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This is a great discussion!
Here’s the thing about anxiety — it comes from thoughts.
Anxiety can make us feel uncomfortable — but it cannot harm us.
Here’s the thing about thoughts — they are just thoughts.
Thoughts can make us feel uncomfortable — but they cannot harm us.
Often, it’s our attempts to avoid or suppress our thoughts or our anxieties that make them feel more powerful and more unpleasant (and this, of course, serves to make sleep more difficult, too).
Perhaps, instead of trying to avoid or suppress our thoughts it might be more helpful to acknowledge and accept them? To recognize them as thoughts, perhaps to even name those thoughts (“Oh, there’s that “I’ll never sleep again” thought — welcome back, old friend!”), to allow space for them, and to allow them to stick around for as long as they like, might help transform the relationship we have with our thoughts and the effect they might have on us.
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.
My answer to this one would be yes — because the body will always generate, at the very least, the bare minimum amount of sleep we need. With that in mind, we can survive indefinitely with whatever sleep the body generates.
Often it’s our (quite understandable!) desire to get more sleep that makes it harder for the body to generate more than the bare minimum of sleep because our desire creates worse conditions for sleep by doing things like weakening our sleep drive, disrupting our body clock, and strengthening the arousal system.
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.
Hello Jerry!
Sleep is never impossible because sleep always happens in the end — it’s just that the sleep we get might not feel as good as we want it to feel or last for as long as we want it to last.
Unfortunately, nobody here (myself included) is qualified to offer you advice on the symptoms you described. Have you described the sudden onset of dry mouth 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.
Hello, chaz. Our sleep is sensitive to our overall sense of well-being, so it’s normal to experience some sleep disruption at times of stress, worry, or uncertainty. It sure sounds as though you have a lot on your plate right now — I hope things start to get a bit better for you soon.
—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!
When you wake around 4:00 AM, why do you think you find it hard to fall back to sleep?
I wonder if your desire to get eight hours of sleep (to fall asleep at 11:00 PM and wake at 7:00 AM) might be an obstacle to achieving that goal since we cannot control sleep in that way?
—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.
Hello Mel and welcome to the forum!
As you know from experience, sleeping pills aren’t an effective long-term treatment for chronic insomnia — and that’s because they don’t tackle the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate sleep disruption. So, it’s not unusual that you’re finding they aren’t doing much for you.
You will find many success stories from people who eliminated sleeping pills and got rid of their insomnia in the Insomnia Coach Podcast.
You are not alone, Mel. There is always hope and it is possible to move past insomnia, regardless of how long you have been living with it and no matter how extreme it feels. Suicide is never the answer and if you ever have suicidal thoughts it’s essential to speak to someone immediately.
—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.
This is great to hear, thanks for sharing!
—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.
Hello Jess. I’ve moved your last post into this thread that you started last year about stage 1 sleep. As you suggested, it’s entirely possible that your heightened awareness, monitoring, and focus on sleep are contributing to sleep difficulties. It might be difficult to move toward improved sleep for as long as you hold onto the idea that you are only getting stage 1 sleep and continue to focus so much attention on 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.
Hello Lucie! I admire your diligence in planning for a future where you pay absolutely zero attention to sleep!
You mentioned that you recently finished a course of CBT-I — did the person you worked with offer you any guidance on how to move away from the behavioral techniques you’ve been implementing as your sleep (and sleep confidence) improves?
If you wish to read in bed alongside your partner, my personal opinion would be to go for it, since we probably don’t want concern about sleep to make us remove pleasurable things from our lives!
You could always consider this to be an experiment — allow yourself to read in bed for a couple of weeks and at the end of the two weeks reflect back and consider what kind of impact it had (or didn’t have) on your sleep!
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.
It might be hard to find answers from individuals on this since most people who resolve their insomnia no longer visit insomnia forums!
What I can say from my own experience as a coach is that people with high levels of anxiety can successfully implement cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques — but they will likely find it helpful to work one-on-one with a licensed CBT-I therapist who has experience working with people with very high levels of anxiety.
—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 might also find my podcast episode with Dr. Jade Wu helpful — we talked about all the most common sleep and insomnia myths!
—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 sounds like you are on a very challenging journey — but it sounds as though you are taking constructive steps to improve your sleep for the long term by moving away from medication and working with a therapist.
Thank you for sharing. You are not alone.
—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.
Hello Usongc00 and welcome to the forum!
Congratulations on your decision to apply some cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques such as sleep restriction!
It sounds as though you are already experiencing some benefits with those fast sleep onset times. It can be helpful to bear in mind that waking during the night is a normal part of sleep so waking, by itself, isn’t something to be concerned by.
When you wake at night, are you finding it really hard to fall back to sleep? If so, why do you think that might be? Are you doing anything in response to that nighttime wakefulness after you wake and find it hard to fall back to sleep?
It’s great to know that you recognize you are practicing techniques that will be beneficial over the long term. You mentioned that you feel more tired during the day — since your sleep window is longer than your average nightly sleep duration, why do you feel that might be the case? Do you find this tiredness is the same from the moment you wake to the moment you go to bed at night, or does it vary according to the progress of the day or what you do during the day?
Everyone makes progress differently — but everyone who continues to implement techniques that build sleep drive, strengthen the body clock, and weaken the arousal system makes progress! You might find it helpful to turn to the Insomnia Coach Podcast for some motivation and inspiration!
—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.
First of all, if you have only one night of no sleep every two months or so, I think you might be doing a lot better than perhaps you give yourself credit for!
Since you feel as though you are still struggling, are any of those things you mentioned really “quick” or “fixes”?
Remember that after a night of absolutely no sleep, sleep drive will be really high — and that makes sleep increasingly likely. Sleep becomes more likely after difficult nights, not less likely (even though the brain tries to convince us otherwise).
I wonder if there might be anything you can do during the day, especially after difficult nights, to improve the quality of your days, lower fatigue a little, and help shift some focus/attention away from 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 sharing! I recorded a video on hypnic jerks for the YouTube channel for those who are interested in learning more about them.
—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.
