[Edgar]

Valium, melatonin, even visiting these forums. Who knows, maybe subconsciously even they have an effect on sleep.

Insomnia is a pestilence best ignored.

I have a neuro appointment on April 8th due to my MS. Until then I think I owe it to myself to try to go back to the way things were. No pills, no obsessive investigating sleep, no discussion about sleep on forums. Maybe my morning awakenings stop. I know it’s a longshot, but it’s worth a try.

Don’t get me wrong, the forum is a godsent, having the chance to talk to people who actually understand is a blessing. But if I want to try to ignore my insomnia to the point it goes away, I have to at least temporarily give the forum a rest,too, and it’s going to be so hard. Nobody in the real world understands…

If, by April 8th, nothing changes, then I’m demanding something stronger than Valium from my neuro, and it has to be something specific for sleep, not just relaxation. And I mean for prolonging sleep. I can fall asleep fine by myself.

Also I will ask for a sleep study, for what it’s worth.

I can’t keep living this half-life. Last night asleep at 11:30, awake at 4. What kind of life is that.

[Steve]

I sometimes wonder if you aren’t right Edgar in that all of this insomnia talk actually promotes it a little. But it also is good to talk to others that have it to realize I am not alone. I have a question for you. Do you practice Sleep Restriction? It sounds like you are getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night and if you go to bed at 11:30, you should be waking up at 5:00 with a 5.5 hour sleep restriction regimen. Your waking up at 4:00 is only an hour from your window of 5:00. I am not sure how I feel about sleep restriction yet as even if I just lie in bed, it gives me a chance to practice my meditation exercises and they seem to help.

Martin – Can you jump in here for a quick question? You said the bed should only be for sleep and sex. What about meditation exercises? Sometimes I fall asleep while I am doing them and at the least, it really relaxes me. Can’t I do that in bed?

[Edgar]

Hi Steve,

No, I don’t practice sleep restriction, except for the part that says “avoid naps”. And I only practice that because my brain won’t let me do otherwise… In fact, I think that is part of the reason why I tend to initially fall asleep so easily.

I honestly doubt that putting a lot of focus on sleep would do me good, I think it would only drive me even more crazy. Go to bed, wait 15 min, get up, do something boring until you feel sleepy, go back to bed, wait another 15 min, try again…

I’m happy it helps some people, for sure, but I feel it would only do me harm.

Also, I’m glad meditation works for you. I don’t think I could ever relax enough. DISTRACTION is the key for me, not CONCENTRATION.

We’ll wait for Martin, but I personally feel that whatever helps you go to sleep can’t be bad?

[Martin Reed]

Is there any particular reason why you don’t practice sleep/bedtime restriction, Edgar?

Generally speaking, the bed should only be used for sleep (and sex). That’s because we want to ‘relearn’ to associate the bed with sleep and nothing else. Think of it this way — when we have insomnia, we have learned to associate the bed with wakefulness. This behavior is learned (we didn’t always have this association) so it can be ‘unlearned’. This is best done using stimulus control techniques.

There’s nothing wrong with practicing a meditation exercise in bed — particularly if you find that it helps you to fall asleep. Remember, though, that the goal of meditation is relaxation, not sleep. So, when you meditate it’s important to recognize that you are meditating to promote relaxation and not as a way of making you sleep.

How long do you typically meditate for when in bed? If you are meditating for longer than half an hour, then I would suggest trying to move the meditation out of the bedroom. Otherwise, if you find it helpful, and the meditation period is relatively short, I think it’s fine to continue doing this in bed if you find it helps you relax and prepare for sleep.

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[Steve]

I typically meditate anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. Sometimes it makes me so relaxed that sleep comes shortly after that. Other times, sleep doesn’t come until a long time after that. I guess when that happens, I should be getting up out of bed. I do like to lay there awhile after I finish meditating just to let my mind wander and sometimes put me to sleep.

[Author]

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