[John D]

Has anyone been successful with sleep restriction therapy to beat insomnia, mainly falling asleep, and can share their story and tips? I assume we can’t use sleep aides like Benadryl to sleep during the therapy. Excercise? Vitamins? Thanks

[kobalap]

Yes.  Many many people have used sleep restriction along with other CBTi techniques to “beat” insomnia.  Information from a presentation given by Dr. Donn Posner, adjunct professor of psychology at Stanford University:

Studies show that ~80% people who use techniques of CBTi (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) gain significant improvement over their sleep (50-60% symptom reductions on sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset).  Further, ~40% become normal sleepers over time.

According to Dr. Posner, this isn’t just people who are squeeky clean – people who only have insomnia and no other issues.  This includes people who have comorbid insomnia (insomnia either caused by or occurring other conditions) also see this benefit.  For example, people who have PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety and depression, etc.

Personally, I was able to beat insomnia using CBTi techniques 12 years ago.  Not only did my sleep improve over several weeks, over time, I became a normal sleeper.

One thing to note, sleep restriction is only one of the techniques that is part of CBTi.  In my opinion, it is also important to go through the sleep related education that is part of CBTi.  Part of what perpetuates insomnia is a lack of understanding how sleep works and what we can expect from our bodies.  For example, it is not uncommon for me to hear about someone trying to go to sleep at 8pm because they have been having trouble falling asleep.  Knowing how sleep works, in my opinion, will greatly help in easing some of the angst people experience when they have troubles with their sleep.

Similarly, people might lay in bed for hours unable to sleep.  Personally, I find it uncomfortable and frustrating to just lay there when I am not able to sleep.  CBTi teaches a technique such that one doesn’t lay around in bed when not sleeping.

So put another way, I would recommend not to ignore the other key elements of CBTi as they are also very helpful in the journey to conquer insomnia.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by kobalap.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by kobalap.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by kobalap.

[kobalap]

I should add – when I was first taught CBTi, my clinician did not ask me to stop taking sleep meds (ambien).  She taught me the techniques, had me follow them and record my progress.  She never made a recommendation about sleep meds, one way or the other.  She told me to take them if I felt like I needed them.

Over time, I came to my own conclusion that using the techniques, I would be able to manage my sleep even with less medication.  So over several weeks, and with the guidance of my clinician, I started to taper down my usage of sleep meds.  Eventually, I just stopped meds altogether.

All that to say that CBTi is not necessarily an either / or type of thing.  As far as I know, CBTi can be used in conjunction with sleep meds / aides.

[Martin Reed]

You don’t need to stop taking medication in order to practice sleep restriction. Here are a few experiences from others who went “all-in” and committed to sleep restriction:

https://insomniacoach.com/forums/topic/you-can-do-it/

Good luck, and please let us know if you have any questions about the technique, John!

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