[prsnsx]

Hi,
I’ve been struggling with sleep issues for over 20 years. The last 4 years I have developed very regular sleep maintenance insomnia, i.e. most nights I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep for 1-2 hours. I do sometimes sleep through the night or go right back to sleep if I do wake up (once a week or so.)
I tend to get anxious or uneasy once I get to bed. The anxiety doesn’t seem to be triggered by any thoughts though, it feels like a physical symptom. I also don’t worry or get frustrated when I lie awake, I just try to meditate (usually unsuccessfully cause my mind always wanders off…)
The quality of my life is significantly impacted by low energy, brain fog and fatigue. I feel easily stressed and overwhelmed. I am afraid that practicing sleep restriction and getting out of bed all hours of the night will make everything worse. (I tried for the past 3 nights and my sleep and anxiety were so much worse than usual…)
So I am basically here trying to get as much info as I can to see if CBT-I could be a solution for me.

[Scott]

Welcome to the forum, @prsnsx!

It’s great to hear you’re exploring CBT-I!

Waking during the night isn’t uncommon. What complicates falling back asleep is our inclination to resist nighttime awakenings, as this may lead us to exert effort or pressure to return to sleep. When you awaken during the night and are feeling relaxed and calm, feel free to stay in bed as long as that feels comfortable for you. However, should frustration or anxiety arise, it might be beneficial to explore alternative activities if staying in bed becomes unpleasant. Also, when you wake, do you engage in meditation to help facilitate falling back to sleep?

When it’s bedtime, what anxiety or uneasiness are you experiencing?

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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.

[prsnsx]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your reply!

I try to meditate when I wake at night in order to bring down the arousal in the moment and help reduce stress long term. I am also trying to still get the greatest amount of rest possible even though I am awake. But to be honest, I don’t really feel like it works. If I feel very wired meditation does not bring that down, it just helps quieten my mind from difficult thoughts. At a certain point I can just feel my body relax naturally and I know I can go back to sleep then. I don’t think I have any control over when that happens but I’ve never really thought about it that way.

The anxiety and unease I feel in the evening before bedtime feels physical. It happens when I have settled down for the evening, all activities finished. Usually I’ll be reading a book in bed (which I enjoy a lot and feels very relaxing to me) and suddenly it feels like there is a wave of electricity going through my body and I feel a general unease or anxiety that doesn’t seem to have been triggered by or to be directed at anything in particular. These last days I have read on the couch instead but I found it still happens. Doesn’t happen when I read during the day.

[Scott]

You mentioned having “difficult thoughts” followed by “a wave of electricity” through your body so I’d like to expand on that for a moment. I prefer not to fly so I begin to have anxious thoughts building up in the days before the flight. On the day of travel, these thoughts intensify, often accompanied by physical sensations. Whether it’s overcoming anxious thoughts regarding difficult sleep, flying on a plane or what to have for dinner, similar techniques are used to manage the relationship with those thoughts. It’s important for me to remember that I shouldn’t believe every thought that crosses my mind. Thoughts are simply words passing through our mind. Those words don’t harm us but our reaction to those thoughts can make the situation worse. If we decide to struggle, avoid or fight those thoughts, it usually fuels their intensity. When your thoughts are shouting at you, maybe explore what happens when you allow those thoughts to exist and acknowledge them by saying, “I feel anxious about sleep tonight”. With consistent practice, you may find that these troubling thoughts gradually lose their power over you.

If you’re exploring CBT-I, are you currently implementing a sleep window?

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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.

[prsnsx]

Hi Scott,

I have been exploring Martins’s website and watching some of the success videos and I have been trying to incorporate some of the approaches. One of them is allowing the difficult thoughts and also to just feel the anxious feelings in a neutral, detached way. It does seem to help.

I have implemented a sleep window the way Martin explained in his video. Have been doing this for the past 5 nights and even though I sleep less hours than before I don’t really feel that much more tired during the day which also helps to alleviate the worrying.

[Scott]

Outstanding, @prsnsx! Martin has wonderful resources that people can draw from so I’m glad to see you’re exploring those. It sounds like you’re heading the right direction. Please let us know if you have questions!

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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.

[Author]

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