[dreamsleep]

I usually have no trouble falling asleep but every night after about 3-4 hours of sleep I can NEVER go back to sleep I just lay there until my alarm goes off. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!

[Martin Reed]

Sorry to hear this! When you wake during the night, what do you think is stopping you from falling back to sleep?

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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 Clarity 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.

[Alice]

I’m having the EXACT same problem! Falling asleep is easy. But after waking up after about 3 hours, it is impossible to fall back asleep. I think the sleep drive is just gone from there (still feeling tired, but not tired enough to sleep, so I’m just resting for the rest of the night). You once mentioned that most of the sleep drive will be gone within the first ~2 hours of sleep. But how do “healthy” sleepers manage to sleep longer than 2-3 hours, when most of the sleep is drive is gone by then?

[hiker]

I believe that what you are describing is referred to as “early morning awakening” and is considered a classic symptom of depression. At least in a physiological sense, even if you are not feeling bummed out.

Looks like Martin responds to a lot of posts, and you’d want to get his take on this.

btw, I take an antidepressant which does help keep me from getting depressed about insomnia. I wish I could say it relieves the insomnia itself, but no. Like Martin says (I think I am paraphrasing accurately here?), there is no pill you can take which will cure insomnia forever.

But maybe in your case, an antidepressant would help relieve an underlying depression, which in turn might resolve early morning awakening? Best to consult with Martin et al on this. I have a long anecdotal history about insomnia, but I am not a professional.

[Martin Reed]

If you wake during the night and find it hard to fall back to sleep, there are usually one of two issues at play:

1. You might be allotting too much time for sleep (is the difference between when you go to bed at night and when you get out of bed to start your day significantly longer than your average nightly sleep duration?).

2. There might be some conditioned arousal. In other words, through repeatedly waking and finding it hard to fall back to sleep you may have associated waking during the night with difficulty falling back to sleep. So, you find it hard to fall back to sleep.

So, to help address these two options you can ensure you are allotting an appropriate amount of time for sleep. You can also get yourself out of bed when you wake during the night and being in bed doesn’t feel good. This will help you relearn to associate the bed with sleep and pleasant wakefulness rather than reinforcing a negative association between the bed and difficulty falling back to sleep.

It can also be helpful to reduce overall levels of arousal by not checking the time if and when you wake during the night and making sure you are filling your days with enjoyable and enriching activities. The latter gives your mind something to focus on other than sleep and helps you recognize that you can have good days or even just a few enjoyable moments after difficult nights of sleep.

If you are able to recognize that wakefulness during the night doesn’t dictate the quality of your day (or life) you will likely be less concerned by the awakenings and this can, in turn, reduce the amount of time spent awake during the night.

I would not suggest looking for a pharmaceutical answer to this challenge since drugs are never a long-term solution for insomnia.

I hope this helps.

—

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 Clarity 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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