[groggy]

Hey there!

Well, judging from how quiet this forum is at the moment, everyone is fast asleep and putting insomnia out of a job!!

Martin – I think you may be doing too good a job – you're curing people of their insomnia and now there's no need for them to clog up a forum complaining that they're awake – d'oh!!

And now me and Tired Teddy are making such good progress that we'll have graduated sleep school before long too, by the looks of things!! 😎

Anyway, I thought I'd start this thread for the few insomniacs left out there who are popping by… Tired Ted and I are here in the forum and happy to chat… Feel free to say hi – unless of course our terrible sense of humour has been scaring you off!!

Look forward to talking to y'all!

Happy 2013 belatedly!

Groggy 😮

[Martin Reed]

Love the thread idea – I'll send this out in the next Insomniac Bulletin.

Let's hear some updates from people – we want to know the progress (or lack thereof) that you're making.

Insomnia Land only works when we all come together and share – so let's do just that right here in this thread.

If I've magically helped every member here cure their insomnia, then all the better; although I suspect that isn't quite the case!!

—

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.

[Tired Ted]

What a great idea for a tread Groggy . . .

HAPPY INSOMNIA FREE ( OR EVEN SLIGHTLY IMPROVED ) 2013 to one and all . . . Or as seems more likely . . . . Groggy / Martin and I . . . as we seem to be the only insomniacs in the village !

I can't articulate how Insomnia Land and Martins Sleep Training has changed my world . . . If you are only having a sneaky peek . . . Come on in . . . Join Insomnia Land and Martin's training now and don't wait until you are really desperate.

I have graduated from Sleep School ( Martins Sleep Training ) and feel like a new woman and like I have my life back. I am not cured, as the time of my post indicates, but I now have a different outlook on sleep and the lack of it. I have created a new ' norm ' for my sleeping pattern, which is not the same as non-insomniacs but it works for me and I am at peace with it thanks to this website and Martins invaluable support . . . Oh and my cyber-insomnia buddy Groggy, of course !

I really hope you all get as much out of this website as I did . . . Even a slight change can make a world of difference.

Yours in . . . And out of sleep

A much happier Tired Ted x

[iWearAmask]

I'm happy to say that 2013 is off to a pretty good start for me. I had a rocky first couple of weeks– around 2-4 hours of sleep on my good nights– but recently I've been doing very well on a regimen of melatonin. I have a very specific schedule that I keep because repetition and regularity help me sleep. Since I've been taking medication, I always take my regular Restoril (30 mg) and then, in addition, a small amount of melatonin. It took a few tries to get that dose just right– 1 mg didn't seem to have any effect at all, and 3 mg gave me restless sleep punctuated by vivid nightmares. But 2 mg seems to do the trick. After I take that, I turn on my heated blanket (if it's winter), set my music (I always play a soft track I found on iTunes– it's not really the particular music that helps me, just the fact that I listen to it every night as I prepare to sleep), and take my shower. After I'm done with that, I usually let myself lie in bed and read for a bit (NO SCREENS), until I feel ready to fall asleep. Then I use a function of my alarm clock that, over the course of 90 minutes, plays the same track on loop progressively quieter and quieter until it shuts off. Rarely these days do I hear the end of that loop! I've found that my routine helps me immensely. Does anyone else have routines/rituals/schedules they follow to help them sleep?

-Ollie

[Tired Ted]

It is great to hear what progress you have made and how your routine is working.

I couldn't get on with sleeping tablets as I found they make me go into a very deep sleep and wake up feeling really groggy and as if I had had no sleep. My friend gave me some of her insomnia tablets to try which you take 2 tablets 2 hours before bed time and then 2 more once you are in bed. This was a bit trixy for me as I can fall asleep at any time ( when I am exhausted ) and very rarely could forecast 2 hours before bed ! Anyway I tried it and I had the most horrendous of nightmares – rats nipping me and running all over the bed . . . I could actually feel them nipping my hands as this was what woke me up and I couldn't move as I felt paralysed ! I think the feeling awake bit could actually have been part of the nightmare but it was so vivid and felt soooo real . . . I won't touch another sleep tablet now.

