[Deb]

Slept through the night. So I’ve had 6 bad nights out of 25. Then again there were a couple where I only got 4.5 hours of sleep, but I didn’t call those bad nights because I only got up once and then fell asleep right after that. So you could call it 8 bad nights, but I prefer the 6. Anyway, for me it’s much better then before when most nights were bad with an occasional break of a couple days. Now that my sleep window has increased to 6 & 1/2 hours this week, I’m actually feeling pretty rested too when I get up, which is nice. The 6 hours was just not enough.

Mac, how’s it compare with before you started?

[Mac0908]

Definitely slightly better, Deb. But the key point being only slightly. Before I began this new phase I had no plan in place. No structure. I’d squeeze in a good night less frequently. Probably 30% of the time. Now it’s more like 60% of the time I have a good night. So sure, that’s good. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I’m just over it more than I’ve ever been over anything in my life. Another zombie at work day again today.

When I do have my early awakenings, it’s interesting how it always seems to be around the same time of 4:45am. As I said the other day, my brain is almost programmed at this point to be unable to sleep past 6 hours on a consistent basis. Sasha says in her book if this happens, to push your bedtime back until you start comfortably making it to your goal wake up time. Problem is if I’m legit passing out around 10:45-11pm there’s just no way I can make it to 11:45-12a

[delv-x]

I am having the same problem. I can never sleep through until my alarm clock. I seem to be waking up between 4-5:30am. Since it’s so late in the night/morning I just try to sleep longer and I believe I do sleep another hour albeit lightly. From 6 to 7 is just laying there relaxing. They do say that the first part of the night is deeper and the second part is lighter but it just feels too light.

The other thing is that when I fill out my sleep logs I find I guess a lot on when I fell asleep, when I woke up and my actual wake up time. Basically the last 2 hours I am in bed but in and out of sleep.

[Deb]

60% compared to 30% sounds great, Mac! I certainly know that the feeling of let’s just get over with this already. That was me yesterday. Got depressed and discouraged. The nap really helped, but I should have done it earlier in the day so I could enjoy more of the day. I didn’t take it until 4:30. But at least I had a nice evening and was still ready for bed by 12:00. Mac, is there anyway for you to take a short nap during the day? I’m lucky because I work part-time from home, so it’s easy for me to do. A 20-30 minute nap works wonders for me. I can handle the bad nights better this way.

Sasha talks about our moods being like a roller coaster. That’s us, Mac. They will even out as we get better. I’ve been reading Sasha’s other book, the “companion” book and she talks about attitude. She says the better our attitude, the less anxiety we will experience and the better we will get. I know it’s hard to do, but gotta try.

I don’t know how long it took Sasha to get over her insomnia, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it took at least a few months. We’ve only been doing this a few weeks. So let’s keep going. As long we see progress, that’s what counts.

[Deb]

Delv, do you feel like you’re getting better overall?

[Mac0908]

Well to be honest, I lied, lol. If I’ve had around 9 bad nights out of 22, that’s more like 40%, not 30.

In any event yes, 40% is better than 60%. I appreciate your encouragement and know it’s all about having that positive mindset that Sasha talks about, but again I just thought I’d be slightly better at this point. We can only hope this roller coaster we’re on does in fact even out soon. I like that metaphor. And yeah I wish there was just one page in her entire book that discussed HOW she actually recovered!

[delv-x]

@deb

Yes overall. In terms of the amount of sleep I would say about the same or slightly better. When this all started I would get 3-7 hours but was fragmented and with lots of frustration, anxiety and tossing and turning. Now I am getting 5.5 hours average but it is more consolidated. My day time functioning is overall better. The only caveat is that I take each day/night as it comes. I do feel like I am fragile and a few bad nights can derail me.

