[jgoode3]

I’ve been struggling with insomnia for over 14 months now, all starting with changes in my employment (decided to leave to take time off from the working world after 30 years of non-stop work…needless to say I had no idea the world was about to be turned upside down due to Covid!) and with my kids both off to college.

While I was initially excited to have the freedom on not having to go to a stressful job everyday, I quickly realized that I had let my job define who I was. So with no job, I quickly became ‘lost’. Long story short, anxiety set in, and then very soon after insomnia. At first I had trouble both getting to sleep and in staying asleep. As many people, I turned to prescription sleep aids (and it was an easy fix for my doctor) and became addicted to using medication to enable me to get enough sleep to function each day. Needless to say, it’s been a tough last 14 months.

I’ve tried pretty much everything up to this point, and have at least realized that prescriptions are not the answer. I’ve read quite a bit on CBT-I techniques and am hopeful that putting more of those items into practice will help me get back to normal sleeping again. The good news is that I know I can sleep normally, as I’ve done it for most of my life (never had major issues until the most recent episode). At this point I’m at least normally getting 4 – 5 hrs sleep (as compared to a pre-insomnia amount of 8 hrs), although still not functional enough each day to return to the workforce.

[Scott]

Hi @jgoode3,

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you’ve made a lot of progress recently by implementing CBT-I techniques and realizing that sleep medication is probably not the long term solution. If you experience another tough night of sleep, don’t beat yourself up. You’re taking a huge step forward toward helping yourself by implementing these techniques. You’re absolutely right – we don’t lose our ability to sleep just as we don’t lose our ability to breathe but it’s easy for us to forget that we used to sleep well when we have chronic insomnia. Since you’re exploring CBT-I now, do you have specific questions that we can assist with?

Scott J

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[Author]

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