[Rusty]

Is it OK to take ambien when starting sleep restrictive therapy. I’ve been trying srt for about a week and I can barely function during the day because I am so tired and sleepy. I know sleep medications aren’t a long term cure because I’ve tried them for years and eventually they quit working and sometimes give me a sort of a hang over effect the next day. But if I take half or quarter dose it softens this effect and I can fall asleep easier.

[Martin Reed]

It’s perfectly fine to implement techniques such as sleep restriction when taking medication — but it’s probably a good idea to discuss this with your doctor, just so they know what’s going on!

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[hiker]

Hi Rusty, like you I took sleep meds for years and they do lose their effectiveness over time. I got to the point of taking them only when I felt I was really up against it, as in seriously considering suicide. Even then they wouldn’t necessarily work, so I had to face down the suicidal thoughts. I saw a cognitive behavior specialist–similar to what Martin offers–and saw that my thoughts did not have to drive my actions. In fact, that my thoughts were just stuff drifting, sometimes whizzing, through my head.

Not that I got it totally figured out, and now live a live of eternal peace. I can still get irritable over you name it, a noisy neighbor, people driving too fast, not to mention more serious matters like mass shootings and political polarization. I have been able to achieve, most of the time, sort of an ability to step back and see that there is more to life than my stuff, even if it is pretty important stuff, like being able to sleep.

I hope you stick with this site and check out Martin’s podcasts, emails, etc. and consider the formal course. You can read about mindfulness or CBT, watch videos, think about it, talk about it—but there is nothing like actually doing it, on a regular basis. Sort of like working out for physical exercise, you can get better at it. And it could be that sleep will take care of itself.

[Author]

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