Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
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.
Probably best to let the doctors figure this one out — glad to hear you’re getting it investigated!
—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!
Unfortunately, striving or trying to get a certain amount of sleep can often be our biggest obstacle to reaching that goal because we have absolutely no control over sleep duration. When we try to control sleep, sleep usually becomes more difficult.
With this in mind, it might be worth exploring why you feel you need to get at least six hours of sleep. What if you got five hours and 15 minutes of sleep? What about five hours and 10 minutes of sleep? What about four hours and 50 minutes of sleep? Are those kinds of sleep durations 100% responsible for the quality of your life or is it possible that your reaction to how much sleep you get might have a role (perhaps more of a role, even that sleep duration alone)?
It’s good to hear you are implementing a consistent sleep window to help bring some consistency to your sleep! When you wake during the night (which is a normal part of sleep!) it can be helpful not to check the time since that often increases arousal and can make falling back to sleep more difficult.
I would usually suggest giving yourself until the end of your chosen sleep window to sleep. If you wake during the night and it feels good in bed, there’s no need to do anything since conditions are right for sleep! If it doesn’t feel good to be in bed, it might be helpful to get out of bed to do something a bit more appealing until conditions feel right for sleep.
Your alarm might go off when you are out of bed, but it might not!
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.
Since you mentioned that every day is different in terms of when you get out of bed to start your day, that might be something worth tackling since an inconsistent out of bed time disrupts the body clock and makes it hard to generate any kind of consistency with sleep.
Without a regular rise time, the body clock can start sending wake signals through your body when you want to be asleep, and it can allow sleep signals to take over when you want to be awake.
You said you normally get between three and five hours of sleep each night, which is quite a big range!
If you are going to bed sometime between 10:00 PM and 11:30 PM and getting out of bed any time from 5:00 AM onwards, you might be allotting too much time for sleep compared to your average nightly sleep duration at the current time. This can lead to more time awake at night and lighter/more fragmented sleep.
So, with all this in mind, it might be worth creating a sleep window with an earliest possible bedtime and a final out of bed time in the morning and sticking to that for at least a few weeks to see what effect that has on your nighttime awakenings and the quality of 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.
