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Hello Leosmom!
You yourself have already given the answer to the problem. : “When I’m not thinking about sleeping, I sleep”. The brain works in reverse. The more I want to sleep and the more I struggle, the more insomnia it gives me. The more I fight the more I lose. When I abandon the fight, I win. If I want to sleep, I tell my brain. _ Today I don’t want to sleep, I’m going to stay overnight.” There, he loves to hear that and erases me. You need to talk to your brain, little by little it starts to respond, (always the opposite). Learn the magic language of Paradoxal Intent This is one of the CBTi techniques. Take the course so you don’t lose your life. There is no other way, I assure you. (I’m sorry for the English)
hello
Soxfan!First of all congratulations on your courage to free yourself from drugs. I also went through this process of freedom from addiction. But don’t forget that the body has a time to clear itself of the drug. You are doing 2 very difficult things. Weaning your body and mind off medications and Sleep Restriction. Taking RS increased my anxiety and decreased my sleep. I just couldn’t meet my 6 hour sleep window. I only slept 2 or 3 hours. But I had to go through the darkness to reach the light. Little by little I learned CBTi, trusting, reading the answers to the posts on this forum and trusting my body’s ability to sleep (regardless of medications). I implemented my sleep window in 15 days. In 2 months I was already sleeping soundly. For the CBTi to work I had to drop everything I was doing to help me sleep. Nowadays, I have a sleep window of 6.5/7 hours always at the same time.
Sweet Dreams! (sorry for the english)Hello LeosMon!
I also arrived in this state. I couldn’t even work anymore. I lived on leave. No driving or anything. Total despair. What worked for me was the CBTi. I tried everything. It took me 20 years to dwell in the hell of sleepless nights. In 2 months I got what I didn’t get in 20 years of searching. You didn’t say if you’ve ever taken Martin’s course, which I totally recommend. If CBTi still hasn’t solved your problem, maybe it’s because you haven’t fully embraced this simple technique. Remember that if you don’t do the right thing, the adrenaline generated by the nocturnal panic will perpetuate your insomnia and anxiety. I finally stopped all searches, therapies and treatments. Today I am out and free from prison. If you can, read all the posts on this forum as well. Here, through the guidance of those who managed to win and are longer, you will find your way, I’m sure of it. Because that’s exactly what I did. Good night! (sorry for the english)
Hi CojoC!
Looks like you deregulated your biological clock at your last job, with varying bedtime and waking hours. The brain likes the bedtime routine. Regular hours. Sleep window always at the same time. This is the basis of the CBTi. I would say that without it nothing works. Regulating your circadian rhythm is paramount. It is also necessary to be careful with “sleep efforts”, oil teas, yoga etc… If it is to help you sleep, the brain starts to become alert and take care of the results. That is, it does not turn off. An innocent tea or a massage with relaxing oils can give you a long night of vigilance. Any sleep aid should be eliminated. So the brain will have nothing to monitor. Try not to help your body sleep with anything. It’s the only way. Try it.
Hello Larana!
All the brain doesn’t want is a list of positive or motivational thoughts for sleep, or anything along those lines. That’s where he’ll keep you awake anyway. Have you ever heard of Paradoxical Intent? It’s the language of the brain. Paradoxical intent reduces the anticipatory anxiety associated with the fear of trying to sleep and not being able to. (Research this) I learned to talk to my brain and nowadays I struggle to stay awake. Just give the command and it shuts down. It’s training. Try it. It feels like magic. Good night!
Hi Larana!
Allow me to answer your second question. The intention is what counts. If your intention to read in bed is to help you fall asleep faster or make it easier to fall asleep, it won’t work. Everything I do with the intention of aiding my sleep will backfire on me. Reading in bed will therefore be like shooting yourself in the foot. After going through the CBTi techniques and having the help of this wonderful forum, nowadays I do read in bed. I love doing this on a cold, rainy day. Get under the covers reading. But the intention is just to enjoy a good book listening to the noise of the rain. My mind reads my intentions. That’s why even a relaxing bath, if it’s to help you sleep better, can turn into a tragedy. A whole sleepless night because of a simple shower, or relaxing music… Zero interference is what helps sleep. Cheering for you. (sorry for english)
The more things I did to try to sleep, the less I slept. I spent a real fortune with various treatments, CBDs, medicines, Cepaps, sleep specialists, therapies, miraculous cures, hospitalizations, Gurus etc… I calculate that everything I spent on sleep, I would buy an apartment. And it was all so simple… As Chee2308 wisely says, “just do nothing”. I arrived at CBTi, Matin’s guidelines and this precious forum, discredited by everything. Living in the sad and unhappy world of insomniacs. Following all the guidelines in 2 months I was already sleeping happily and soundly. I had to throw it all away, especially my wrong beliefs about sleep. Today I practice Full Acceptance. Anything that happens in relation to sleep and my night doesn’t affect me anymore. I have a consistent sleep of 6.5 / 7 hours a night. And my life totally changed. I’m another person. Now I live in the world of happy sleepers. Good dreams for you.
Hi daisho!
