[concept2uk]

I tried having a couple of glasses of wine in the evening, hoping that the alcohol would knock me out, but that only gave me a headache, and meant that when I did wake up, I had a raging thirst.

I read somewhere that getting up out of bed and doing something else, like cleaning or reading a book, would help but it absolutely didn’t.

Finally, I tried sleeping tablets, but they just made me feel unpleasantly groggy, and a little bit sick.

Once I was awake, the biggest problem was getting my mind to quieten down. It felt like my eyes opening was a cue to send my brain into overdrive, and for the whirring thought loops to start up. All the issues from my waking day would rush into my head, and my anxiety levels would rise. I was stuck in a cycle and couldn’t seem to find a way out.

[Jaran]

Hello @concept2uk. Have you tried Martin’s two week free email course? If not, highly recommend.
CBT-i is more than just getting out of bed and reading. There are techniques to follow to break up the cycle of insomnia, and there is also a lot of new learning, reframing your thoughts on sleep, and reducing anxiety surrounding sleep.

Under the Resources menu on the top of the page, there are some really good podcasts. I’d recommend them during the day, as I’ve found that focusing on insomnia at night is not helpful.

There are also some great videos on the web. One that helped me a lot was a 90 minute round-table discussion with Martin and 2 other sleep coaches called “CBT-i: The Deep Dive”.

[Author]

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