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It sounds as though you have noticed improvements in your sleep since starting sleep restriction but whenever you start to extend your sleep window you start to struggle. Am I right?
This can happen if you extend your sleep window by too much time, or too frequently. When you last extended your sleep window, how much time did you add to your sleep window and how long did you stick with that new sleep window before reducing it again?
You might find this video helpful: How (and when) to change your sleep window when implementing sleep restriction for 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.
Welcome to the forum. First of all, how long have you been implementing the technique of getting out of bed when you’re finding it hard to fall back to sleep? This is a technique that requires time to work because we’re ultimately trying to recondition you to see the bed as a place for sleep rather than wakefulness.
Also, make sure you aren’t getting out of bed prematurely. If you wake (which is a normal part of sleep) and feel calm and relaxed, it’s OK to stay in bed since the conditions are right for sleep. If you start to feel worried, anxious, frustrated, etc — that’s your cue to get out of bed until you feel calm and relaxed again.
If you aren’t already doing so, you will likely also find it very helpful to avoid checking the time when you wake during the night.
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.
When you say that the camomile tea, a banana and valerian started to “work”, what do you mean by this? None of those things can generate sleep or sleepiness. The only thing that can generate sleep is our own biological sleep drive — and this is something we never lose and is something that never goes away. If we are awake for long enough, we will ALWAYS sleep.
Unfortunately, sleep-related worry and the behaviors we implement to try to improve our sleep can often make sleep more difficult and that’s why many people can struggle with sleep for long periods of time.
Ultimately, you will likely find it helpful to learn more about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
On the subject of those body jerks, here’s a good thread that I think you’ll find helpful:
Jerking self awake when falling asleep / hypnic jerks?
—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’ve got this, Rob! What techniques are you currently implementing in order to improve your 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.
What you are describing is quite common and is often a symptom of hyperarousal.
First of all, it can be helpful to understand that waking during the night is common and is actually a normal part of sleep. With that being said, if we start to worry or become concerned by these awakenings, it can become harder to fall back to sleep — and the consequent struggle after that awakening can train us to see these awakenings as awful events that predict hours of struggle. This, of course, perpetuates the problem.
In these circumstances, it can be very helpful to simply get out of bed as soon as you start to feel worried, anxious, or frustrated about being awake. When you feel calm and relaxed again, return to bed and see what happens. You may need to repeat this process.
If you combine this technique with allotting an appropriate amount of time for sleep and following a regular sleep window, you will start to spend more time in bed asleep rather than awake and this can help reduce that intense level of arousal.
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.
If you remember a dream, then you slept! When do you normally go to bed at night and get out of bed to start your day in the morning? How are you feeling during the day?
—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.
Sorry to hear this! When you wake during the night, why do you think you find it hard to fall back to sleep? When do you currently go to bed at night and when do you get out of bed to start your day?
—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 — I’m so encouraged to hear that you’re implementing evidence-based techniques such as sleep restriction to improve your sleep and that you are already noticing that it’s becoming easier to fall asleep. When you wake during the night, why do you think you find it hard to fall back 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.
Welcome to the forum.
It’s important to bear in mind that fatigue (feeling drained) is not the same as sleepiness — so it can be easy to go to bed before we are actually ready for sleep. Taking time to unwind before going to bed can help you relax, calm your mind, and recognize sleepiness cues.
You mentioned that you work 12-hour shifts. Do these shifts always start and end at the same time or do they regularly change?
—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 you go to bed around 8:00 PM and get out of bed at 4:00 AM, you are allotting eight hours for sleep. If you typically average between four and six hours of sleep you might find it helpful to allot a bit less time for sleep to reduce the amount of time you spend awake at night and build sleep drive.
Here’s more about this technique, known as sleep restriction.
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.
What things are you doing in order to help you reach your goal? Make sure you aren’t putting any pressure on yourself to sleep — we can’t control sleep, and any attempt to do so only makes sleep more difficult!
—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.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques are very effective because they address the perpetuating factors behind insomnia.
The perpetuating factors are the things we do in response to bad nights of sleep that actually make it harder for our sleep to get back on track. Examples include researching sleep, thinking about sleep, worrying about sleep, and behaviors such as spending more time in bed, trying to conserve energy during the day, and modifying our lives in response to poor sleep.
These perpetuating factors make it hard for our sleep to get back on track because they lead to one (or all) of the following problems — sleep drive disruption, body clock disruption, and higher levels of arousal (for example, sleep-related worry, conditioned arousal, and physiological arousal).
The good news is, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques address all these perpetuating factors so they are really effective at helping you make long term improvements to your sleep.
Although the techniques are relatively straightforward, they can be challenging to commit to and implement consistently. This is why it can be helpful to work alongside a coach or other supportive guide.
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.
Menopause can definitely trigger sleep disruption due to the hormonal changes that are going on — however, sleep will often be able to recover all by itself once the body has adapted to these changes. If it doesn’t, and sleep problems linger for months or even years, this is almost certainly down to our sleep-related thoughts and behaviors — the perpetuating factors behind chronic insomnia.
I think it’s helpful to know about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques so that you can implement appropriate behaviors and reduce the risk that you’ll end up perpetuating the problem. Ultimately, we want to give sleep the best chance possible!
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’m looking forward to adding your success story alongside Ann’s who is one of our other record holders, having lived with insomnia for 30 years!
—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 want to ask your doctor about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). CBT-I helps you identify and address the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate insomnia — and that’s what makes it so effective as a long-term treatment for 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.