I don't have a sleep routine although after the success you have had I may consider starting one. After not sleeping well since 7 July 2013 I have just been pleased with any sleep I could get and had planned pleasurable activities for the long nights when I couldnt sleep. This has worked as I have very rarely needed a wee small hours project since I came up with the plan . . . For me it is mind over matter when I can't sleep . . . Rather than toss and turn in frustration I just get up and get busy ( relaxing / pampering activities only ! ) and then go back to bed when I feel tired agin.

This has been so successful I don't worry about not sleeping anymore and enjoy what ever awake time I get . . . This I suppose in itself is a routine but just not a routine that is set to a specific time of the day.

Tired Ted

[Susana75]

Hey everybody. Martin thanks for the updates. IM new n finally logged back in. Lots of great sharing and ideas.

Am recouperating from a slight bout of flu. Fortunately I took a dose of Activate (from Melaleuca) when it first hit me. I have CFIDS so it helps boost my immune system n the zinc in it binds the virus so you don't get as seriously ill and get well lots sooner.

After spending the past 2 or 3 days mostly in bed, felt lots better today (Thursday.)

Actually its already Friday n I have a neurology appt in 4 hours. Haven't been to bed yet n am sitting here munching on Christmas cookies n potato chips. Imagine the dreams I'll be having when my head finally hits the pillow.

Hopefully the neurologist will be able to help with the insomnia as well as the neuromuscular problems panic attacks. N all the rest.

Gotta go for now. Husband will be so mad I'm still up.

[groggy]

Hi all,

wow – this is cool 🙂

So nice to read how you guys are doing.

My boyfriend takes Melatonin too, to help him sleep and I have wondered whether I should try it too.

But at the moment I'm following the advice in Martin's email course and I don't want to get myself muddled up by trying all sorts of stuff all at once.

Thank you for explaining about the intense dreaming with the Melatonin, as my boyfriend has that too, but we thought it was from something else – we had assumed that surely Melatonin would not be having that effect, but I'll let him know to ask his doctor about it.

Well done on shaking your flu Susana – having a flu feels so crap, doesn't it!

Oh and I must echo Tired Teddy's words – the 14 day email course that Martin does has been incredibly valuable for me. I think it's turing into a life-changer as far as my insomnia goes, which I've had since I was a kid. As Teddy says, it hasn't “cured” my insomnia in the sense that I can now “fall asleep” quickly – but it has revolutionised my experience of insomnia and sleep and taken so much of the frustration, exhaustion, helplessness etc out of it.

Wishing y'all an easy day!

Groggy

[groggy]

So my best friend (also an insomniac) just sent me an info about a new iPhone app… It's a new type of alarm clock – that lets you compete with your friends who the best waker-upper is… Errrr, yes… I'm not rushing out to get this either… (which may have something to do with the fact that I do NOT have an iPhone…!!!)

Anway, if anyone is interested it's called “Wake-n-Shake Alarm Clock”…

I'll post the link to it here, but as I'm not sure what the forum rules are re links here (different in almost all forums!) you can obviously delete it Martin, if it's not appropriate to the site's policies…

Just thought it might be a fun way to get us insomniacs out of bed in the morings when we are bleary eyed…??

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wake-n-shake-alarm-clock/id461785823?mt=8

[M0NK3Y]

Hi!

I am new here….My dr told me to try melatonin and magnesium and have been but I find it doesn't keep asleep as I am still up on and off most nights. Last night was my worst I went to bed at 11:30pm was up at 2am until 7:30am and got a few hours of sleep. Which was great except I had to call in sick to work, my work is data entry and we are monitored by how much I get done in a day. Only getting that much sleep means I have end up having bad numbers which goes against me. One good thing about being up some night is my bf works nights so we get to talk (I try and get back to sleep but if it doesn't end up happening then we chat) so there is one positive about all this :). I hoping having others who are going through this I will find ways to live with it or *fingers crossed* get back to sleeping through the night!!!!

[groggy]

Hey M0NK3Y,

Love your name!!

