[azeke]

Hi Everyone! I am new here. I am currently 8.5 weeks postpartum and am struggling with insomnia. It started with postpartum anxiety shortly after bringing baby home. I have been seeing someone for that and have my daytime anxiety under control. At night I have been forcing myself to try to sleep as that is what I thought I should be doing. I am currently using the help of Klonopin to sleep but would like to wean off of that with the help of the insomnia coach. 🙂

[hiker]

HI azeke, I am a man so I cannot speak directly to postpartum issues. I think we would have a reduced population if men had to share birthing duties with women, but that’s another story.

I would think that the stress of a new baby would be a classic case of situational insomnia, and there might be physical causes I am not aware of.

As for insomnia generally, it sounds like you are realizing that “forcing myself to try to sleep” is not going to work. And there is no sleep med which guarantees good sleep over the long term. If there were, there would be lines around the block. So what to do?

It comes down to thoughts—not trying to control or stop them–we can’t— but rather just being aware of them. Why? Because the alternative is to let thoughts just toss you around in the sea, lurching this way and that.

Mindfulness is a fad right now. The fad will fade away, but the value of mindfulness will remain. Suggest palousemindfulness.com and mindfulnessnorthwest.com as two examples of free sites to check out. This or that sub-topic or presenter can resonate with different people, so try not to blow it off if the first thing you see seems too “out there.” Again, the alternative is just to flounder in the stream of whatever pops into your head.

All I can tell you is that mindfulness and prayer were the best tools I had over many years of insomnia (not that yours will be necessarily long-term; I had massive childhood trauma to work through).

It is perfectly okay to just acknowledge the truth, whatever it is, perhaps that “I am having the thought that I am really wiped out and feeling like I can’t deal with this baby.” That is light years different than “I am really wiped out, and I can’t deal with this baby.” If you are really hammered from insomnia right now, the difference might elude you. But it is there.

Take care. While not all of us can directly relate to birthing and postpartum issues, all of us have something going on, and know that insomnia is tough. But it is not all-powerful, though sometimes it seems that way because you’re so tired you can’t think straight.

Finally, if you go off your meds, be sure to consult with a professional. I did various sleep meds for years, and found that pharmacists were the most knowledgeable and available experts.

[Martin Reed]

Hello azeke and congratulations on the little one!

You might find Cindy’s story helpful:

Cindy’s Forum Post: 100% cured from postpartum insomnia 🙂

Cindy’s Podcast Episode: How Cindy tackled the insomnia that appeared after her baby was born by accepting nighttime wakefulness and eliminating safety behaviors (#31)

I hope there’s something useful here!

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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.

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