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Welcome to the forum, Cpm90! As suggested by Elmtree57, a good start would be my free sleep training course — you might also find it helpful to check out the Insomnia Coach podcast and/or the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel!
If you have specific questions or concerns about your sleep, please let us know!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Very few people consider the danger posed by an aggressive mountain goat! On a more serious note, I think you shared an important insight that making space for panic might take a bit of practice — and our goal is never to eliminate panic but simply to change our relationship with it.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Abandoning any expectations around sleep is something many people have found helpful! More difficult is trying not to worry, trying not to think, or otherwise trying to control where the mind wants to go — because, like sleep itself, we don’t have much control over what our brain generates!
What can be really helpful is recognizing that the mind will always want to wander, worry, and generate difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions — while also recognizing that we always have control over how we react to them.
So, we get to choose whether we react in a way that can perpetuate those difficult feelings and can lead to behaviors that move us away from the kind of life we want to live or whether we react by accepting and acknowledging the feelings our mind generates and then continuing to move toward the kind of life we want to live, even in the presence of difficult and uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
I hope this is helpful!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
It’s normal and natural to feel scared! You might find this other forum topic relevant: Insomnia now for almost two months and this YouTube video might be helpful, too: Why you just can’t seem to get off the sleeping pills or supplements when you have insomnia.
You definitely can sleep without the medication, Elmtree57! Having a clear plan in place for eliminating the meds (while also implementing techniques that help create good conditions for sleep) is often a good way forward and might be worth discussing with your doctor.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Wonderful! Thanks for the update!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Shift work is tough on the body clock (and is outside my real area of expertise). I would suggest exploring whether there might be a sleep schedule you could keep relatively consistent, regardless of your shift (and any days off) so any swing (particularly with your out of bed time in the mornings) isn’t too big.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
The brain is hard-wired to activate panic mode — it’s the reason why every single human being is alive on the planet today. Without the sensitive panic mode, our ancestors would have been eaten by saber-toothed tigers (or aggressive mountain goats) long, long ago!
That panic mode is definitely uncomfortable and doesn’t feel good. So it’s natural that we want to avoid it or fight it when it fires up. However, as you know, that only gets us trapped in the struggle.
So, it can be helpful to make some space for panic mode to fire up and do what it wants to do. Eventually, the brain will figure out there’s no real threat and return to standby mode. Allowing panic mode to activate when it wants and to run its own course isn’t easy, though — and takes a lot of practice!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
I appreciate the kind words and the update, Cathyo!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
You are definitely NOT alone and you are not going through anything unique or unusual — sometimes it can be helpful to listen to the insomnia stories of others because we might then recognize how similar our insomnia is to that of others. If we also hear how others (who had the same insomnia as us) improved their sleep, it can provide us with hope, reassurance, and confidence!
You CAN sleep!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
If going to bed at 6:00 AM, sleeping through until 2:00 PM, and napping whenever you please works for you, is something you are happy with, and allows you to live life according to your values, then nobody has the right to tell you that this is wrong or needs to change.
You are the expert on you, Tommi!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Welcome to the forum, Gdou! Going 24 hours with no sleep is very difficult indeed — no doubt about it! The good news is that after a night of no sleep whatsoever, sleep drive will be very high and that makes sleep way more likely on subsequent nights (even though our mind tries to trick us into believing that a difficult night makes another difficult night more likely).
In my experience, contingent use of sleeping pills can make things more difficult compared to simply taking medication on a consistent schedule because contingent use often leads to all the “mental gymnastics” associated with deciding whether or when to reach for medication. We also continually erode sleep confidence when heightened sleep drive following difficult nights generates more sleep but we believe sleep only occurred because we reached for a pill.
Thanks for sharing that you have enrolled in the free sleep training course. If you are able to implement the techniques I share, I am confident you will rediscover confidence in your natural ability to sleep!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Thanks for checking in and sharing your progress, Jim! It sounds as though you are continuing to do well and you know exactly what you personally find helpful when it comes to creating good conditions for sleep!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Welcome to the forum! You mentioned that you are practicing sleep hygiene, so it sounds as though you are motivated to make some changes! When we’ve had insomnia for a long time, sleep hygiene alone isn’t always helpful since it doesn’t always tackle the thoughts and behaviors that can perpetuate sleep disruption.
Have you tried implementing any of the techniques I describe on the page about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)?
The fear you describe is normal and natural! Unfortunately, that’s something we can’t really control because, as human beings, we experience a number of different (and intense) emotions — and fear is one of them. Fortunately, what we can control are our actions and our behaviors and that’s all that truly matters since our actions and our behaviors determine whether we create good conditions for sleep to happen and whether we do things that move us toward the kind of life we want to live.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Welcome to the forum, Rachel — and thanks for sharing that you have decided to try sleep restriction to build sleep drive and reduce the amount of time available for nighttime wakefulness.
I think you shared a big insight that obsessing over sleep takes away from time you spend with your children. There are two things we can do here:
1. Recognize that the mind will always wander and latch onto current or potential difficulties — when this happens, we might practice reminding ourselves that this is normal. Then, we might gently guide our attention back to the present moment rather than trying to fight what our mind wants to do!
2. Recognize that we can replace any behaviors connected to obsessing over sleep (such as ongoing sleep-related research) with activities that are more aligned with our values and help move us toward the kind of life we want to live.
You might also enjoy my podcast episode with Cindy — here’s a link: How Cindy tackled the insomnia that appeared after her baby was born by accepting nighttime wakefulness and eliminating safety behaviors (#31).
I hope this helps!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your current struggle with insomnia. Have you tried implementing any cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help create better conditions for sleep?
Eileen is a registered nurse of over 30 years — she took sleeping pills almost every day for 15 years and now sleeps well (without medication) thanks to CBT-I techniques. You can listen to her story by clicking this link: How Eileen used CBT-I techniques to improve her sleep after taking sleeping pills almost every day for 15 years (#11).
I hope this helps!
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