I'm crossing my fingers for you too.

Are you trying Martin's 2 week email insomnia program?

It's seriously helped me and Tired Teddy cope with our insomnia!

You learn a lot and I think it helps you get your head around the topic of sleep and insomnia so much better.

Wow – I bet data entry with little sleep is pretty difficult!

Do you have flexible hours, so that you could go in when you are feeling productive or go home early if you feel yourself getting too slow?

If that was possible, then it would be a great job to adapt to the wonky sleeping patterns of an insomniac 😉

If you can't sleep at night, why not come online in the forum – it can be so relaxing to vent and find other insomniacs (or I should say “sleep-challenged people” as Martin doesn't like the word “insomniac” I think, haha) who understand and can related to your frustration at lack of sleep.

In fact, finding some understanding about it here can help you to let go of the frustration and anxious thoughts about sleep – and then sleep often comes so much easier, compared to when you're waiting for it on your own… (You know that saying “A watched kettle never boils….”)

Also, Tired Teddy and I have found it an EXCELLENT tool to do have some creative projects on hand for the wee hours… She was icing her wedding cake a few weeks back and I have a sewing project to do…

It makes the insomnia hours FUN – which really annoys good old insomnia!! Haha… Some nights insomnia gets so pee'ed off about you having a fun and relaxing time, that it goes away to sulk in a corner and suddenly you can just get some sleep, no fuss at all!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we're here and ready to celebrate every hour of sleep with you, that you manage to sneek in…!

XXX

Groggy

[Tired Ted]

Hi M0NK3Y

I echo all that my cyber-insomniac buddy Groggy has put above . . . couldn't have worded it better myself . . . thats what weeks of insomniatic posts will do for you !

Groggy or I are usually around at some point in he wee small hours and are always willing to help fellow insomniacs . . . if only so you don't feel alone.

Hope you get as much out of this forum and Martin's Sleep programme as we have . . . this is highly recommended and has changed my life and the way I view sleep and the lack of it. You could always try it and see how you go . . . you have nothing to lose and hopefully lots to gain.

Tired Ted x

[M0NK3Y]

Hey Groggy and Tired Ted,

No my job is not flexible 🙁 up at 5:20am to work for 7am-3pm Monday to Friday. That would be nice if it was flexible.

I was reading yor sleep journal groggy and having a project sounds like a good idea, late night tv is really bad I have found.

I enjoy reading your posts and to know I am not alone in this frustrating whatever it is, and tired ted your positive spin on what is seen for me a a negative issue is slowly allowing me to see it in a positive way, which will hopefully help with my lack of sleep crankiness.

One question is there anything that you two do during the days to help with the sleepiness, and sometimes irritabilty(depending on the previous nights sleep)? I have a morning coffee but I try to stay away from it in the afternoon but sometimes I need the extra boost and on other days I will have a energy drink but I try to stay away. I sometimes feel bad because I get so moody and emotional.

I signed up for Martins sleep emails, he said I should hear back in a few days, hoping I do because it sounds like its a big help 🙂

[Tired Ted]

Great to have you on board.

I don't have any tips for day time frustrations and sleep depravation as my philosophy is just go with the flow . . . sleep when your body says sleep and make the best of any awake time you have.

Life got sooooo much easier for me when I stopped stressing about not sleeping when ” normal ” people were sleeping and I had little projects, or pamper sessions ready for when insomnia decided I was going to be awake !

It will get better . . . Groggy is a better example than me as I have only had insomnia to contend with since July 2012 but poor old Grogz has has it almost all her life and here she is . . . Living proof that with the right support and mindset Insomnia can be beaten . . . Or at least viewed in a way that makes it easier to cope with.

Stick with us and Martin and I am sure you will see a difference . . . My motto is . . . We will overcome . . . Just not overnight !

Tired Ted

[groggy]

Aw, aren't you cuties :wub: So much insomnia TLC here, haha! 😆

M0NK3Y – I understand 100% about the daytime crankiness and irritability. In fact, I had gotten used to thinking that my middle name WAS “daytime crankiness”!