 

[Deb]

I ordered another book that Sasha referenced to – Desperately Seeking Snoozing. I wanted to know what the author has to say about SR. It also has the his story in it and I hope he talks about how he recovered, unlike Sasha. He has a chapter on night time awakenings as well. I’ll let you know what he says about it, since that seems to be both of your issues. Delv – do you struggle with going to sleep in the first place like me, or is it just the early morning awakenings?

[Mac0908]

Thanks Deb I really appreciate that. It took me two years to become as smart and as proactive as you with all this.

I don’t know what happened last night but I am absolutely EXHAUSTED today. One of the all time worst zombie days I’ve ever experienced. I just feel like death. Dizzy a bit too which has only happened rarely over the 2 years. Slept around 11:15-4:45. I guess it just wasn’t much of a deep sleep or it’s just one of those days where my body just couldn’t handle anything below 6. Not that I can really handle 6 to begin with.

What a sickening roller coaster this truly is. Yesterday I felt like a million dollars. Today I feel like I belong in a hospital.

[Deb]

Sorry you feel so bad. No place or time for a nap?

[delv-x]

When it started I struggled with falling asleep, staying asleep and waking up early. The first issue was waking up early. I am on a low dose of zopiclone that it most likely helping with the onset. I don’t want to rely on it but at the moment both my GP and psychologist suggest I stay on for now until my sleep is more stable. When I first started CBT-I after 2 weeks I was happy with how things were and was talking about discontinuing and if next week looked good then I can go off. Well, the next week was a wreck and since then I’ve had pretty good sleeps and not so good sleeps.

Taking one day at a time.

 

@mac I have had some pretty zombie days and it can be on nights where I got more sleep than not. A band around my head. Slight dizzyness, eyes feeling dry, a little low mood, hard to focus. It sucks.

[Mac0908]

Deb I’ve never ever been a nap person and cannot take naps. Just not wired for them. Even if I was, no, there’s no place for one.

I just want my life back, and not just every other day.

Sorry for the venting, but after 2+ years and with many other issues in my life, this really is one of the last things I ever needed.

thank you for everyone who’s helped and given advice the last few weeks. It helps.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Mac0908.

[Deb]

Yes, we want our lives back. No problem venting. I’m actually not a nap person either. For years I’ve had 8-9 hours of sleep every night so didn’t need a nap. It was only when I was sick or something that I would take one. Now I need them after a bad night. And I was needing them when my sleep window of 6 hours wasn’t enough. Now, on the days I get 6.5 hours of sleep I don’t need a nap fortunately.

[delv-x]

For the past decade or more I used to nap most days. At lunch time I would drive down the road to a park and just close my eyes for 20 minutes or so and nod off within a few minutes and sleep for 10 minutes or so and wake up refreshed and alert. Days that I was too busy to nap I would feel more fatigued and worried. I also use to be able to use nap as a coping way to deal with stress. When I was stressed and tired I would actually relax and sleep for a bit.

Now with what I am dealing with I rarely nap unless I am exhausted and when I do I may or may not nod off and if I do I awaken right away. I figured that most if not all my co-workers don’t nap during the work day so I should just do the same. That and it also builds up more sleep drive which hopefully gives me a bit better sleep.

 

[Martin Reed]

I’ll have to read Sasha Stephens’ book to learn more about why she is against sleep restriction — because I certainly don’t consider it to be a crutch!

Here are some things I consider to be a crutch:

• Taking a nap during the day to get through the day
• Drinking alcohol before bed to ‘aid’ sleep
• The long-term use of sleeping pills
• Morning lie-ins because it’s too hard to get out of bed

If someone was released from the hospital after a car accident, would we consider them going to physical therapy a crutch? I suspect not!

Sleep restriction is a temporary measure intended to increase sleep efficiency, build sleep pressure, and strengthen the sleep/wake cycle. It is also intended to help us relearn to associate the bed with sleep rather than wakefulness.

I am rather perplexed by the suggestion that sleep restriction is a crutch — when it is, in fact, an evidence-based solution that is designed to help you regain trust in your ability to sleep (something the author claims to be in support of)!

—

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