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I hear that. I was a lunatic with regards to props and fighting. Did everything from buying new sheets and pillows to white noise machines to “sleepy tea” to rearranging my bedroom to other things I won’t even go into. I’ve come a long, long, long way. But I still have a long ways to go..
Glad you are doing better Jamie. Yes eating sugary foods before bed is never a good thing. Of course for a normal sleeper not falling asleep right away isn’t a big deal but for us it can be a trigger to freaking out and the potential for bad nights, thoughts of relapsing, etc.
Just keep on doing what you’re doing. It seems like you are way ahead of the game in general.
Thanks Deb. You really have inspired quite a few of us on here with regards to ACT. If you ever have a few minutes today perhaps you could summarize how you exactly got to where you are today. Perhaps even write a small success story over in that thread. Glad you are doing so well.
Mac
Good morning everyone, hope your Holiday was nice. Slowly starting to come out of my first ACT relapse here. Last night was a bad night but I’m not too frustrated about it as it was not related to Insomnia but I instead was suffering from a nagging cough that kept me up quite late. I got out of bed and took some medicine and was out about 20 minutes later. This week I hope to really get back to focusing on some mindfulness before bedtime again to get back on a good streak.
Deb I may have asked you this before but not sure if you answered… do you keep a bit of a “light” sleep window for yourself with ACT? Meaning do you kind of always make sure you don’t get into bed before a certain time and don’t sleep in past a certain time? Just curious. Also Jamie are you out there? I wonder if you’re recovered since we haven’t heard from you in a bit.
I suppose you’re right Deb. It will just take more time. It is just interesting (and annoying) though, how something can work so well, like ACT did for me those first 2 weeks and I felt almost as if I was fully healed, and then boom, issues again. Just weird how the brain works. How a “honeymoon period” so to speak, can happen in a case like this, like you said. I’ll keep on staying calm, and in the meantime maybe I’ll go to bed just a tad later. Thanks.
Well Deb, I’m struggling. Two bad nights in a row again. Good news is I’m not panicking. Just tired. Can’t seem to get out of this every other night kind of funk after starting the great two weeks of ACT. I fall asleep perfectly fine, relaxed, doing some brief mindfulness, and the early awakenings happened and I just got some anxiety built up. The culprit perhaps? I looked at the clock both of these last couple of nights. Don’t ask me why, I just did.
That all being said, it still doesn’t change the fact that I had two very early awakenings (4am-ish), and those really shouldn’t be happening as much anymore. Also, I DID go to my bed relatively early the last couple of nights. 10pm! Didn’t end up crashing til around 10:30, but still, 10 is very early in grand scheme of things. But hey, I felt comfortable about it. I felt relaxed. Maybe I should push that back a bit? But then you know what that brings. The thought of a “schedule” and worrying about bedtimes, etc. We don’t want that. We just want to let go. To do nothing. Please help a bit, if you can….
I’m getting a bit more sleep yes, but not 7 or 8 hours on a consistent basis. Or if I do wake early, now I seem more relaxed to the point where I can fall back into GOOD sleep for the last 1-1.5 hours as opposed to BS/light sleep. For example if I go to bed at 10:30p, I’m pretty certain I’m still not making it to my 6am alarm without an early wakeup of sorts. However there was a night or two when I went to bed after 11 and slept until my alarm no problem. It’s progress compared to where I was that’s for sure.
Hi Deb just checking in. How are you? Sleep well this week?
I got back on track Weds night but last night had a horrible night but it had nothing to do with not using ACT. I had gone out for drinks with a friend rather late at night (super rare for me on a weeknight) and woke up early AM needing to use the bathroom. On top of that I accidentally left my window open and my room was quite chilly. Stupid mistakes!! Then the icing on the cake was me accidentally catching a glimpse of my clock as I came back from the bathroom. Not like me these days. Saw it was 4:15 and that was it. Though not extreme , enough anxiety came over me after seeing that to where I was up until my alarm 🙁
Thanks for that response, Deb. Trying the very best I can to just go about my day, though it is definitely a zombie day today. Very bad night last night. But hey, these will happen. I have to get over it. As long as I remain upbeat, welcome the worries and relax and accept, I know I’ll be ok. Just curious what time do you usually go to bed/Wake up these days? Do you still avoid crashing relatively early no matter what?
