[PhilCF]

12 years ago I took a drug (ecstasy) and I didn’t sleep for 7 days. When I slept on the 8th day my sleep was incredibly light and broken. It has remained that way to this day.

For the past 12 years, my sleep oscillated from bad to terrible. It’s like my brain won’t let me get those critical last few hours.

When I sleep, I wake up a lot. When I wake in the dead of night, I can usually get back to sleep, but when I wake at around 4am, it’s harder to get back to sleep. 5am – harder, if not impossible.

At my very best sleep I get around 5 hours of broken sleep.

It is impacting every aspect of my life. I am tired when I wake up. I have energy dumps throughout the day. I am always short tempered and grumpy because I am always exhausted.

All the obvious things (steady bed time, no screen before bed, no caffeine / alcohol later in the day) don’t work.

I am finding life incredibly hard to handle. Psychologically I feel that I don’t have any quality of life because i am always so tired.

Does anyone on here know of a Doctor that has a solid track record of actually curing people’s insomnia? I live in Dubai, but I am willing to travel anywhere to get the help I need.

Thank you.

[Martin Reed]

Sorry to hear about your struggles with sleep, Phil. Can you tell us a bit more about your current sleep pattern? When do you normally go to bed and when do you normally get out of bed to start your day? When you wake during the night, why do you think you find it hard to fall back to sleep.

As you may be aware, I help people with chronic insomnia improve their sleep and would love to help you if you are looking for some one-on-one guidance, coaching, and support. You can read some success stories and case studies here.

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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.

[PhilCF]

Hi Martin.

I go to bed around 9pm. I normally get up around 6am. I probably sleep around 4 hours total (on a good night).

I don’t drink caffeine past lunch, no alcohol. I do use screens late at night, but I tried cutting them out and no change. When I get to bed, I read. I can sometimes get to sleep fast, sometimes not. Sometimes I stay up all night.

If I wake up very early (1am), then I can usually get back to sleep, but each time I wake up after that, my mind is more and more awake. If I wake at 3am, I am usually screwed then. My mind races – like I have electricity in my brain. I took a drug when I was younger and my sleep has been bad since that night.

Phil

[Martin Reed]

Good to hear from you again, Phil. So, right now, it sounds as though you are allotting roughly nine hours for sleep (you go to bed at 9:00 PM and get out of bed around 6:00 AM) any you typically manage around four hours of sleep (on a good night).

With this in mind, we can see that you’re likely allotting too much time for sleep compared to your current sleep “capability”.

In other words, right now you are able to generate roughly four hours of sleep (we want this to increase, but right now this is what you are capable of). Spending nine hours in bed is, therefore, only going to lead to five hours of guaranteed wakefulness.

This wakefulness increases sleep-related worry and frustration, leads to lighter and more fragmented sleep, and makes it very hard for you to improve your sleep.

You would likely find it helpful to reduce the amount of time you allot to more closely match the amount of sleep you currently get on a typical night (I’d suggest starting with a sleep window of around five-and-a-half hours).

This will lead to less time awake, more consolidated sleep, and better sleep quality. As sleep quality improves, you will feel better during the day, sleep drive will become stronger, and — over time — you will start to get more sleep.

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.

[PhilCF]

So you would advise going to bed at 9am and setting an alarm for 4am? (If i sleep by 10.30am), then I’ll likely get 4 hours before 4am…. If I’m lucky.

 

[Martin Reed]

I can’t offer specific advice because I don’t know enough about you and your sleep.

Unfortunately, without you enrolling as a client I can only give general suggestions.

A sleep window of 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM would mean allotting seven hours for sleep which is still significantly longer than your typical nightly sleep duration.

You might find the resources page about sleep restriction helpful.

—

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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