[NeuroShock]

Well, not really Day One. I have tried and given up several times before!

I joined this forum a few years ago and tried the free sleep training course, but gave up because I thought my case was unsolvable. I have a brain tumour and had surgery to remove about half of it, then radiotherapy and chemotherapy to attack the remaining tumour.

My insomnia problems started after surgery. I would sleep only around 3-4 hours a night before waking up tired, unrefreshed, and unable to go back to sleep. I would be so sleepy during the day that it affected my studies (and made me very grumpy).

Now that I’ve graduated (and unemployed), I have the luxury to sleep whenever I want, so my sleeping problems are not as unbearable. I can just nap in the afternoon for a few hours and sleep at night for a few hours to meet my ‘daily sleep quota’, kind of. But it is not ideal as my sleeping pattern is highly irregular and my sleep is not as refreshing as would like it to be.

I did some research on my condition and believe I have Irregular Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder, caused by my brain tumour, although I haven’t received an official diagnosis. Even if I do have the disorder, the treatment is the same as that for insomnia anyway: keep a consistent sleep schedule, avoid napping (very difficult for me), get out of bed if I don’t fall asleep within half an hour, and prepare for bed with a relaxation routine.

I am starting this as a daily, online, public journal to keep myself accountable, sort of.
Yesterday I only got a total of about 3-4 hours sleep including naps. I drank a cup of coffee today at around 11am. I almost never drink coffee so I hope it doesn’t disrupt my sleep tonight. But it doesn’t matter anyway, because I think my sleep tonight will be terrible with or without caffeine. I haven’t felt the urge to take a nap yet (it is now 6 pm).

By far my biggest challenge is resisting the urge to take a nap! Today was pretty easy. I predict tomorrow will be difficult, and the day after that to be EXTREMELY difficult to resist the urge to nap. I rarely make it past 3 days before giving up.

I have decided to restrict my sleep to 7 hours: 11.30 pm to 6.30 am.
I am determined not to give up, even if I end up feeling like an absolute zombie.
Any thoughts and comments are welcome.

[baggypepperowl]

You’re doing great! I feel you on the challenge of resisting the urge to take a nap. But keep going!

[NeuroShock]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, baggypepperowl!

Now that I think of it, there is a deeper reason why I give up completely after napping: I feel like I’m a lost cause.

I assume, without any proof, that my brain tumour caused irreversible damage to the part of my brain responsible for sleep. This mindset pretty much guarantees failure, I think. This time, I will NOT assume that.
I will assume that I AM capable of refreshing, energizing, and restorative sleep, no matter how bad I feel during the day time.
And if I cave in to the urge to nap, I won’t give up completely. I won’t think I’m a lost cause. I will keep going!

[NeuroShock]

Day two: not as bad as I thought it would be!

On the first night, I made a mistake and went to bed an hour before I should have, so my sleep window was 8 hours instead of 7 like I planned.
I ended up sleeping for only 4 1/2 hours as expected. However, I got out of bed at 6.30 am as planned. I did not feel as bad as I thought I would. Neither did I feel like a complete zombie during the day as I expected. Exercising and being physically active during the day kept away any drowsiness. I successfully did not nap!

For night two, I decided to restrict my sleeping hours to 5 1/2 for the rest of the week. It was very difficult to stay awake in the final hours before 1 am, but I managed to do it! Once I got in bed, I was out almost immediately. I think it took only around five minutes for me to fall asleep.
I successfully got out of bed at 6.30 am.
Sleep efficiency was above 85%! I only woke up once during the night to pee, and fell asleep again in about 15 minutes.
I don’t feel any worse after getting out of bed than I did the day before.

This is highly motivating! I haven’t fallen asleep so quickly for a long, long time! Neither did it feel excruciatingly difficult to get out of bed. Although I still feel tired with a bit of brain fog, surprisingly it is not much worse than how I usually feel. I’m looking forward to how this day and this night’s sleep goes!

[NeuroShock]

Night three did not go as planned. I was so sleepy that I decided that I would increase my sleep window to 6 hours.
I woke up at around 2.30 am like I always do to use the toilet. When I came back to bed I was expecting to fall asleep quickly like the previous night, but I could not go back to sleep.
I had to drive the following morning, which gave me anxiety about getting enough sleep. It would be dangerous for me to drive while severely sleep deprived.
I finally fell asleep at around 6 am, but I set my alarm to 8 am to give me a few more hours of sleep so I could drive safely.
I am typing this at 8 pm and the drowsiness is so unbearable that it’s giving me a headache. I am probably going to give in and take a nap…

[Martin Reed]

You’ve sure been through a lot — and I admire your tenacity!

Perhaps slowly reducing the duration of your naps might be a helpful approach rather than trying to eliminate them cold turkey?

In terms of a sleep window, you might want to simply give yourself a reasonably consistent out of bed time in the morning and allow yourself to go to bed at night when you feel sleepy enough for sleep. That might help remove some pressure and effort away from the natural process of sleep.

Finally, instead of tracking sleep efficiency (or any other sleep metric) I wonder if it might be more useful to do things that help you move toward the life you want to live and the person you want to be each day, independently of sleep? After all, you can’t control sleep — but you can always control your actions!

—

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