[Boylston]

Good morning,
Last night was my first night of sleep restriction (10:30 to 5) and I got out of bed for ~30minutes 5 times. Over the past week I have averaged 5.3 hours of sleep a night (I am using another app) and the past few nights I am sleep ~3.5 hours per night. I am SO new to insomnia—the past 3.5 months and have never lost a night’s sleep to anything, having been very invested in making sure I got my 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep per night. I recently retired and am 66 yo. I am not taking any meds.
My questions are this:
*is the point that I will be able to extend my sleep after practicing this regime for the next week or so? I am very eager to sleep at least 5 hours/night.
*does my current number of hours sound unusual? I worry that I won’t get past the 3.5 (or less)
*any tips from those of you who have successfully achieved sleep restriction? I find I don’t feel like doing anything during the 30 minutes that I am up. My sleepiness is characterized by excessive yawning and/or exhaustion.
*I experience anxiety, which I am managing in bed and throughout the day. Hypnic jerks awaken me in the night sometimes and this is when I get out of bed since I know I won’t be able to fall back to sleep after them. Anyone have tips on this?
*Last night I admit to worrying about the 30 minute window for staying in bed unable to sleep and staying out of bed. I have read that looking at clocks is anxiety producing….any commentary on this?

Thanks for any advisement. I am taking the free course from Martin.

[Martin Reed]

Nothing in your post sounds unusual! I usually suggest increasing the amount of time you allot for sleep by around 15 minutes or so when you have been consistently sleeping through the vast majority of your sleep window for the previous week or two.

If my memory serves me correctly, every single client who stopped checking the clock at night told me they found that to be extremely helpful!

In terms of getting in and out of bed, you might find it helpful to stop tracking 30-minute periods of time and go by how you feel instead. If you are awake in bed but it feels good to be in bed, you might allow yourself to stay in bed because that means conditions are right for sleep! If being in bed doesn’t feel good, that might be your cue to get out of bed and to do anything that might help make that nighttime wakefulness a bit more pleasant, until conditions feel right for sleep.

Finally, here’s a video about those hypnic jerks.

I hope this helps!

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[venezuela]

I have been practising sleep restriction for over a month now. I’ve been suffering from insomnia most of my adult life. I go to bed at 1am and get up at 7am. My sleep varies but rarely exceeds 5 and a half hours. I go to sleep quicker than I used. I only wake up once in the night and go back to sleep quite easily. My problem is that I often wake at 5-5.30am. I’m sure the answer is to go to bed even later! Bed is my favourite place and I can’t wait to get to it! I’ve really struggled with staying up late and not dozing.

[Author]

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