[Socrates]

I can’t sleep. Insomnia has guided me life for many years. Due to covid I have been isolated most of the time since the middle of March. I have really appreciated everything Martin has been saying. A month ago I finally stopped taking zopiclone and, even though it wasn’t working, being off of it hasn’t improved my inability to sleep. I describe coming off zopiclone as a torturous experience and it left me not only with insomnia but I now have to contend with tinnitus. I am sure some of cause of the insomnia is due to not being busy enough throughout the day and watching too much tv. I can fall asleep in front of the tv but as soon as I realize I am dozing off I get up and go to bed. Moving from my sofa to my bed is enough to wake me up. I feel I need to lay down as I am so tired and even though I am not sleeping I find it very hard to get up and try to find something to do. The continuous insomnia is really affecting my health.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Socrates! First of all, let me reassure you that you CAN sleep! We will always sleep when we’ve been awake for long enough and we never lose the ability to sleep. No matter how severe our insomnia, *some* sleep always happens, because sleep drive always wins in the end.

Unfortunately, tinnitus is outside my area of expertise — but it sounds as though you are recognizing that being sedentary during the day isn’t proving to be too helpful. That makes sense since being sedentary promotes fatigue, gives the mind more time to think about/worry about sleep, and can even make it a bit harder to build sleep drive. We might also be depriving our body clocks of the signals it needs to help it regulate sleep and wakefulness.

Have you looked into (or tried) cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques? You might find them helpful since they help create good conditions for sleep and help you identify and tackle the thoughts and behaviors that often perpetuate sleep disruption.

I hope this helps.

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[Author]

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