[Helpmydad]

Hi forums,

My dad is a life long sufferer of insomnia, however, in the last few years things have taken a dive for the worse. He’s 56, and he has also had heart arrhythmia all his life which contributed greatly to his sleeping problems as it would keep him up at night beating in strange rhythms.

Recently, he started taking magnesium and it helped his heart a lot, and then a few months later, now he has developed severe burning GERD (acid reflux) in its place. My dad is extremely “healthy”, he has always been in amazing shape, never eats junk food, doesn’t drink or smoke or drink coffee, and is rarely stressed out, aside from sleep issues. So the GERD isn’t from bad health, and is likely a product of lack of sleep.

So now, his throat is burning from acid, he takes Zopiclone almost every night but it’s starting to wear off and he cannot sleep to help heal his insides from the burning, and I think he is losing hope. I really want to help my dad and there is so little I can do that I myself am starting to feel depression just being in this house.

My question is, does Martin’s program adjust for problems like heart issues, acid reflux, etc? My dad’s heart gets very bad if he drops below a certain sleep threshold, he can’t eat most foods due to the acid condition, almost any kind of wiggle room in how he lives has been taken away or he suffers more.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, and I am sorry to hear about your Dad’s struggles. Of course, there is nothing I can do about your father’s heart issues, acid reflex, or other health-related challenges.

What I can do is help your father identify and address any behaviors he may be implementing (along with any sleep-related thoughts or beliefs) that might be perpetuating his sleep difficulties and making sleep more difficult that it should be.

You might want to discuss whether implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques might be appropriate for your father with his physician.

I hope this helps.

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