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That’s great to hear. I have a question though: Whenever I tried sleep restriction I almost always failed to stay awake until my sleep window starts. Did you also have this problem? And how did you fix it? Also, if I did actually make it to the start of my sleep window, once I got into bed my sleepiness would be GONE and anxiety would start kicking in (and I never had problems getting to sleep, staying asleep was my problem). So for me, sleep restriction made my anxiety even worse..
Hi Dazzio,
unfortunately, for me, SRT is not going well. I’m on my third week with a 5,5h sleep window. But the last days I started to lay in bed longer than that, resting. So I guess I kinda gave up…I was just SO tired during the day, that I could not keep my eyes open and I even started drinking coffee, and I was never a coffee drinker. My sleep got even worse with SRT. I always had terminal insomnia, feel asleep easily, but after 3 hours I was alway awake, unable to sleep again. With SRT I developed sleep onset insomnia und completely sleepless nights. However I’m planning to start the 4th week “fresh” and continue doing SRT, even though I might lost all “progress”.
How do you guys manage the unbearable sleepiness during the day??
Also a question for you Dazzio, you mentioned that this is not your first attempt at SRT, how long did your other attempts last and why did you give up? I’m really struggling to get motivation right now…
Hello wsh,
I have a few questions. What kind of insomnia did you have ? Sleep onset insomnia or sleep maintenance (or even terminal) insomnia? Before starting SRT, I had terminal insomnia, I could fall asleep easily, but after 2-3 hours I could not get back to sleep anymore. Once I started SRT, I developed sleep onset insomnia and nights with zero sleep. Was that the case for you too? I have another question if it is not too personal: Do you think your insomnia was triggered by depression?
Also, how did you manage to stay awake during the day? I even had difficulties keeping my eyes open during the day, especially waiting for my bedtime in the evening was a torture, I was REALLY tired, but once my bedtime approached all the sleepiness was gone, hence the sleep onset insomnia. I’m now starting to think that CBT-I, especially SRT, are not working for me (after trying it for almost 3 weeks).
I don’t think you’re supposed to stay in bed for 12 hours in the first place! That’s why you probably have 0 sleep drive for the next night.
Hi Dazzio,
I’m in a similar situation, this is my second attempt at CBTI and I’m on my first week. If you want, we can work through this together (but I’m not sure how to contact you privately?). Regarding your questionm if you should lower your timeframe to 4 hours, I’m not sure. I read everywhere (and also Martin said so I think), that you should not go lower than 5,5 hours, as it might cause too many side effects. I started with 6 hours and I’m planning on lowering it to 5,5, too, because there’s hardly any improvement.But like I said, maybe Martin can help with that question.
I just found this old thread and I have a question for you, Martin. You mentioned above, that if you wake up during the night, and can’t fall back asleep within half an hour, you should get out of bed for half an hour (and do some activities like reading I guess?). After half an hour you should go back to bed. What if I still can’t sleep after that? Should I stay in bed for half an hour again and then get out for half an hour again?
You also mentioned, that if you don’t feel sleepy once your sleep window starts, you should wait until you get sleepy. If my sleep window is from midnight to 6 am, and I only start feeling sleepy at 2 am, should I still get up at 6 am? Or should I add those 2 hours and get up at 8 am? Thanks in advance!
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?
