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Thank you for responding, Martin, Deb and Jonathan. I feel so desperate and sad all the time. I actually ordered the ACT book last night after going through the thread on it. I also do listen to the podcasts Martin. I just can’t seem to get out of my own way. I will continue to try because I honestly don’t have any other options. I feel very sick now due to the sleep restriction and my demanding job. I’ll persevere. I appreciate all your help. And Jonathan I will look that up.
What do you do for people like me who are ready to give up? I can’t get any more sleep than I am Currently getting in my sleep window. Less than 5 hours every night and it does not improve. I can’t function at work, can’t think straight, am depressed and sad all the time. I think about dying because I don’t want to live like this. Every single day and evenly act is a struggle. I’m tired of acting and pretending I’m okay when I am very much not okay and desperate for sleep. I have spoken with my doctor, tried all kinds of meds, and cannot take antidepressants. All pills have a negative effect on my sleep. I feel completely hopeless. I can’t even use positive self talk because I don’t believe it. I don’t see a way to get better sleep. I’ve never been so desperate for anything in my life.
Martin, I also wanted to ask about dealing with the physical “symptoms” of insomnia. I feel sort of hungover every day. Headache, foggy head, pressure, nausea…. Generally feel sick all the time.
Thank you so much for this important insight. I know everything you have said is true. My challenge is believing that in the moment when I’m awake at night. I am very grateful for your responses and suggestions. I’ll keep at it.
I think about things like, it’s not working; I’m never going to sleep well; why am I not seeing improvements; i can’t keep functioning on this small amount of sleep; frustration about being awake for so long…. I know I work myself up, and the struggle is in Trying not to do that to myself.
I try to practice breathing, imagery; positive self-talk…I’m struggling so much with it. I know sleep should not be taking up so much space in my head (even during the day) but I feel powerless to stop it. Not seeing any success with the sleep restriction is hard for me. The first time I went through this I was successful almost immediately so I know I expected that To be the case this time around as well.
Hi Martin. I am REALLY struggling to maintain my sleep window due to such high anxiety about my sleep. I do mostly observe my 11-5 sleep time. Sometimes I am laying on the couch once I get up because I feel so drained and tired. I know I am blocking my progress but truly feel at a loss to get my anxiety under control. It’s just awful.
I do wake up every night. I have not been consistent about getting up at the same time. However, I recently (5 days now), tightened my sleeping window by 30 minutes and still waking up at that same time. I do get out of bed if it feels like more than 15 minutes have passed. I have been strict about getting out of bed at 4:30 for these last 5 days. I do not go to bed before 11:00, at which time I have been sleepy enough to go to sleep pretty quickly.
I am so exhausted that I have not been very active during the day. I walk the dogs, do house chores, run errands. I have not been doing my workouts.
I think it is anxiety that is keeping me from falling back to sleep. I try to use strategies Ive been taught in my CBT-i sessions but I am not having much success. I’m so impacting by my lack of sleep that it’s really throwing me off. Thanks for responding.
I should add, my sleep window is 11:00-4:30. I cannot stay asleep until 4:30. I moved my window from 5:00 to 4:30 about a week ago to try to accommodate the early wakenings. I still wake up anywhere from 3-4 and cannot get back to sleep. I fall asleep just fine, very sleepy by 11:00. I’m so frustrated and I have hopeless thoughts during the day because I feel so tired and life has become joyless for me.
