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As suggested by Chee, it might be worth extending that sleep window a little! When you wake and feel unrefreshed, does that feeling change as the day progresses?
—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 the great question, Suzie (please note that I am NOT a doctor)! When it comes to implementing sleep restriction it can be helpful to think of the start of your sleep window as your earliest possible bedtime — so if the sleep window begins and you don’t feel sleepy enough for sleep, it might be worth not going to bed until you do feel sleepy enough for sleep.
However, regardless of when you go to bed or how the night goes, it’s recommended to stick to that consistent final out of bed time. In your case, that would mean always being out of bed at 5:00 AM. Sometimes this can lead to less sleep in the short-term (for example, you might fall asleep at 4:30 AM) but if you are looking to improve your sleep for the long-term, sometimes it’s worth sacrificing a bit of sleep in the short-term in order to enjoy better sleep for the rest of your life!
—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 such a big insight — thank you 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.
Since it’s usually not helpful to try to STOP thinking (that’s a bit like trying to stop breathing!) it might be helpful to explore the possibility of whether you might be able to change your reaction or relationship with the thoughts you have that seem to generate panic and anxiety.
Why do you think you put such pressure on yourself to sleep? What is the catastrophic outcome that seems to be so likely to happen if/when you find it hard to fall asleep?
—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.
Glad to hear that your husband is sleeping better! I think that waking up hot from dreams is probably something best discussed with a 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.
I think that, often, the best way to respond to temporary sleep disruption is to minimize our reaction because it’s often our response that can perpetuate sleep disruption (napping during the day, for example, can reduce sleep drive and make it harder to sleep at night).
You might want to look at getting a vibrating alarm that you can place on your wrist or under your pillow if you feel that having a quieter alarm is increasing arousal close to the time you need to be out of bed.
In terms of modifying the sleep window as you continue to make progress, here’s a video about this:
How (and when) to change your sleep window when implementing sleep restriction for chronic insomnia.
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.
I don’t think it’s very unusual to find it a bit harder to fall asleep when we are out later at night — very often it’s worth the trade-off in order to have an enjoyable and enriching social life!
It might be helpful to explore what it is about the idea or experience of having a difficult night that seems to generate concern and has you reaching for a sleeping tablet.
Sometimes, accepting a difficult night of sleep can be the key to experiencing less worry about a difficult night and experiencing fewer difficult nights!
—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 I hope you’ve found the support here helpful so far!
Reading your posts, it sounds as though there might be some “anxiety avoidance” going on — and trying to avoid anxiety is often the fastest route to more anxiety and heightened arousal!
If you are able to explore the possibility of changing the way you interpret or react to the thoughts that usually generate anxiety, and perhaps even become more accepting of these thoughts (since, after all, thoughts are just thoughts and not facts) you might find that — in response — they generate less anxiety and worry.
Have you been able to explore the thoughts you have that seem to generate anxiety? When you feel anxious, what is going through your mind?
—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 asked about what you can do to stop your mind from racing — to be honest, I don’t think it’s usually helpful to try to suppress thinking or thoughts since that takes a lot of effort and just makes sleep more difficult.
Instead, it can be helpful to explore the thoughts you have. What kind of thoughts are you having that lead to that racing mind?
Thoughts are just thoughts! It’s our reaction to those thoughts — our relationship with those thoughts — that determines whether they lead to more arousal or not.
—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.
Have you been able to identify any of the thoughts that seem to generate an anxious response? That can sometimes be a good place to start when it comes to tackling sleep-related 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.
As has already been pointed out, it’s best to discuss medication with your prescribing physician. What I would like to add is that since no medication can generate sleep, the four hours of sleep you get after taking 5mg of Ambien is still sleep that your body is generating all by itself!
Medication can generate sedation and medication can help lower that initial obstacle to sleep (often worry about sleep) but the only thing that generates sleep is our own biological sleep drive!
When we have been awake for long enough, we will always 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.
It sure sounds as though you’ve tried lots of different things in a bid to improve your sleep! However, I didn’t see any mention of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques. Is that something you’ve heard of or tried?
—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, Tatyana! It might be helpful to explore the thoughts that seem to be generating that anxiety — what do you think would have happened if you had gone into work after zero hours of 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.
It sounds as though pinpointing the source of that anxiety might be helpful. What is it about the idea of being awake through the night that seems to generate anxiety? What is going through your mind when you feel that 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.
Those setbacks sure can be very disheartening, stressful, and concerning — but they are all part of the process. The only way you can regress is if you abandon all the techniques you previously found helpful!
If you keep moving forward your sleep will get back on track because the techniques you have learned and have been implementing help to build sleep drive, strengthen the body clock, and lower arousal. In other words, they rob insomnia of the oxygen it needs to survive for the long-term.
What is the start time and end time of your current sleep window? You mentioned that you are implementing stimulus control — what is your current cue to get out of bed and when do you decide to return to bed?
—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.
