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A sleep aid can help through rough patches and sleeping even if it’s less restorative is better than consecutive nights of no/poor sleep which can result in more issues. You have a strong sleep knowledge and a plan to get on track. You’ll get back on track.
Hope the family matters has subsided and hope all is good there.
Moving forward as well. I’ve been in a pattern of week(s) of stable sleep (5.5-7 hours) and then a streak of poor nights. For example, from April 1st to the 7th I was anywhere between 2-5 hours and average of about 3.8 hours. Then since then, not only were the hours asleep were higher, my sleep efficiency is a lot better as well. So I’ve been in a better pattern the last few days. What I’ve been doing is trying to be consistent as possible within reason. Go to bed roughly at the same time, wake up roughly at the same time. During the day I try to be positive despite poor sleep days. I can say poor sleep days heighten anxiety and my worry about sleep which I think we all face here. On good days, I feel normal and think about it way less which is wonderful.
As for this topic SR vs ACT, I’ve not thought too much about it and go with my body flow. If I wake up in the middle of the night and still feel sleepy, Ill just turn over, close my eyes and go back to sleep. It’s wonderful! If I wake up and feel tense, anxious, Ill do my best to extinguish those feelings and relax. If it’s been 20 or so minutes and I am quite confident sleep is not possible because I am too aroused/alert/wired then I get out of bed. I am not a fan of getting out of bed especially often to avoid making my body think it’s a new habit but I will if I know sleep is not possible.
When it comes to mindfulness, relaxation, meditation, breathing, I think it’s more useful to apply during the day to relax and become more familiar with it. I think it is futile to never apply it and only apply it at in bed when trying to fall asleep. It’s like being a firefighter that never practiced and then when a real fire happens you are overwhelmed.
As for these rebounds I get, I have no idea why they happen. We all have stress and such but it’s not like there was a specific incident that happened that day to re-trigger it. All I can really do is try to mitigate it, take it easy on myself for those days and say to myself that better and more restorative sleep will come.
I do use a CPAP machine however, i’ve been using it before my insomnia started. It is set at a low pressure. I think it helps a bit for me.
Oh I know all too well about songs getting stuck in my head. Before insomnia it was in and out and I would say normal amounts. Now on nights with little sleep, it loops like crazy. It can also be a song I haven’t heard in awhile.
I read the first 3-4 weeks in 3-4 days because a lot of what was mentioned I’ve already covered. You can read as much as you absorb but it’s the practice of implementation that is difficult.
Good luck.
I have the same problem. It is known as hyper arousal and I also believe it is conditioned arousal as well. Anyway, yes it is your mind checking constantly for sleep and once you fall asleep it lets you know and wakes you up. It is very frustrating. I wish CBT-i mentioned more about this and what really works to tackle it. I believe sleep restriction and stimulus control are the best for now. More information is on the website on how it’s done. Headspace, calm and other apps can help as you already mentioned. And yes for me it gets harder the more “loops” of nodding off and waking up right away.
Mindfulness meditation can help. I have been practicing often but it’s hard to say if and how much it is helping.
I wish there were an easy magic bullet for it like “take 2 tums before bed”.
It would be nice to open a discussion on this and find out what has helped most/least.
True friends will be compassionate and understanding. Often times they will offer support which can be quite comforting.
Yes I am like you. Better does happen but not amazing. I would say satisfactory. I got about 3.5-4 hrs last night and couldn’t get back to sleep after 4am. Today I feel zoned out. I wish I had answers to why I am dealing with this in the first place, what is the best way to treat it long term, how to avoid relapsing etc.
I see my dog and cat sleeping without issues mind you it looks like light sleep but they don’t “seem” to be struggling lol
Glad to hear! Hopefully the trend continues. There will be good nights and bad. If the good nights get more frequent that’s great. One step and one night at a time.
Oh and forgot to mention more worried about everything.
When I sleep well then all of the above is minimal.
Prayers for us to feel and sleep better. On bad nights the next day I am definitely more anxious, irritable, stressed and depressed. Makes the day harder. The catch 22 is Ill feel tired but not sleepy and if I decide to lay down I can rest for 15 minutes but not sleep (rarely)
Hi Christine,
I so remember the times when I would be stressed and “sleep” it off just like you!. I would feel stressed, lay down, relax and sleep my worries away. Now it’s the opposite. If I get 6 hours of restful sleep I am usually ok. 6.5 is better. 7 is great. If on a very rare night I get 8 then I am actually more tired.
What I do to get through my day of exhaustion is to try to keep busy. At work, I try to talk and have conversations to pass the time more. After work I try to find activities outside of home (gym, visit friends, etc). It can be hard but often times not as hard as it seems when you wake up from a poor nights sleep.
I am in Canada
I would say I am definitely better than 4-6 months ago. The percentage of good days (waves of good days) are better than bad days (waves of bad days). I had a good stretch of what I would call stable days where I would feel pretty normal. Not too tired during the day, not too irritable or fuzzy and in the evenings be able to enjoy my evenings without really worrying.
As for going to bed totally exhausted. No. I was tired but not wiped. The more tired I am, the faster I fall asleep. As for staying asleep, I am not sure but that is always random. Some nights I wake up and just turn around or go to the bathroom and then fall back asleep. Other times I wake up and just feel awake and going back to sleep is next to impossible. That’s where I do ACT to a point and relax and see if sleep will come. If not after 20-30 minutes I really should resort back to stimulus control as much as I hate it. I just feel like once I am up even for 20 minutes, I am adjusting to being up for good especially if it’s 5-6am.
What seems to be common is daytime/nighttime anxiety and sleep. Chicken or the egg. They seem to feed off each other. If I am doing well and start to feel anxious during the day, it may lead to poor sleep. If I have poor sleep then I feel anxious during the day.
When I am feeling good I meditate less and try to go to my old self (minus the booze) and things are good but then when things turn south I am back to meditating, trying to relax and calm my nerves.
6.5 I am usually good for. Unfortunately I got maybe 3-4 hours last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t look at the time but laid in bed and relaxed. After awhile I just had to get up and move to another room. My brain wouldn’t shut off and when I got closer to falling asleep, I would wake up. Frustrating 🙁 Zombie day ahead.
The past 2-3 weeks were fairly stable. My average was 6.5 hours and daytime feelings were pretty normal. Not perfect by any means but not worrying about the day or sleep too much. The last few days I’ve been feeling anxious/tense during the day which lead to crappier sleep. Last night it took a bit longer to fall asleep. Once asleep I got 4-5 hours straight through. At 5-5:30ish I was up and just laid there relaxing but feeling alert. I was out of bed at 7. Tired but not super tired, feeling tense and anxious which of course doesn’t help.
