[Enabeling]

Hi! I started sleep restriction with a window of 11:30-5:30. My sleep improved significantly and after a week I added 15min each end, to 11:15-5:45. My sleep continued to improve so after another week I added 15min, to 11:15-6. That’s when things went downhill. The first night I slept the entire window, but every night since I have been up for at least a couple hours. It’s been just over a week. Is this just a normal part of CBT-I or did I adjust my window too quickly? What should I do?

[Scott]

Hey Enabeling!

That’s great to hear your sleep greatly improved utilizing the sleep restriction window! Your commitment to these evidence-based techniques is really benefiting you. It’s not uncommon to have a setback in your sleep while you explore the sleep restricted window. I recall having several nights, sometimes days in a row, of disrupted sleep after restoring my sleep using these methods but I encourage you to remain consistent and committed to them. If you experience a persistent disruption in your sleep, you can certainly revert back to the sleep restriction time that was successful for you and remain at that time until you’re consistently achieving sound sleep.

Hope that helps,

Scott J

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[Chee2308]

Oh yes, that is very typical of recovering from insomnia and is a good sign that things are going really well. The reason you are regressing is because you are sleeping really well! Naturally your sleep drive is getting reduced and because of this and you are recovering from being sleep-deprived. I went through this as well. I too got out of bed when I couldn’t sleep within 20 minutes and it was super counter-productive. Getting out of bed got me super anxious and made awake for at least 2 hours more while if I just stayed in bed, I would have drifted back to sleep in much less time. That is just my personal experience, everyone is different. If you are not anxious about being awake in bed, just stay in bed like I am. Or for normal sleepers for that matter. Normal sleepers don’t get out of bed every 20 minutes, they just stay in bed. I now allow 8.5 hours for sleep, I find I can sleep straight for 6-7 hours, before getting up the first time to use the toilet and going back to bed. The second leg of sleep is usually lighter, often drifting between light and REM sleep and comes in intermittent bouts. I discover my minimum sleep duration is 6 to 6.5 hours before my body will wake me up without fail. Any sleep I get after that is considered bonus to me, which my body doesn’t really need but is giving me anyway, because: 1. I am completely relaxed and not anxious at all. 2. The ideal conditions for sleeping are present namely being in a cool, dark room and getting really comfortable between the sheets. Sleep is no longer some mysterious black box to me, I discover it is the staying awake long enough that is putting me to sleep pretty quickly and unfailingly every single time, not what time it is when going to bed or taking any sleeping medications or doing any kind of sleep efforts like the so called relaxation/breathing techniques, the sleepy teas or the apps designed to help calm/relax you in bed. I got rid of them all and went from sleepless nights to sleeping really well now! Sleep is a paradox, the less effort you do to sleep and the longer you stay awake, the better it gets!

[Author]

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