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This is great to hear, Glynis — implement the techniques consistently and your sleep will improve!
—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, Dottie! Glynis has some good advice — keeping the mind somewhat engaged can be helpful at keeping you awake. Any form of movement is good, too.
Do you currently have a sleep window? If so, when does it start and when does it end? On a typical night, how many hours of sleep do you get?
—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.
Did you try implementing anything you read about in The Sleep Book? If so, how long did you try those techniques?
That book requires quite a high level of skill and results take time. You might want to start with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) since the improvements become noticeable a bit quicker. As you start to regain some sleep confidence, it can be helpful to move onto ACT techniques as described in that book.
I actually discussed the differences between CBT-I and ACT with clinical psychologist Nick Wignall in this podcast episode.
In the meantime, it’s not too surprising that you didn’t find sleeping tablets, lavender, sleep sprays, hand creams, magnesium, or relaxation apps helpful — they won’t fix chronic insomnia because they don’t address the root cause of chronic insomnia (the thoughts and behaviors we have and implement in response to our sleep issues that make it harder for our sleep to recover).
CBT-I is so effective because it addresses the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate 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.
Hello Edgar
48 hours of no sleep means you’re almost certainly going to sleep the next time your sleep window comes around — exactly as you experienced and described in your follow-up post.
The key to consistent sleep is a consistent sleep window — because when you give in to the temptation of getting even more sleep by sleeping in later than normal, there is less time for sleep drive to build during the day to help you sleep the following night.
So, it’s just as important to try to stick to that consistent out of bed time after a good night of sleep as it is to stick to it after a bad night of sleep.
One thing that stood out from your post was this:
“Right now I’m lying in my bed crying knowing that I have to wait some 15 hours to try to get to sleep again.”
You don’t want to be in bed when awake, anxious, frustrated, or angry. You only want to be in bed during your sleep window and when you are sleeping or relaxed enough for sleep. Staying in bed when awake and anxious/frustrated reinforces an association between the bed and wakefulness and all those negative emotions rather than sleep and relaxation.
If you want to make the bed a strong cue for sleep and relaxation, it’s important to make sure that you are only in bed when you are asleep or relaxed.
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.
In addition to the pauses in breathing being associated with apnea, they may also be a symptom of hypervigilance. So, I’d suggest talking to your doctor and getting assessed for sleep apnea. If nothing is found, then you might find this thread helpful:
https://insomniacoach.com/forums/topic/jerking-self-awake-when-falling-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.
Any ideas why you started waking earlier? Waking within 40 minutes of your usual wake time is still quite consistent so this isn’t something I’d be too concerned with. Are you checking the clock when you wake? If so, you might find it helpful to stop doing that!
—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. Some of us are a bit more predisposed to sleep disruption — but that doesn’t mean that one night of poor sleep has to lead to a long-term problem with sleep.
As long as we don’t react to short-term sleep disruption, we allow our sleep to recover by itself — and it will usually do so relatively quickly.
It’s usually only when we respond to a poor night of sleep and then do things in a bid to compensate for a bad night or to improve our sleep that sleep issues stick around for longer than they otherwise would.
—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 a lot of things, but I didn’t see any mention of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques — and this is the most effective treatment option for chronic insomnia.
Have you tried CBT-I, diecha?
—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.
Unfortunately, it sounds as though you’ve tried a lot of things that have no evidence to support their effectiveness, Guguliney.
A new mattress won’t cure chronic insomnia. Nor will pills, injections, music, or a different diet.
What will almost certainly improve your sleep is the implementation of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques. Is this something you’ve 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.
Glad to hear you’re doing better, Gabriella! Dropping that urge to try to control sleep and to put effort into sleep can be hard, but it really does help. As soon as we get out of the way of sleep, sleep becomes a lot easier! Continue to look forward and I’m sure your sleep will continue to improve!
—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 posting the video, @delv-x! I think that, ultimately, when it comes to travel it can be helpful to simply expect sleep to be disrupted. Instead of worrying about “what ifs” try to focus your attention on all the fantastic things you’ll be doing during the day!
When your away, stick with this trend. Enjoy every day. Experience everything you can experience. I suspect you’ll be quite surprised by how well you end up sleeping when you’re away!
With enough wakefulness, we will always sleep — so remember that you CAN 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.
Those ups and downs are very common if you don’t have a consistent (and appropriate) sleep schedule. When do you typically go to bed at night, and when do you get out of bed in the morning? On an average night, how many hours of sleep would you say you get?
You might also find this video helpful: What to do when you go through an endless cycle of bad sleep followed by better 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.
Sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with sleep. Some good news for you — Ann had insomnia for over 30 years and now sleeps well. So, there is hope for you!
Have you given cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) a try?
—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, Pixor.
It’s our response to the initial sleep disruption that usually dictates how long it will take for our sleep to recover.
If you avoid the temptation to compensate for temporary sleep disruption by doing things like spending more time in bed, modifying your day, and trying all different kinds of sleep remedies, your sleep will almost certainly recover quite quickly all by itself.
How are you getting since you posted?
—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 Dylan and welcome to the forum.
So, we have the precipitating factors that disrupted your sleep — caffeine pills and studying for exams. We also have the perpetuating factors — medication, alcohol, and sleep-related worry. These are the things I can identify from your post that are making it hard for you to get your sleep back on track.
The good news is that there isn’t anything particularly uncommon or unusual in your story. So, since virtually everyone who got their sleep back on track using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has a similar story to yours, there is no reason to believe you can’t get your sleep back on track, too.
Have you heard of (or tried) CBT-I?
—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.