Yes I do feel better during the daytime even after mediocre nights as opposed to previously and I know for certain it’s bc my sleep is more “relaxed” now. This is something I’ve spoken about many times. How if we are all anxious before bed with worries up the wazoo, there’s just no way the brain and arousal system are going to be calm throughout the night. This is why I’ve said (and read about) that if you are THAT jumpy and crazed over your sleep, honestly, a pill or dose of Zzyquill for just a couple nights to get you a little more relaxed IS not the end of the world. To get you out of the funk only to give you a “head start” so to speak, so you can just BEGIN to try and start ACT or something similar.
My average the last 2 weeks has been around a solid 6 hours I’d say. I’ve had a good few 5.5’s and a good few 6.5’s. Ironically as we speak, I am just now coming out of my second bad night in a row. I’m trying my very best to remain calm and instead of panicking and venting like I used to. Trying to understand it’s going to be ok. It’s such an unbelievably tricky and difficult thing though, because it’s as if no matter what, subconsciously at least, we know as human beings that we don’t want anything to do with more than a couple of bad nights in a row. You really have to either be very mentally fit to combat chronic insomnia or in my case you have had to gone through hell and back and endless trial and error to finally get there. This is a work in progress for me, but at least now I finally feel there may be some method to my madness. I just hope I don’t spiral here again like I have several times over the last year. Deb/Steve, etc, any advice or encouragement helps!
Correct. It is simply near impossible for a chronic insomniac, especially one who has suffered for years, to get better in a matter of weeks. Many months I’m sure, if this positive route keeps up, before I would ever be close to “healed” IMO.
Hi Deb, just caught up after not being here the last few days and saw you asked how I’m doing. Well it’s been exactly 2 weeks now of ACT and I can say I have only had 2 bad nights out of those 2 weeks. I am not sleeping perfectly or 7+ hours a night, but I am seeing things happen that I have not seen happen in years right now. I have been able to have decent nights not going to bed exhausted, I have played on my phone (with warm light screen on) right up until bed time, and I’ve basically just completely “let go” for the most part. Now that doesn’t mean I’ll go to bed at a ridiculously early time or lie in on the weekends for 2 hours but for the most part, I’m trying to just relax. What got me here was beginning 2 weeks ago instead of letting the usual subtle anxiety build up a couple of hours before bedtime, I would do some serious mindfulness, giving thought to everything we have spoke about on here with regards to ACT. Basically there’s no way (at least right now in my life after suffering for SO long) I can just assume I’ll have an amazing night. I have to go to bed with more of a neutral mindset with the understanding that if it’s a bad night, then I can get by like I always have. Make no mistake I’ve realized that for me at least it may be a very long time before I’m totally out of the woods but the thing is that’s OK.
Hi Jamie things are going pretty well here over the last week. I decided once and for all to dedicate my time fully to ACT instead of another round of SRT. Not that SRT hasn’t helped me in the past, it absolutely has, but I’m such a chronic case that the underlying anxiety had to be dealt with once and for all and I think that’s what I’m doing. I’m not sleeping perfectly, but I’m also not having to rely on an SRT window situation to get 6 hours of sleep which for me is honestly quite amazing. I detailed some stuff in one of my recent posts a few days ago if you’d like to find it. I really am glad to hear things are going well for you and I hope this is a trend that continues for you. Remember, the absolute key thing IMO is to not get affected by a bad night, or even two, and to understand thats all part of the “plan” so to speak. Stay positive, but don’t fight with yourself.
Your sleep doctor told you insomnia will be a LIFELONG issue for you? Geez. Can’t say I agree with that from a doctor. Aren’t we supposed to be getting positive encouragement? How long have you been suffering ?
