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A “good” night I’d say is a full 6.5 hours. That is where I feel ok and at least rested. When I start lingering around 6 that’s when I’m in trouble and under 6 I’m toast. 7 or more is a great night.
Fri night I got 7 hours for the first time in a long time but that’s only I went to bed with a migraine and insomnia was the last thing on my mind. Sat sun and mon I got 6.5
Today i just feel flat out bad. Even have a little scratchy throat now on top of it all. “Payback” for my streak of 4 good nights perhaps
Hey. Guess who jinxed himself after all. Yup, a bad night. As per usual after putting together a good few nights in a row, its like this permanent thing that can’t allow me to go any further. I start having small subtle thoughts about how this can’t go on forever and tonight just MIGHT be the return of the bad night, and then it usually is. I really didn’t even do anything much differently at all either, last night. It was simply the thoughts and a bit of anxiety creeping up. Crashed around 11pm maybe a tad after, woke up at what I estimated to be 5am. Laid in a daze until my 6am alarm. Very tired today. Just short of feeling like a zombie. ((sighs hard))
4 good nights in a row. Including 2 work nights of course. 4 in a row is typically more rare for me. Just an amazing feeling being awake during the day and feeling good on a consistent basis. Why do I have a feeling I’m about to jinx myself now?
Deb how’d you do?
Really well written Delv. All very good points. The one that I took note of most was keeping active in the evenings. I absolutely have realized that is true. Whether I went to the gym kind of late, stopped by my parents house or was simply out with a friend, those nights have always seemed to end up better for all the obvious reasons. But the reality for me, at 34, most of my weeknights ARE time spent on the couch watching TV. I’ll get sleepy and then yes, you’re spot on in that once I get in bed things change a bit. I still fall asleep within 30 minutes (usually), but its very different if lets say I came home from some sort of party and its 11pm and I just crash. Really no way to avoid this though. What am I supposed to do? Sit in a chair instead of the comfy couch? Stand up watching TV? Lol. Obviously before my problems began 2.5 years ago none of this was an issue, but, you know..
There is so much you are doing wrong that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Though I’m sure if you have been following this thread you already probably have a good idea.
I don’t take anything at all.
Whats your situation exactly Steve? How long has this been going on/what caused it, etc?
Really no point in comparing this, Steve. So many people are different. I’ve had bad nights where I end up just completely shot unable to focus well, and I’ve had bad nights that had left me legitimately dizzy at some points throughout the next day which is the most horrific for me. All depends really.
Deb, first, I commend you on how strong you’ve seemed to be through this awful world of Insomnia you’ve fallen into. However at this point I have to say I feel like I’m talking in circles when it comes to the drinking factor. You already know all my thoughts so I won’t repeat myself. It’s documented anywhere you look on the internet that alcohol before bedtime is a HUGE no no for sleep quality. I’ve experienced this personally many times throughout my 20’s after a night out partying. You need to stop. I guess that might be easier said than done at this point, but it’s one of many steps you need to take.
On another note, maybe it’s time to ween off or cut down on the whole ACT thing just a tad. Like SRT, don’t you feel like it’s making sleep more like a “Job”. You need to put your mind at east as much as possible. Even documenting each single day here might be a contributor to your mind and overall anxiety. So you put some ACT thoughts together around bedtime, and that’s that. No need to make a spectacle out of things. I learned that a while ago myself. The more we can try and act like normal sleepers, the better off we are IMHO. For example I used to have this rule where if I wasn’t falling asleep within 20 minutes I would get upset and get out of bed. Now days I go to bed (when exhausted of course) and just relax. I know sleep will come eventually. And guess what, 95% of the time I’m out within 30 minutes. It’s helped.
With regards to my night last night… Just another interesting note to continue to back up the fact that all this has to do with anxiety. So last night I had a legit migraine headache for the first time in years. It was frightening at some points. Couldn’t move my head in certain ways. Felt nauseous too. I went in my bed at 9:00pm as I felt like I could have died if I didn’t lay down. There was simply no alternative. Insomnia was the LAST thing on my mind as I laid comfortably on my pillow. Long story short, I slept 7.5 hours.
Yeah I hear that. SRT can definitely be a good “reminder” of your problem. Even last night when I pushed my bedtime to 11 for the first time in a while. What do you think happened? All the thoughts of me still being a chronic insomniac came back. Not as hard as they used to be, but they definitely flooded my head a bit as I continued to look at the clock before I got closer to 11.
while I know SRT can help me again at least in the short term, as far as the long term goes I’m feeling lost
I reached that point too Deb where once I used to be all anxious if I didn’t fall asleep within 20 minutes but now I can lay there for 30-40 minutes rather calm. The harsh reality is though imo (and I’ve learned this through much trial and error), is that that the longer we lay in bed not asleep I feel like the overall quality of the sleep will go down.
Like the very basic method in all of this goes… if you simply can’t fall asleep, get out of bed. While I lay there not very anxious at all anymore and still very tired, I know in the back of my mind that the more I DO lay there each night not able to sleep for lets say up to 40 minutes, the more it will impact the brain/bed sleep connection overall.
Deb, as always please don’t take this the wrong way, especially since any negativity can be detrimental to these forums, but, I’m just curious, and I’m just trying to help.. Reading your updates day after day (sadly the same can probably be said about mine too though) it just seems like you are going in circles to me. Bad night here, good night there, ok night here, etc etc etc. At this point now some 3 months(?) into your version of sleep therapies, do you honestly feel like you are making any LEGITIMATE progress, most notable with ACT? I’ve said it before and I’ll said it one more time, while ACT can be a good “tool” to use on the side, my thoughts are that SRT is the only thing that can truly kickstart healing chronic insomnia.
I know I sound like a broken record these days but just some interesting stuff… last night I made it to 11pm, didn’t crash until around 11:45pm though I’d say. A bit longer than usual for me.
Woke at 5:15am
Laid in bed and tried to relax/fall back asleep until 6amalarm
Total time in bed: 7 hours
Total time slept: 5.5 hours
Now, on Wednesday night I went to my bed at 10:15pmand didn’t leave it until around 6:15am
Slept 11:15pm to 4:30am or so
Total time in bed: 8 hours
Total time slept: 5.25 hours
Now you would think based on just time ASLEEP that I’d feel about the same today as I did yesterday, right?
Wrong.
While still shot today, I call tell you I do not feel as brutally shot and zombie like as I did yesterday.
Point of the story? The obvious: As Sasha Stephens said, he LESS time you spend in bed, the better quality of sleep you get.
So last night while I slept about the same amount as I did Wednesday night, the quality was better. The earlier I go to bed I’ve realized the more prone I am (not always, but more often than not) to waking up WAYYY too early, or simply not getting deeper sleep in general.
Here’s to going back to the basics a bit and keeping my time in bed to 7 hours maximum.
To be brutally honest Deb, as much as I understand where people are coming from with ACT and how it can help, I really don’t think it holds too much important in overcoming insomnia. Ok so you’re supposed to just “accept” it all and welcome the thoughts and name them funny names, etc? Can it help a bit? Absolutely. But those of us with more serious insomnia can’t just do these fun and games and get better. You need something more intense like some form of SRT in my honest opinion. At this point I’m sure you’re aware that ACT isn’t fully curing you. You can continue to use it as a tool, but ultimately the most powerful thing is SRT.
