[Bdiz]

Hi all, just looking for some solidarity and advice. Almost 4 weeks ago I had a totally sleepless night due to a cold. Since then I’ve had insomnia. This follows a very stressful winter, I’ve been worried sick about my son who is starting School this year and has a speech delay. Although I’m now a lot calmer about that, have accepted it and he’s progressed and getting help, it is an ongoing thing. The insomnia was worse at first, a lot of panicking in the night, about the insomnia itself – sleep anxiety basically. Then it shifted to a night where I’d get 4 or 5 hours broken up followed by a sleepless night. Falling asleep initially was the problem. Now it’s shifted a bit. The totally sleepless nights are becoming more rare and I tend to get 4 or 5 hours broken up most nights over the last week, sometimes a bit more, but according to my Fitbit it’s mostly light sleep in those cases. And I feel it. Also now it’s leaning more towards maintaining sleep rather than sleep onset. I started watching boring shows on my iPad to get to sleep, not ideal, but as a short term solution it keeps me calm enough to drop off. The logic being that I can fall asleep in minutes downstairs in front of the tv, so I tried to replicate that in bed for short term. The bed is the problem. Last night I did drop off without the iPad, though. I am spending a lot of time in bed as after putting the kids to bed I’m exhausted and sleepy so I take advantage and get in bed. I went to the doctors and they prescribed an antihistamine tablet for sleep – nervous to take it though as my 4 year old son often gets in our bed at night – again, not ideal. Just worried about potentially being knocked out while he’s in the bed too. My husband also sleeps in the bed with me. All of this is very debilitating. I never struggled with sleep before! I’m trying to carry on with my days and think positively. It’s like my brain has forgotten how to sleep and even though I’m not really anxious and panicked in bed, it seems to be on a higher alert, hence the wake ups. I take magnesium and have a herbal tea and that’s about it for supplementation. I don’t mind waking up in the night, I used to do that a little bit. it’s more the quality of sleep and getting to sleep/back to sleep.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum — you are not alone!

Your experience seems to tell you that difficult thoughts and feelings (such as worry) come from a good place — your problem-solving brain doing its job of looking out for you and reminding you of what’s important to you.

Your experience also seems to tell you that accepting the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings (such as worry) reduces their power and influence — they become more like water off a duck’s back rather than something that consumes all your energy and attention and can seem to take control over your actions in ways that pull you away from the life you want to live.

Might your experience with difficult thoughts and feelings offer any guidance for how to deal with sleep not happening as you’d like it to happen?

You mentioned that you’ve never struggled with sleep before. When you didn’t struggle with sleep, were you monitoring and evaluating your Fitbit’s interpretation of sleep with such intensity? Were you watching boring shows on your iPad to get to sleep? Were you spending as much time in bed? Were you taking antihistamines? Were you taking supplements and drinking herbal teas to make sleep happen?

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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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