[Tswezey]

Hello. So this is pretty much my last hope. I’m a 26 year old male and I’ve been battling insomnia for almost 6 months now. When I say insomnia I’m talking getting 4 hours of sleep every single night of the week. I fall asleep fine, sleep for my 4 to 5 hours max and wake up. Once I awake I cannot go back to sleep. It is tearing me apart. It is every single night. I’ve tried my prescriptions from the doctor and they worked for a few days until I became tolerant and now back in the same boat. I have had multiple blood tests done and ekg along with a heart monitor for 48 hours. These haven’t showed anything. The only prescriptions that have worked at all are anti depressants/anxiety pills and they only help for about 2 days or so. I work out 5 days a week just as I have for the past 6 years so I accumulate tiredness and need rest. At this point I just don’t know what else to do. It is completely wrecking me and ruining my quality of life.

Symptoms:
Wake up in the middle of the night feeling alert. Unable to fall back asleep.
At one point was having heart palpitations but those have seemed to go away.

Any help or insight would be very very appreciated. Thank you.

[Deb]

Hi Tswezey- I feel for you. Most of us on this forum have experienced this type of insomnia, either waking up too early or not being able to fall asleep in the first place, and as a result only getting a few hours of sleep.

I got insomnia last year and as a result of my research have come to understand that chronic insomnia is a mental condition and cannot be healed through drugs or medical interventions. The only treatments I know of for this that work are CBT-I, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or ACT. For information about CBT-I read this website and also watch Martin’s videos. For ACT the best resource is The Sleep Book by Dr. Guy Meadows.

[Deb]

The best book IMO for CBT-I is by Colleen Ehrnstrom PhD:
End the Insomnia Struggle: A Step-by-Step Guide to Help You Get to Sleep and Stay Asleep

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Tswezey. Nothing in your post sounds unusual to me — it sounds as though you are dealing with insomnia, pure and simple. The best treatment for chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

When do you go to bed at night and when do you get out of bed to start your day? When you wake during the night and feel very alert/anxious, have you tried getting out of bed until you feel calm and relaxed and then returning to bed?

—

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.

[Tswezey]

I’ve been doing sleep restriction for a while now. I have been going to bed between 12:30-12:45 with my alarm set at 6:30. On good nights if I take Klonopin I will get about 5 hours, but without it I get about 4 on average. The sleep restriction doesn’t seem to be working other than the fact that I am spending less time in bed awake.

[whitelori]

Hi Tswezey, I am curious to know if you do get out of bed when you can’t go back after 4 or 5 hours? I do find that getting out of bed is better than laying in bed. I doze off better if I do that than laying there trying to relax. I know your situation is not ideal at all and I am not minimizing it, but be encouraged that getting 4 or 5 hours of good quality sleep is better than getting none or light, unrefreshing sleep. I know 4 or 5 hours is still difficult.

[Guitar622]

I’m in a very similar situation as op where I have self prescribed sleep restriction over the last 5 weeks and yet haven’t had very much improvement in sleep efficiency as I continue to wake at night. Perhaps making a more conscious effort to get out of bed when awake is the solution? Certainly interested in hearing if any more specific advice is applicable. Thanks.

[Martin Reed]

Hello again, Tswezey!

I am so glad to hear that you are implementing sleep restriction for insomnia.

If you go to bed around 12:30 AM and get out of bed around 6:30 AM, this means you are allotting six hours for sleep. If you typically get around five hours of sleep then this is probably about right (if you want to be more aggressive you might want to try allotting five-and-a-half hours for sleep).

You mentioned that the sleep restriction doesn’t seem to be working, yet you also pointed out that you are spending less time awake during the night. Since spending less time awake during the night is one of the goals of sleep restriction, we can see that it is working!

It sounds as though you might be taking your sleep meds contingently or irregularly and this might be making it harder for you to make progress. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques are effective regardless of whether or not you are taking meds but if you take pills contingently it can make progress more difficult. Here’s a short video about why:

Does cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) work if you are taking sleeping pills?

If you are waking during the night and finding it hard to fall back to sleep you will probably find it helpful to get out of bed until you feel calm and relaxed before returning to bed so you don’t reinforce the idea that your bed is a place for wakefulness and worry. This is another CBT-I technique known as stimulus control.

Finally, I think it’s important to recognize that waking during the night is completely normal and is a normal part of sleep. It’s usually only when we worry about these awakenings that it becomes harder to fall back to sleep.

This video might be helpful: What is “normal” sleep? (And why it’s important to know the answer when you have chronic insomnia.)

Ultimately, it sounds as though you are making progress so I would encourage you to keep going and focus all your attention on consistent implementation.

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.

[Tswezey]

Thanks for your response Martin. I believe I need to shorten my sleep window. Currently only sleep about4 hours straight and once I wake up I’m up. I’ve tried getting up but finding the right thing to do is hard. Should I keep my window at 5.5 hours and once I wake up just keep trying to get out of bed? Or should I shorten my sleep window enough to where I pretty well sleep through the night?

[Martin Reed]

I’d suggest sticking with a sleep window of between five and five-and-a-half hours and continue to get out of bed during your sleep window if being in bed becomes unpleasant. 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.

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