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Wow, what a transformation, Anne-Claire — a transformation that is entirely down to your own efforts and your own natural ability to sleep (and to sleep well)!
I particularly appreciate you sharing that you still have some difficult nights from time to time — because that’s a normal part of being a human being! What’s important (and a great testament to your progress) is that you no longer react to difficult nights in the same way that you once did — so your sleep can get right back on track all by itself.
Ultimately, it sounds as though you’ve abandoned all effort to control sleep and that you no2 simply allow your body to generate whatever sleep it chooses to generate — all while living the kind of life you want to live, regardless! If we can do that, insomnia just cannot survive for the long term!
—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.
Thank you so much for coming back and sharing your experience, Julie! As you suggested, the most effective ways of putting insomnia behind us often do take a lot of practice — ultimately, we are learning new skills and that takes time!
—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.
Thank you so much for coming back to share an update, Brett! When you consider the challenge of waking during the night and finding it hard to fall back to sleep, do you think there were any specific techniques that were most helpful for that specific issue or do you think all the techniques you shared were equally 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.
Thanks for sharing, Ken — especially in the context of you being a retired cognitive behavioral therapist!
—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.
That might be worth an experiment for a week or two! After all, if we consider that you might average six hours of sleep while allotting about eight-and-a-half hours for sleep, you are basically setting yourself up for up to two-and-a-half hours of wakefulness.
—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.
We typically see more sleep fragmentation later in the night — because the body prioritizes deep sleep, we usually get the deepest sleep in the first couple of hours of the night and then cycle through progressively lighter stages of sleep as the night progresses. So, your sketch doesn’t look particularly unusual.
In my experience, I often see people who are getting a good amount of sleep but still complaining about light and fragmented sleep allotting too much time for sleep. The extended sleep opportunity can lead to lighter and more fragmented sleep toward the end of the sleep period and this can, in turn, lead to a sense of heightened grogginess and fatigue.
I’m not a doctor, so I can’t give you specific advice, but it might be worth considering whether allotting a specific amount of time for sleep that is more closely aligned with your 7.5 hour sleep “target” (perhaps by setting an alarm and always getting out of bed by the same time each day) might be 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.
You shared a big insight in your post — that putting effort into sleep makes sleep more difficult!
Since your goal is to sleep without medication, have you tried implementing any cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help address the thoughts and behaviors that tend to perpetuate sleep disruption?
—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 not alone, Matt — and it’s normal to find your mind wandering and to find it more difficult to focus when you have difficult nights.
Quite often, difficult thoughts become most problematic when we try to fight or avoid them — because we have no control over the stuff our mind chooses to generate.
You might also find this video helpful: What to do when daytime activities feel more difficult & less enjoyable because of chronic insomnia.
—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 start time and end time of the sleep window usually matter less than its duration and the consistency of implementation. As we start to fill our sleep window with sleep, we can start to make the sleep window longer — perhaps in 15-minute increments. This can be done by starting the window 15 minutes earlier or ending it 15 minutes later.
Setting an alarm for the end of the sleep window can certainly give us one less thing to think/worry about during the night!
—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.
How are you getting on since you posted? Did you decide to try implementing any of the cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques I often talk about?
—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.
Do you think you would still be unable to sleep after 9:00 PM if you didn’t get any sleep whatsoever for the previous 10 days?
—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! Your insomnia sounds pretty typical — have you tried implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help create better 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.
Sometimes it can be helpful to recognize that waking during the night is a normal part of sleep. If we find it hard to fall back to sleep that’s usually because we aren’t sleepy enough for more sleep, our body clock might be disrupted (usually caused by an inconsistent out of bed time in the morning and/or daytime inactivity), and/or because we are putting pressure on ourselves to fall back to sleep, putting effort into falling back to sleep, or trying to fight or avoid difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions — such as 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.
There are people who cannot be helped by cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) — because there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution for chronic insomnia. However, they would be in the minority.
CBT-I is recognized as the most effective long-term treatment for chronic insomnia and that’s probably because it tackles the thought processes and behaviors that perpetuate sleep disruption. So, the vast majority of people who implement CBT-I techniques appropriately and consistently (and for long enough) do get results.
You mentioned that you have been going to bed earlier and earlier, which implies that you might not be implementing sleep restriction correctly.
I would also add that it’s not unusual for sleep to temporarily get worse when we start implementing CBT-I techniques. The goal is better sleep for the long-term and sometimes this involves accepting some short-term sleep disruption.
You might find it helpful to work one-on-one with a CBT-I therapist so you can troubleshoot your experience appropriately.
Finally, if you regularly find yourself falling asleep during the day or experiencing intense daytime sleepiness, it might be worth getting evaluated by a doctor since this could be a symptom of another sleep disorder (for example, sleep apnea).
—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 really hard on sleep — and is not really the focus of this forum, unfortunately. If you struggle with sleep and are a shift worker, I would suggest looking for someone who specializes in circadian rhythm sleep disorders (and who has experience helping shift workers).
—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.
