[Panos]

Hallo everyone!
My name is Panos and I have been suffering from insomnia the last three months.
Tinnitus, which was caused by either stress or anti inflammatory drugs, trigered my insomnia. And although tinnitus doesn’t bother me so much anymore, insomnia became chronic.
As everyone I’ve tried everything to resolve it. I found Martins videos very helpfull and i enrolled in the free cbti program.
Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. When I sleep, I sleep deep for a solid 4 or 5 hours but I always wake up very early before the alarm goes on. I also have many sleepless nights. And although I seem do be mostly functional with little or no sleep, anxiety and depression is getting hold of my daily life. My psychiatrist prescribed me tranxene for twenty days and lexapro to ease my anxiety. I am very skeptical about taking drugs.
Has anyone tried these drugs?
I am currently thinking of trying ACT as my last resort

[Scott]

@Panos,

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for signing up for the free course. How long ago did you sign up and did you find any of it difficult to implement or have questions about it? Typically, it can take time to see a noticeable improvement in your sleep when you begin a new routine but implementing the ideas consistently can be beneficial. I relate it to starting a new workout regimen – it’s hard when you first start, you’re tired and you wonder if you’ll ever see any positive results but if you remain committed to the program, those results will appear in time.

Since you achieve 4-5 hours of sleep, that should be proof that you haven’t lost the ability to sleep! Our sleep drive diminishes after about 5 hours of sleep which can people to briefly wake so that may be what you’re experiencing. When you wake after 5 hours of sleep, do you become anxious about being awake?

Scott J

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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 Clarity 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.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Panos!

If you could answer some additional questions, perhaps we can explore these issues further!

Are you still following any kind of sleep window? If so, what time does it start and what time does it end?

When you wake before your alarm, why do you think you find it hard to fall back to sleep?

Why do you think you feel anxious about sleep or wakefulness? When you start to worry about sleep, what is going through your mind? What is it about the idea of getting four to five hours (or less) of sleep that seems to generate anxiety?

—

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 Clarity 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.

[Panos]

thank you for your replies.
Before i developed insomnia I used to go to sleep around 1:30 to 2:30 and slept for six and a half to seven and a half hours. I never been a great sleeper though.
When insomnia came I then started to sleep earlier and stayed in bed longer. I decided to follow cbti and i implemented a sleep window of five and a half hours. from 12:00 to 5:30.
It helped me build a big sleep drive and most times I slept within five minutes. The thought of the alarm clock I think is what caused me anxiety and woke up earlier. I followed this sleep window for three weeks and the pattern became stable. five nights of the week I slept for four or five hours and two nights no sleep at all. I then decided not to use an alarm clock and slept better. For twenty days I slept for five or six hours with some poor nights of four hours. no sleepless nights.
Then I had a sleepless night and my sleep became a mess again.
I now have a sleep window of seven hours, From 12:30 to 7:30. But I am not very consisted and sometimes when I am very sleepy I go to bed earlier
When I wake after five hours of sleep I try to relax and fall asleep again. But I just can’t.
I guess I have a lot of anxiety.
The thoughts that are going through my mind is that if I don’t sleep I would be a mess tomorrow. If I don’t sleep it will be another long and agonizing night. That insomnia will ruin my life etc.

[Martin Reed]

It sounds as though you recognize that a consistent sleep schedule is really helpful if your goal is to enjoy more consistent sleep!

As for the thought about how sleep will affect the next day, would you say that 100% of the time, 100% of how you feel during the day and 100% of how the day goes, is 100% determined by how you sleep? If not, might there be a more accurate way of thinking about this that might generate less anxiety?

Is there any possibility that other things might influence the quality of your day (for example, what you do during the day)? If so, what might you be able to do to improve the quality of your days, independently of sleep?

Finally, if another thought that generates anxiety is related to unpleasant nighttime wakefulness, might there be anything you can do to make nighttime wakefulness a bit more pleasant?

I hope this gives you some things to think about!

—

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 Clarity 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]

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