[Steve]

I have some questions for those of you who have tried sleep restriction. I was using ACT and implemented some of the material from Martin’s free sleep course. However, I now think that the only way I am going to beat this insomnia is by jumping right into CBT-i with its’ sleep restrictions.

I started the restriction on Monday evening and I set the sleep window at 6 hours and 15 minutes based on the fact that I was getting 4 to 6 hours of sleep at night. When I went to bed, I fell asleep in about 15 minutes, which is good for me. I slept for three hours with a couple of awakenings but I went right back to sleep. After 3 hours, I awoke and knew I wasn’t going to sleep anymore so I got up and went to the living room and read a chapter of a book. That took about 30 to 40 minutes and I went back to bed. After 20 to 30 minutes of not falling asleep, I got up and went back to the living room but just sat in the chair until the alarm rang as I never got sleepy. (An hour and a half maybe.) I realized that the 4 to 6 hours of sleep I was getting was over the course of 8 and a half hours so I lowered my sleep window for Tuesday night to 5 hours and 45 minutes. (Instead of adding 30 minutes on to the sleep time, I add 45 because I like to meditate in bed for 15 minutes or so before trying to go to sleep.) When I got in bed, I almost fell asleep twice but couldn’t get over to that other side. (I might have been in Stage I sleep.) By then, I was awake so I got up and read another chapter of my book and went to bed. I still couldn’t sleep even though I thought I was sleepy so I got back up a 2nd time and then a third time. Those last two times I just sat in the darkened room again because I couldn’t read anymore or think of anything to do. When I got back to bed, I still couldn’t sleep but I was so exhausted from getting up all those times, I just stayed in bed until the alarm rang. I tossed and turned and might have gotten some sleep but if I did, it couldn’t have been more than an hour. So, here are my questions for those of you that have seriously tried Sleep Restriction.

1) I know I did a no-no by not getting out of bed that last time. I reinforced the idea of bed being a place I can’t sleep in. But did I damage my sleep drive for tonight? I’m thinking I didn’t because even though I lied in bed and may have gotten some sleep, it was during my sleep window.

2) Have any of you had very erratic sleep nights in that one night you may have gotten 3 to 4 hours of sleep and then the next night you got virtually none? Did the Sleep Window eventually help this even out?

3) When you went to another room because you couldn’t sleep, did you always do an activity such as read or do a crossword puzzle? Have you ever just sat in a darkened room until you were sleepy? CAN you just sit in a darkened room or do you have to engage in an activity? Sometimes I am just too tired to do an activity. Do you watch TV? In Martin’s free sleep course, he says we can as long as we don’t do it in the bedroom. But I thought we weren’t supposed to expose ourselves to blue light so close to going, or going back to, bed?

4) If I do just sit in the chair because I can’t sleep, is it okay if I happen to fall asleep during the sleep window or must I only sleep in my bed?

5) How long did it take sleep restriction to work for you? I have been reading case studies online and some are saying 2 to 4 weeks. Does that sound right?

Sleep Restriction is one of the hardest things I ever did. I am trying to maintain a positive attitude toward it so any support you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

Steve

[Padron1926]

1)  Hard to say but try not to think/worry about it.  You will build drive by being awake during the day since you got up at the end of your sleep window.  Just the following night, make sure to only go to bed if sleepy once your sleep window begins.  You did more damage to the association between sleep and the bed if anything.

2)  Yes, I’ve been having this problem but I’ve only been doing the sleep restriction/STC for a little over a week.  I’ve slept in one chunk for 4.75 hrs for a couple nights then one night I will sleep like 3 hrs for whatever reason.  Try not to dwell and just stick to the rules.

3) I’ve tried to sit in a darkened room but I just think about when I’ll be able to go back to bed and it isn’t really helpful to me.  When I get up, I have a hard time reading since my brain is not really functioning and following a TV show is hard, I more just keep it on in the background.  Its easier for me to just open up a coloring book and go at it.  As long your not sitting really close to the TV the blue light thing is really not an issue and if its an activity you know will help get you out of bed, just do it.

4) Sleep in the bed, not the chair in the middle of the night.  For me atleast this was a problem when I tried to just sit in the room dark and not doing anything.  It was hard for me to tell whether or not I fell asleep briefly in the chair as well as just thinking about when I can go back to bed caused high anxiety.  By sleeping in another room in the middle of the night, you’re missing the opportunity to tie sleep to only the bed (Stimulus Control)

5) Try not to think about how long it should take, just do it.  Everyone is different.  Also you should be pairing sleep restriction with stimulus control.

