[Madamedestel]

Thanks for asking and yes, I feel really sleepy before going to bed – the anxiety kicks right in when I put off the light. Its kind of a really weird (learned) connection between bed and “performance” pressure of falling asleep.

I think dealing with the anxiety is really another problem – which cannot be cured by SC or SR. In a way its a thing everyone has to find their own way to deal with, my therapist gave me ideas what to do – but one has to find its own safety net (or thought).

Unfortunately I have just started to go out of bed when unable to sleep – I spent too many nights awake in bed so that I developed that negative connection between being awake and bed. But I do this now and it feels much better because it is something I can control – breaking out of that vicious cycle.

Definitely a lark – therefore so hard for me to stay up long.

 

 

[Madamedestel]

Hi Martin,

thanks for asking.

After starting with 5.5 hours (12-5.30) and things improving quickly, I’m now at 6.20 (11.40-6).

Sleep pressure is still high – I have to force myself from not napping at the couch every evening.

Going through my sleep diary I can see that the last 2 weeks were pretty good with 4-5 good nights in a row. But I still have bad nights where I’m not able to fall asleep quickly and my biggest struggle still is getting out of bed when not being able to sleep. During those nights I often only manage to fall asleep very late – interestingly I even wake up before the alarm clock – hyperactive mind 🙁 I guess.

I do believe that SC is absolutely necessary and that body and mind respond very strongly of learned “bad” behavior – like lying in bed and getting more and more awake as a trained concept. But for me its the most challenging part.

I also still struggle with confidence which is good after having good nights but can shift so much when I have one or even two bad nights in a row.

Luckily I don’t have allnighters anymore and gained back the confidence that my body is able to sleep – sometimes its just thoughts sabotaging me.

I would like to hear back from others how long it took the program for them to “get over” insomnia – its hard for me to be patient.

Thanks.

 

[Madamedestel]

Thanks, will look it up!

[Madamedestel]

Thanks, Martin.

I haven’t. But I had an interesting conversation with a recommended sleep therapist and he said that in my case the anxiety disorder is the main issue and should be treated first – ideally would be a guided sleep compression with cbt through a psychotherapist, who would mainly work on the anxiety. In case of severe anxiety the sleep compression is like a very hard confrontation therapie, which should not be done alone.

[Madamedestel]

Hi Nick,

 

it understand sooo well what you’re going through because it sounds exactly like what I have to deal with at the moment.

All of the sudden I struggled with severe insomnia which I feel had taken total control over my life…I’ even afraid to go on overnight-weekend trips because being outside from my bed routine makes everything worse and I feel terrible the whole day after nights in a row without sleeping at all.

I’m also seeing a psychiatrist for the 1st time in my life…she prescribed me several different drugs but looks like nothing is working and I still feel very unwell with having to take something for sleep. So after all I don’t think that the psychiatrist is a solution for me. Went to the doctor to get some blood data because I couldn’t believe that such heavy insomnia could come without any reasons. Curios about the data which I’ll have on Monday.

I know it is terrible terrifying and makes you feel so desperate, but I feel a bit comforted by the though that there are others like me out there. And I strongly hope that we’ll get over it.

Thanks for sharing your story, to me it means a lot.

Take care,

Christina

 

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