I'm not entirely sure how I have moved away from there during the past 3 weeks, but I have… It's been one step at a time – no magic trick…

First of all, having support and understanding here has helped. And being taken seriously. I think for me, part of my crankiness was the feeling “No one understands how hard it is just being here and not screaming/ crying/ sleeping/ etc” right now….

So knowing that Tired Ted was standing on the sidelines in a pyjama cheerleader costume with insomniac pom-poms in hand and going nuts with encouraging posts whenever I made it through the first hour of my day without having a tantrum or giving up and heading back to bed made a huge difference.

That someone knows how painful starting the day on next to no sleep (and that for weeks or even years on end) – that was a huge relief already and stopped me feeling so alone and misunderstood in my daytime exhaustion.

And I guess with that support, I gave myself more and more room to figure out what it was I wanted and needed to help me cope.

I'm not sure if I can describe it better than that…

This morning I had a new revelation… I have been reading up on the theory behind Neurofeedback (which is something I'm doing at the moment and Martin has asked me to post about in another thread) and there was quite a good explanation about our brains having different states – the way a car has different gears.

The slowest states are for deep sleep (1st gear) then there's light sleep and drowsiness (2nd gear) then there's relaxation (3rd gear) and then there's concentration and alertness (4th gear). The info I was reading was saying that most of us switch only between 1st gear (asleep) to 4th gear (alarm rings, hectic and stressful day starts) and then try shifting straight back to 4th gear at the end of the day.

This morning, getting up, I tried going slower – from 1st into 2nd and then into 3rd for a while. It was far calmer and more gentle to start the day like that – and it didn't even take up much time… It was just allowing myself to spend 15-20 minutes getting started SLOWLY and bit by bit.

That's the sort of stuff I mean – you just figure it out for yourself on bit at a time – and I think that makes sense, cos you will need an insomnia solution that's tailor made to you…

I agree that night time TV is tricky. Sometimes it helps put me to sleep but sometimes it also helps keep me in the “awake” loop for hours.

Here too, I started using the idea of “shifting down gears” at night. If I'm still in 4th or 3rd gear (my mind is still quite revved up with the day's issues…) then TV “feels right” – it gives me something to focus and concentrate on.

But it's not going to help me get into 2nd and 1st gear much… Maybe half an hour or an hour of TV will help to switch my attention from the day's events to some mindless banter on TV… So that is good and helpful.

But after a while, I think it's good to switch it off and to give your brain something to DO that will help it shift down into 2nd gear. I have started leaving totally inane household tasks (which are quiet) for that time of night… I find that for example doing the dishes then or sorting out the recycling is just the kind of “braindead” activity that helps my mind SLOOOOW DOOOWN… (Which is quite useful, cos during the day when I'm at my “peak” (whatever that is for an insomniac, haha!!) I find those chores will BORE me to death!!)

So yeah, doing an activity which is so BORING that it helps your brain slow down (possibly against its will) is helpful. It can be any boring creative activity too – you don't have to pick housework, like me!!

And then you can keep moving down the brain activity scale… Maybe you can find some gentle stretching exercises to do, lieing down or download some good guided meditations to do…

Or just come on here and vent… Tell us how you are doing. EXPRESS yourself. Let your feeling out – cos I think as an insomniac we have to keep our feelings “pent up” most of the day – cos who wants to hear us whining at the top of our voices that we NEED sleep and we need it NOW!!! 😆

So allowing your disappointment, frustration, exhaustion etc to flow into your posts here might also be a soothing thing to do (being careful that it doesn't upset you too much and hence get you non-drowsy again….)

Anyway, that's kind of my advice I guess!! 😮

Look forward to hearing your progress, which I'm sure you'll have!

XXX

Groggy

[groggy]

Oops, insomnia mistakes creeping in yet again… 😮

The sentence in the above post should have read:

The info I was reading was saying that most of us switch only between 1st gear (asleep) to 4th gear (alarm rings, hectic and stressful day starts) and then try shifting straight back to 1st gear at the end of the day.

[Author]

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