[RonA]

I had several months of good sleep but about a six weeks ago my insomnia has returned with a vengeance. This time it is sleep maintenance insomnia. I pretty much fall asleep immediately when my head hits the pillow at about 11.00 pm but then I wake up between 3-4 hours later and cannot fall back to sleep. I have set a 5.5 hour sleep restriction window with a 4:30am wakeup time but I always wake before the end of my window.

Most nights after I wake, I lay in bed calmly until the end of my window. For the most part my anxiety level has remained low which was not the case with my previous bouts of insomnia. I guess I have gotten too used to not sleeping. A few nights I have gotten frustrated and when I do, I get out of bed and practice SC.

I am seeing no improvement with my sleep maintenance issues. Any advice on things I can modify for more success?

[RonA]

I also want to mention that my sleep drive is huge at 11pm. I struggle incredibly to stay awake till that time and when I go to bed, I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes, sometimes less than 1 minute. This tells me my brain strongly associates my bed with sleep and SC is not needed.
However when I wake up and then lie in bed totally calmly, it is almost impossible to fall back asleep. I still do SC when I rarely get anxious, but mostly I lie in bed. The next day I am mostly ok but tired and I start getting exhausted at around 9pm….then struggle mightily until to the start of my SR window.

I just can’t figure out anything to do differently and am hoping time cures all…..again any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Ron. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed several months of good sleep until around six weeks ago. This means that, just as you enjoyed better sleep before, you can do so again!

Did anything happen six weeks ago to trigger your most recent bout of sleep difficulties?

If you wake and no longer feel sleepy, and don’t feel worried or anxious, you might simply no longer be sleepy enough for sleep. How are you feeling during the day? Do you feel high levels of fatigue? Are you falling asleep or napping during the day?

When you were sleeping well, what time were you going to bed at night and when were you getting out of bed to start your day?

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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.

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.

[RonA]

Hi Martin. Thanks for the reply. Your site and videos have been so helpful!!

I can’t think of any specific trigger. My sleep just started degrading for about a week almost 2 months ago and now I am stuck in the current state.

When I was sleeping well, I was falling asleep at around 10:30 and sleeping till 5:30-6am. Now I am getting 3-4 hours. I feel ok during the day but I start getting excessively sleepy at about 8pm. A few nights, I allowed myself to fall asleep early, I still only get 3-4 hours and then that is it. Most nights I struggle and manage to stay awake to the start of my sleep window at 11pm, but still only sleep till 2 or 3 am.

Very frustrating but I am sticking to the program as best I can!

[Martin Reed]

How are you getting on with that sleep window, Ron? Any changes since you originally posted? Have you been getting out of bed when you wake during the night if remaining in bed doesn’t feel good? This can help address any conditioned arousal that might be making it difficult for you to fall back to sleep.

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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.

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.

[RonA]

Hi Martin. Things have gotten a bit worse for me. I am still religiously doing sleep restriction with a 5 hour window but am now only sleeping 2-3 hours per night. This has been going on for so long now that I do make an exception 1-2 nights a week and I take a Xanax when I wake up and then get 5-6 hours on those night. I think that proves that this whole thing is anxiety related for me.

Do you think it is possible that I am sabotaging my overall progress when I “treat” myself to a xanax every so often or is it ok? I am so tired, so often, I am not sure I could bear have only 3 hours sleep every night so the Xanax is a bit of a sanity saver for me.

[Martin Reed]

The problem with feeling reliant on any external sleep crutch is that it can make it harder for you to rebuild confidence in your own, natural ability to sleep. The good news is that nothing can generate sleep other than your own biological sleep drive — so, even on nights when you do take medication, the sleep you get is sleep YOU are generating!

If you’re able to identify anxiety as being a primary driver of your insomnia, it might be helpful to see if you can identify the thoughts that are generating that anxiety. If you can do this, you can then evaluate those thoughts for accuracy. When you do this, you might see that the thoughts that generate so much worry aren’t very accurate — and this can strip them of their power!

Here’s a short video about this: “What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to insomnia“.

I hope this helps.

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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.

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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