[Odinsky]

Hey guys. I’m new here. I just wanted to introduce myself, give a brief history as well as outline my goals and future plans. Like many of you I used to sleep 8 hours, sometimes 9. I prided myself on my ability to sleep. Then one day, my family and I decided to follow our dreams and move to the beach. We stayed in an apartment when we first moved here. The neighbors above us were so loud. I had previously lived on 20 acres, so this level of noise and busyness was horrifying to me. Combined with a new well paying, but EXTREMELY stressful job, one day I snapped. I remember it so well. I sat up in bed like a switch flipped, unable to sleep from the pounding footsteps and music above me. I stayed up the whole night, horrified as my job is very technically demanding, and I need to sleep well in order to function 100%. Let’s just say I descended into the depth of hell from here. The only thing worse than lack of sleep for days on end is no sleep + heavy doses of sleeping meds including anti psychotics. I got to a point after months of this, I felt suicidal. I finally had a dream job, salary, lived on the beach and my wife could stay at home with the kids, but I couldn’t sleep. At all! Night after night I had all nighters. No sleep at all. I’m not talking just tossing and turning here. I mean, literally, no sleep. I started heavy mindfulness meditation/ACT and actually was given Klonopin as well. This ended my vicious spiral. I took klonopin for a week and I was able to sleep. This restored my confidence and slowly tapered the meds for another week as my sleep became normal. I slept well for 3 months after this. I stopped meditating, all medications, and thinking about sleep. I was pretty much back to “normal”. I was about to come on and write a post about my recovery and help you guys by sharing my story in even greater detail and what mentally helped me in terms of meditation etc. But before I did, just like that, I had a bad night. Followed by stress and then another bad night. I now am right back in the thick of it. Sleeping 4 to 5 hours every other night! So, I need something more sustainable this time then simply relying on meds to stop the spiral. I have gotten back into meditation and found some daytime symptom relief, but not actual increased sleep ability. Although this is not fun, this is no where near as scary this time around.. I started sleep restriction yesterday with a bed time of 12 and wake up of 5am. I am looking forward to getting a grip on this sleep anxiety once and for all. I couldn’t decide between just focusing on ACT again versus sleep restriction. I feel OK on minimal sleep now using ACT and mindfulness during the day, but as soon as my head hits the pillow I become extremely anxious. It takes me over, and I feel like a different person. I am calm and composed all day, but as soon as the lights go off in the bedroom, I become physically nervous and my adrenaline spikes. Even if I was just falling asleep on the recliner, as soon as I go to bed, I become wide awake. So, I’m hoping maybe sleep restriction will help curb this last minute anxiety spike? Combined with some ACT principles and mindfulness, i’m really hoping I can put an end to this demon in my head! That’s all for now. Nice to meet you all and I will update as I make progress. Special thanks to DEB on here, I read a ton of her posts the last few weeks and she’s been very helpful. Thanks to Martin for this encouraging site and for the podcasts too!

[Chen Liang]

You are just like me!! I never thought how they become insomniac is like me. Suddenly because of noisiness a switch has been turned on like a switch. You find meds help huh. Its good for you. Dont take meds as evil like me make my anxiety worst because i keep thinking meds is bad so the anxiety not only in insomnia but also in the treatment. Bad anxiety its the source of all torment.

[Martin Reed]

It sounds as though you know exactly what to do to help get your sleep back on track, Odinsky! Furthermore, you know from experience that you are able to sleep well and to get past difficult periods of sleep disruption — so, just as you did this before, you can do it again!

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