Once an obsessive mood sets in, it’s hard to stop. Obsessive thoughts are feeding on themselves. Fighting it is a complete waste of time. And if the mind doesn’t stop, anxiety sets in and sleep doesn’t come. I lived like this for many years, and used many drugs (medicines) to stop this obsession. He woke up in the middle of the night looking like his head was plugged into an outlet. What worked for me was accepting all thoughts and letting them in. I imagine a file with several drawers and every thought that comes I file and place each one in a named drawer. That is, I don’t send them away. I don’t fight anymore, I just accept them. If I start fighting and rejecting them, my mind sends them out faster. I also apply the following technique: “Oh, my mind is thinking about it…” As if I were a spectator, just labeling and filing the thoughts. . This quickly disarms my brain. In other words, acceptance is the magic word for this entire process that involves sleep. If I am in a state of acceptance there is no longer my mind to fight. The war ends. (Sorry for the English, using translator.)Hi Lauren!
It seems that the Adrenaline – Fear + Adrenaline + Fear system has installed itself. Hard to break this cycle. Adrenaline is responsible for all these upsets and stomach pains, bumps etc… and that’s where panic takes control of our terrible nights. Hard to sleep with a noise like that. The good thing about it is that you already know what to do and know that it will pass. The only way to break the cycle of madness is to face and accept whatever comes. Daniel Erichsen on you tube talks about acceptance and detachment from the results of his insomnia. And remember, insomnia feeds on panic. The more fear the more it grows and becomes stronger. Don’t feed her anymore. Happy and happy nights to you. (forgiveness for english)
Hi Jichem!
For me, what worked was harassing CBTi, ACT and Dr Claire Weekes’ precious guidance in her book. “Hope and Help For Your Nerves” (there are some videos on you tube, including the chapters in the book). Whenever I feel more agitated and anxious, I just grab my book or listen to it on you tube. It brings me back to reality and turns my mind off. And most important of all this was abandoning the crutches I used to try to sleep. Such as Supplements, medicines, Apps, teas, relaxing baths, sleep hygiene, in short, all this madness that was managing my suffering life as an insomniac. Always reminding me that everything I do to try to sleep will turn against me. CBTi, it’s a very quick process, what took me was getting up the courage to dismantle my entire wrong belief system about sleep. (forgiveness for english)
Hi Sling 15.
The more I tracked my sleep, the more it fled from me. It’s like chasing a ghost. I really like a video by Daniel Erichsen that goes like this: “If you’re watching this video, it’s time to stop watching videos about insomnia and research and monitor your sleep. Forget about this subject completely. Do an experiment and stay awhile. months without monitoring anything and not even talking about it, then come back and tell me.” It was magical, I spent hours and hours watching all the videos about insomnia, eagerly reading everything and applying all the techniques, to get some poor few hours of sleep, I stopped everything. Before long I had forgotten that I once had insomnia. I return to this forum out of deep gratitude to insomniacoach I am like that biblical leprosy who came back to give thanks. Sweet Dreams for you!
Hi Chee2308
CBTi helped me understand the biological clock system and how to regulate it. It also taught me to compress my sleep to get rid of insomnia gaps. With Martin’s course and the forum I finally managed to end the years of suffering and stop living in the terrible world of insomniacs. I think that CBTi is a step in the process. After a while I had to abandon the CBTi itself which also became a great effort to sleep. In other words, it was a fantastic help, without it maybe I wouldn’t have been able to, but in the end I must also drop this help. Over time I learned to be confident that my body knows everything about sleep
Hello Mitch!
After a time of sleep restriction and the body itself will show you how long it needs to sleep. and your biological clock starts to set. I set the alarm for 6:30 and my body wanted to wake up at 5:30. I want to sleep at midnight and my body wants to sleep at 11 am. you have to let him define that. I got out of bed when I woke up and ended the fight. Nowadays I don’t use an alarm clock anymore and I learned to respect the time and time he wants to sleep and wake up (always the same). As for doing a lot of things to help sleep, I had to drop everything. The more we help the body sleep, the more sleep escapes. I took this matter out of my head and I don’t do anything else. I still meditate but not with the intention of helping sleep. Just to have peace. Good dreams for you!
The Fear – Adrenaline – Insomnia – Fear cycle was installed. The more fear, the more adrenaline and the more insomnia. Identify this and be able to break the cycle. That is the goal. And this cycle is only broken with Acceptance of what comes. Don’t value it. When panic starts, tell yourself. Okay, fine, the madness is about to start. And just let it go. Disarm the game. If you stop feeding the fear monster, it stops growing and starves. (using the translator)
Panic of not being able to account for future events if I don’t sleep. The head doesn’t stop, imagining all the disasters and sufferings if we don’t sleep, how horrible it will be if… Yes, I know these symptoms well and I can tell you what worked for me. The word for me was acceptance. Accept whatever happens. Saying yes when the mind wants to sink into the pessimism of “If” Accept everything that may come to pass. : _ Whatever happens, I’ll go to the event. And it’s going to be great for me to stay awake for the entire event. In fact, it’s even better if I don’t sleep. (The brain loves these inversions and ends up doing exactly the opposite. That’s its language). If I accept anything that happens to me and the brain has no more results to monitor, it finally shuts down.
I learned to talk to the brain about his language. And these days it’s hard to stay awake. I no longer have trouble sleeping, I sleep peacefully after 20 years of insomnia. Thanks to Martin Reed and the forum. Sorry for the English, using translator.
