfect time or condition for sleep. There is no perfect sleep even. Nothing is perfect and being okay with imperfections is okay. There is perfection even in imperfections when you no longer actively try to correct things or seek quick fixes. Many things are beyond your control, sleep being one of them. You just get on with life. As you keep moving on, sleep just slips into the background. You no longer worry about it. You no longer think about it. Maybe not as much. And that is what recovery looks like. Just keep moving on, showing up and doing things.

It also means normalizing everything no matter how difficult they seem. Sensations, feelings and thoughts. Things like poor sleep. Butterflies in stomach. Heart racing. Mind in overdrive. Feeling horrible. Etc etc etc. You accept that everything is normal and there’s nothing to worry about. At the end of the day, these are just thoughts or feelings. They don’t matter so much and they keep changing constantly. It’s just not helpful to keep focusing on them all the time. Good luck.

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