[Bruce]

I’ve completed about 3 weeks of sleep restriction using a sleep window of 1am-7am.
The good:
– For about the last 10 days or so and maybe 2/3rds of the time, I’ve been able to fall asleep (initially and after an awakening) within 15 to 20 minutes, scoring a sleep efficiency of 85% or higher. Yay!
– I power thru my sleepiness and still lift weights 3 times a week and go on a 30-45m walk most days.
The bad:
– 5 1/2 hours of sleep (at best!) is leaving me in an almost constant state of sleepiness. I unintentionally nod off multiple times a day — from a few seconds up to a couple of minutes each time. Short of never sitting comfortably, I can’t see avoiding this.
– My motivation to do things beyond watching TV and web surfing is practically non-existent. As mentioned above, I do force myself to exercise regularly though. Luckily, I’m retired. It would be misery having to go to work everyday feeling like this.
– My sleep pressure seems to peak mid-afternoon and again around 8:30-9:30pm, making me wonder if I shouldn’t be trying to go to bed much earlier. By 1am, although I’m still tired, I’m not nearly as tired as I was at 9pm. But a 9pm-3am sleep window sounds too impractical.
– My sleep efficiency is very inconsistent. A couple of good nights are usually followed by a really bad night, either because I can’t fall asleep initially or I wake up too early and can’t fall back asleep. In both cases, I’ve tried the in-and-out of bed routine — something I’ve come to despise (as it makes my bed anxiety skyrocket).
– If I wake up an hour or so before my wake up time, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to fall back asleep. Note that I’ve never had to set an alarm. I’d be thrilled to oversleep my wake up time, but I never do. I always wake up by 7:15am at the latest.
– When I’ve tried going to bed earlier (30-45m), so far, it has never yielded the desired result of more sleep because my earlier bedtime is more than offset by an earlier awakening. I know. I’ve been cheating attempting this because my weekly average sleep efficiency has never been 85% or higher. I’ve further cheated by never shrinking my sleep window either.

So my journey so far has been a mixed bag, leaving me frustrated. I’m starting to get the impression that this program is going to require way more than the claimed 4-8 weeks.

I’ve struggled with insomnia for decades, having to rely on some kind of sleep aid most nights to get a decent night sleep. But short of a period of physical or emotional trauma, I never had this long of a run of crap sleep with no reprieve. I’m desperate to get at least one night of restful sleep! Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated!

[Bruce]

What’s weird to me is that before I started CBT-I, I guessimated that I averaged about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. In the past 3 weeks, my average has only been a little below this (4h 45m), but my daytime sleepiness seems dramatically worse. I don’t know if I’m overestimating my current sleep, underestimating my previous or maybe my lying awake in bed was more restful than I gave it credit for. I realize many on this forum would be thrilled to be getting the 5 1/2 hours of sleep that I’m getting on, at least, some nights, but for some reason, I still feel consistently like crap. Go figure.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Bruce! What’s your goal here? What would you be doing differently in your life if you were getting the type (and amount) of sleep that you’d like to be getting?

When it comes to the daytime sleepiness — have you been evaluated for that? People with chronic insomnia are far more likely to experience daytime fatigue than daytime sleepiness — that excessive might suggest the presence of another issue (for example, sleep apnea).

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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.

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