[Steve]

Hi. I hope some of the “graduates” here can clear up some confusion for me. I always thought that after taking CBT-i, whether online or an in-person visit with a sleep doctor, the hours you sleep would climb back up to where they were before the insomnia hit. Or at least close to it. While it may take a a couple months beyond the course ending date, I would eventually be able to get back into the 7 to 8 hour range of sleep, providing I did all of the sleep restriction and sleep hygiene accurately. But after searching the web on other CBT-i courses and some of the comments made on this one by enrolled members, I am seeing a lot of people still only getting in the range of 4 to 6 hours of sleep. How much sleep can I expect to get within a couple months of completing the CBT-i course? And will it be refreshing sleep? I am getting about 5 hours on average now. Some days around 2 and a good night is 6. But I am always fatigued the next day. It’s kind of disheartening to hear that the best I can expect, especially after going through the trials of sleep restriction, that I am still only going to get about 6 hours of sleep and that I will still be tired the next day. Can any of the graduates give me any encouraging input here? Thanks.

• This topic was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Steve.

[Martin Reed]

It’s impossible to answer this question, Steve, because everyone’s circumstances are different and everyone needs a different amount of sleep. In other words (and as an example) you aren’t going to learn much if you compare someone who has had insomnia for 40 years and only needs 6 hours of sleep with someone who has had insomnia for 40 weeks but needs 7 hours of sleep.

Comparing yourself to others isn’t helpful because you aren’t the same as others. This is not all that different to comparing your shoe size with that of others, and then being concerned by the size of your feet!

Furthermore, expecting or aiming to get a certain amount of sleep isn’t constructive because we have absolutely no control over sleep duration. It’s far better to evaluate your success based on sleep quality — and this is primarily determined by how you feel during the day.

Finally, please remember that fatigue is not the same as sleepiness.

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[Steve]

Okay Martin. I can accept that answer. Especially for two reasons. I have been redoing my sleep diaries again in anticipation of re-starting SR this Saturday night. I wanted to get a fresh set of diaries to see where I’m at so I can set a proper window. (It’s looking definitely like 5.5 hours.) The first thing I found is that I am probably not really getting an average of 5 hours of sleep a night. While I do get 5’s and an occasional 6, I am also still getting a lot of 2’s and 3’s. I was too optimistic in what I was getting. So if I did get a solid 5 almost every night, that may suit me just fine. The second reason is that even when I get 5 or 6 hours of sleep, it is very, very fragmented sleep. I get an hour here, maybe two there and so on throughout the night. Sometimes I wake up once every hour like clockwork. If I was getting the 5 or 6 in one straight chunk, again, that might suit me just fine. I am much more prepared to start the SR Saturday night this time as I know what to expect.

[Author]

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