[Martin Reed]

Thanks for sharing some great advice, @Padron1926!

Try not to dwell on whatever happened in the past, @Steve. If you make a mistake, recognize that mistake, and use it as a learning experience for the future.

The sleep window will usually take a few weeks of consistent implementation before you notice results. Even then, there will likely be a few remaining “holdout” nights of reduced quality sleep each week that will take a bit longer to get rid of. More on that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlfO0nm-WHY

It doesn’t really matter what you do when you get out of bed during the night to implement stimulus control techniques as long as you aren’t doing anything too stressful or activating. In other words, don’t watch Saving Private Ryan on the flatscreen with surround sound at maximum volume or start bouncing up and down on a trampoline!

Blue light isn’t really a problem when it comes to watching TV at night since we usually sit far away enough from the screen. I actually spoke about watching TV at night in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuHE462q_c8

You really don’t want to be falling asleep when out of bed and implementing stimulus control. As soon as you feel sleepy again, return to your bed and see what happens.

I hope this helps!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Steve]

Thanks Padron for the feedback. Good luck with your sleep restriction.

Thank you also Martin. You never fail to answer our questions. I wasn’t aware about it being ok to watch TV as everything I have seen on the subject says not to watch it starting about an hour before bedtime as blue light comes from the TV and your phone. I think it would help if it was Summer when I had to get out of bed as it is still kind of cold at night where I am! Makes getting out from underneath the covers that much harder. lol.

[Martin Reed]

Planning and preparing to be out of bed during the night can really help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os–hSZwRLk

When it’s cold, sometimes it can be a bit easier to get out of bed if you prepare a warm nest or snug in advance — keep some blankets, maybe a space heater, perhaps even a thermos with a warm (decaffeinated) drink out in the living room waiting for you!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Steve]

Good idea on the warm nest. Not so sure about the warm drink. I probably would have to get up later to go to the bathroom! lol.

[Steve]

Update: Last night, my sleep restriction went out the window. I was so tired when I came home Friday night from the sleep restriction I’ve been doing during the week. I ate and then sat in the chair to watch some TV. An hour later, I woke up. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Didn’t even know I was nodding off. When I woke up, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay awake for the beginning of my sleep window in another hour so I went to bed and fell asleep in 15 minutes. I slept for 6 hours. So with the hour in the chair, I figure I slept for 7 hours. That’s the first time I did that in a long time. Don’t know if I will sleep that long tonight as I think the tiredness from the sleep restriction during the week was a big contributing factor. I kind of felt better when I woke up but legs were still weak and arms and hands still shook a little. Don’t know if this was from lack of sleep over the last 6 months or anxiety. That is something I have to figure out. I am going to try to stay up again as long as I can tonight. The 7 hours I slept was an hour and 15 minutes past my sleep window. I’ll see if this affects me tonight.

By the way, when I did wake up, I laid in bed but concentrated on my meditation exercises. In addition to my counting my breaths meditation, I added two of my own mantras I came up with. They are:

“Past memories are just that. From the past. They can no longer hurt you nor harm you.

Current images are just products of a wandering mind.

Predictions of the future are just images that have little basis in reality.”

and

“Words are shadows of the language. Figures of speech. They are empty and cannot harm you.”

These two seem to help calm me down and help me sleep when I go to bed. I wish all of you practicing sleep restriction the best. I know it is extremely difficult.

[Steve]

I should probably also say that the weak legs and tremors in arms and hands could also be because even thought I got 7 hours sleep, 1 hour in one stretch and 6 in another, it was still not my normal sleeping time. I remember that I usually needed 8 hours in order to feel refreshed. So it was still a shortened night of sleep.

[Eulalia Gomes]

Hi, And what to do when we go into the room at night to practice stimulus control and sleep doesn’t come until morning?

[Martin Reed]

Hello Eulalia and thanks for the great question! If you don’t fall back to sleep, it’s usually a good idea to make no further attempt to fall asleep once your sleep window ends and to only return to bed the following night, when you sleep window starts again.

We can’t stay awake indefinitely! If we only give ourselves the opportunity to sleep during an appropriate sleep window, we will start to sleep during that sleep window.

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

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