[Nao]

Hi, I am just wondering how common it is to still have sleep maintenance insomnia. How do the half hour/half hour rule and the sleep restriction make this get better? I see people who share their success stories in this course and in CBT-I in general, and I’m envious of them!

My good nights have increased in number, but I still have a lot of bad nights.

How does the half hour/half hour rule not condition myself to wake up and get up during the night, and the sleep restriction not train me to get less sleep than I need?

 

Thanks.

[Padron1926]

I got sleep maintenance/early morning awakening.  I sleep for about 4.5 hrs  in one chunk then wake up and can’t get back to sleep.  I struggle with the 30 30 rule because I have a 5.5 hr sleep window.  So if I wake then wait about 30 mins that only leaves me 30 mins left in my sleep window but I need to get up for atleast 30 so there is absolutely no chance I will be going back to sleep.  I basically just give myself like 10-20 mins to fall back asleep now then just get up to start my day.  I’ve done this diligently for a little over a week and have seen no results in terms of falling back asleep/increase in sleep time and its starting to wear on me mentally with being extremely tired.  I think I’m applying it correctly but who knows with the lack of any results I’m seeing.  All it seems to be doing right now is making me really struggle to stay awake till my sleep window starts and almost passing out after lunch at work.  I’ve had to resort to standing for the last hour before my sleep window and find myself almost falling asleep while standing.

To answer your question, from the “Behavioral Treatments for Sleep Disorders” there is a part that says “Individuals who fall asleep quickly and have short, compact sleep prior to a terminal early morning awakening are unlikely to benefit from Sleep Restriction Therapy.  In these cases, restricting time in bed will not reduce sleep latency, not reduce the number or duration of awakenings, and not likely increase the duration of sleep.”  I’m able to fall asleep in less than 5 mins when my sleep window hits and sleep for what feels like a solid chunk of 4.5hrs.  This is only a guess and I’m not an expert but Sleep restriction for sleep maintenance insomnia main benefit is spending less time in bed awake.  Pairing this with Stimulus Control (which seems like the more important tool for sleep maintenance/early morning awakening) should re-condition you to tie the bed to sleep.  I guess when your able to fall back asleep when waking SRT will keep your sleep compact while you increase your sleep window little by little.

I was doing a 6 hr sleep restriction in the past and seeing the same results regarding length of sleep, 4.5 hrs as I am now on a 5.5 hr sleep window.  I wasn’t doing stimulus control though.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Padron1926.

[Steve]

Nao & Padron – So are you saying that the course isn’t helping you any? How far along in the program are both of you? Thanks.

[Padron1926]

Steve,

I’m not going to say that yet because the first week of sleep restriction was really difficult and 2 days I didn’t get out of bed before my sleep window ended.  I just finished week 3 and for the past week plus some I’ve been consistent with my wake times but didn’t do the 30 30 one of those days.  I’m not going to say its not helping yet because I can improve things.

[Padron1926]

Even though I’m not seeing results yet, the course is very helpful with educating me on the finer points of CBT-I not only thru Martin’s course videos but he answers questions and concerns with great detail.

[Nao]

Hi, I was improving in the course overall with occasional bad nights still, but my sleep has gotten worse in week 7. I’m not sure if it’s the anxiety but it’s very frustrating, because this also happened to me when I tried CBT-I in August/September 2018. I had a lot of anxiety then and got panic attacks. I eventually quit at the time and resorted to meds, supplements, and stopped using the techniques.

[Author]

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