[rjsf]

I have been sleeping well in the last 2-3 months, averaging 7-8 hours each night thanks to tips from Martin. Last night out of the blue I suffered a relapse, I could not sleep until 5am and slept only 4 hours. I could not find any reason why it happened, I was just doing my usual stuff last night. Are relapses normal?

[Martin Reed]

First, sorry for the delay in responding. I don't seem to be getting notifications of new posts. Relapses are common – don't worry about them! Even good sleepers who regularly get 6-8 hours of sleep will have a bad night every now and then. The key is not to worry about the odd bad night of sleep and to focus instead on the good nights of sleep you get to enjoy.

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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 Clarity 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.

[rjsf]

Thanks Martin. Yes, I keep telling myself that. Actually when I look back at my diary I think I've never been sleeping better than these last few months. It's just that when the odd relapse occurs it feels I'm back to square one. Perhaps what aggravates it is that when those nights happen, I see my wife soundly sleeping and I get jealous.

[Martin Reed]

Remember that even healthy sleepers have the ocassional bad night! The key is not to worry about it; just accept that the odd bad night will still happen.

—

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 Clarity 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.

[rjsf]

Thanks. I haven't had a bad night since March. The worst one was last night and I slept only 4.5 hours. But I normally sleep 6-8 hours everyday now since March. So am I considered a normal sleeper now?

[owl2020]

I sleep 5-6 hours on average now which is good for me particularly since I am an older person; my sleep has improved from what it was 2 or 3 years ago, and I think tips on insomnialand helped me. Every now and then I have a bad night and maybe get only 3 hours or so for a variety of reasons, but I don't get all upset about it like I used to because I feel I can get back to 5- 6 hours again soon. I do use 5 milligrams of Ambien on bad nights when I can't get back to sleep (I can almost always fall to sleep initially) and that gives me another 2-3 hours sleep. But I have to stress that I do that sparingly (maybe twice a month) since I do not want to be dependent on it; so if I have a second bad night in a row I don't use it. I've never had the strange side effects that some people have using it, but I am only using a low dose infrequently, getting back in bed right away, and of course others might react differently to a sleeping pill. So if you can avoid sleeping pills entirely, do so.

I use a number of things to help sleep at night like certain foods (dried tart cherries, almonds and plain Greek yogurt are good), going to sleep at about the same time, walk twice a day, Badger Sleep Gel, not drinking much in the way of liquids hours before bedtime (avoiding a lot of urination), use of a Chillow (if you are bothered by your pillow getting too warm) and pacing slowly in the dark interspersed with slow breathing periods for about 15-20 minutes before I get into bed. Don't replay in your mind stressful situations from the day; think of non-controversial things, liking making up lists of things. I probably engage in overkill but I do get 5-6 hours now most nights.

[rjsf]

Thanks for the tips. I do sleep pretty well most nights, it's just an odd night out of 10 good nights where I get less than 5 hours of sleep frustrate me. I guess I have a low threshold for frustration. I'm jealous of most other people I know who practice 0 sleep hygiene and sleep 8 hours consistently night after night. I read your post about trying Manuka Honey a fey years back. How did that work out for you?

[owl2020]

There was someone else who liked Manuka Honey on this site but I tried Manuka Honey but it didn't really do anything, so I stopped using it. It might work for you, all I can say is it didn't do much for me. I know what you mean about feeling frustrated because there are a number of people who get 8 hours a night with no effort while people like us have to struggle to get a good nights sleep. But my attitude is that these are the cards we have been dealt just like some people get chronic diseases at an early age, so you just have to find a way to deal with it. And there is no one cure fits all for poor sleep as everyone is a little different so you have to experiment a lot to find what helps with sleep. I know 2 people who only get about 4 hours of sleep a night and one takes Trazidone and the other takes Ambien; so sleeping pills only can do so much and as their bodies develop more and more tolerance for the pills they may even get less and less sleep.

[rjsf]

I wonder if there is a physiological component that could be tweaked though. My wife suffered from chronic insomnia for many years and she began to practice acceptance therapy. After many years of doing that she gets her daily 8 hours now without effort. Must be some imbalance in the brain that resolved itself.

[Author]

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