[squirk7]

I’ve ended my reliance on Benadryl to get back to sleep after awakening once I’ve gotten 5 1/2+ hours of sleep. Using these insomnia techniques, my goal is to rise at 6:30 am every day. But once I get past 5am or later and wake, after laying in bed for maybe 20 minutes, if I were to get up and read for a half hour (or so), going back to bed might only afford me another 1/2 hour sleep. How can I up my total sleep to something closer to 7 hours while adhering to the same bed and wake times?

[Scott]

Hi squirk7!

It’s wonderful to hear you’re able to achieve 5 1/2 hours of sleep without the use of any meds. After about 5 hours of sleep, our sleep drive diminishes and can lead to awakenings during the night. Based on your sleep diary, how many hours of sleep are you getting, on average daily? Have you achieved 7 hours of sleep consistently in the past? If you’re wanting to achieve 7 hours of sleep, based on your wake time of 6:30am, you’d count backwards 7 hours so you’re bedtime would be 11:30. What time do you currently go to bed?

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 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.

[squirk7]

Thanks for the reply Scott. My sleep diary comes to an average of 6 1/4 hours, so I thought I’d try for 6 1/2 hours/night. And as I’m having real trouble staying up in the evening for the early part of the sleep restriction, I’m starting with a bed time of 11:30 pm and waking up at six.
That said, I woke up just after 5am this morning, got up after a bit of wakefulness and went out and read for maybe 20 minutes; returned to bed but no luck falling back. Just reminding myself that it’ll help for tonight….

[Martin Reed]

This can definitely be a challenge because, as Scott pointed out, sleep drive will be pretty much completely exhausted by 5:00 AM — from that point on, we’re relying on our body clocks to maintain sleep for us (we can help strengthen the body clock by ensuring we are always out of bed and starting our day by the same time each morning and being active during the day).

Since we can recognize that sleep drive is going to be low at 5:00 AM, we might also recognize that any form of arousal/worry/anxiety is going to make falling back to sleep more difficult because when sleep drive is high, it can overpower arousal. When sleep drive is low it cannot.

So, how do we lower arousal? Two things can be helpful — the first can be simply recognizing that waking during the night is a completely normal part of sleep. So, if and when you wake during the night, it might be helpful to remind yourself that the awakening is normal, not unusual, and not a sign that you’re not going to fall back to sleep.

The second technique that can be helpful is not checking the clock when you wake. Checking the clock can increase arousal — even if you don’t feel overly concerned by the time when checking the time during the night, some degree of arousal is required in order for the brain to interpret the time.

You might also find this video useful as it relates to getting out of bed close to the end of your sleep window: Should you continue with stimulus control for insomnia even when your sleep window is almost over?

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.

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