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Welcome to the forum. Your post is a perfect example of chronic insomnia — and for chronic insomnia, the best treatment option is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
How are you getting on since you posted? You mentioned that you were doing really well but you hit a rough patch over the previous week. If you keep looking forward, it’s likely that your sleep will get right back on track all by itself.
It sounds as though you’re doing really well at identifying some of the thoughts that are generating anxiety — make sure you also take some time to evaluate them for accuracy. When you do this, you will almost certainly realize that the thoughts that are generating so much anxiety aren’t very accurate!
For example, how accurate is the thought that insomnia will kill you? Nobody dies from insomnia because after being awake for long enough, we will always sleep — we never lose the ability to sleep. How accurate is the thought that tomorrow will be ruined after a night of poor (or no sleep)? Have there been times when you’ve been able to get through the day after a bad night? Maybe noticed some OK moments? Maybe even had a good day?
This video might be worth a watch: What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to 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.
It sounds as though you have bog-standard chronic insomnia, Lauriso. I doubt a hypnogram will be helpful since sleep apnea has already been ruled out by your doctor.
Have you talked to your doctor about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (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.
It doesn’t sound as though there’s a medical issue behind your insomnia since so many possibilities have already been investigated and ruled out.
Ultimately, there are only three perpetuating factors behind chronic insomnia — sleep drive disruption (this usually occurs when we allot too much time for sleep), body clock disruption (this usually occurs when we get out of bed at very different times each day), and arousal.
Arousal can take three forums — cognitive arousal (anxious thoughts), conditioned arousal (we’ve learned to associate the bed with wakefulness), and physiological arousal (for example, we experience things like a racing heart or cold sweats when we’re in bed, about to go to bed, or just think about bed).
The good news is that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) addresses all of the perpetuating thoughts and behaviors behind chronic insomnia, and this is why it’s such an effective long-term treatment 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.
We all have automatic thoughts during the day (and night!) that can seem completely accurate when we first have them but if we take some time to evaluate them we can see that they are rarely as accurate as they first seem — and this can strip them of their power to generate a powerful emotional response.
So, don’t blame yourself for having these thoughts — just continue to recognize that they are just thoughts and that they aren’t even particularly accurate!
You might find this video helpful: What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to insomnia.
Are you implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help address the behavioral side of 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.
Setbacks are completely normal — the key to success is not to pay too much attention to them and to keep looking forward!
—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.
Why do you think you are finding it hard to fall back to sleep when you wake during the night?
Do you still feel sleepy when you wake and can’t fall back to sleep? It’s important to explore the possibility that you may simply have just got enough sleep.
If you feel as though you need more sleep, let’s dig a bit deeper. When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed to start your day, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical 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.
So glad to hear that things are improving — how are you getting on 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.
Welcome to the forum. First of all, let me reassure you that you can sleep and that you don’t need medication to sleep! Have you looked into (or tried) cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)? It’s the best 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.
You should sleep in whichever position you feel comfortable in. It’s normal to move position during the night anyway, so the position you start out in really doesn’t matter.
Sleep position isn’t a perpetuating factor behind insomnia so it’s something you really don’t need to spend much time thinking or worrying about.
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.
How are you getting on since you posted, Okaph? I’m glad to hear that you were noticing improvements after just one week of sleep restriction! That is very impressive and encouraging!
Usually, the best thing to do when you feel anxious is to try to uncover and evaluate the thought that created the anxiety. In your example, it seems that you had the thought that you would not sleep. How accurate do you think such a thought is? I am sure there have been nights when you didn’t sleep, but have there been nights when you did sleep? How many nights are there when you do sleep compared to when you don’t sleep?
The fact that you reached for the Ambien and then slept actually proves the inaccuracy of the thought you had that triggered so much anxiety — you did sleep. Sleeping pills cannot generate sleep. The only thing that can generate sleep is your own biological sleep drive.
When you are able to identify and evaluate the thought that is creating anxiety, you will often see that the thought that is causing so much worry isn’t very accurate — and this can make the thought less worrying.
You might want to watch this video, “What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to 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.
Welcome to the forum, Welly! First of all, it’s important to recognize that you CAN drop off to sleep — if you stay awake for long enough, you will eventually sleep. However, if falling asleep is a problem, there are definitely things that can be done to make that process a bit easier.
At the current time, when do you usually go to bed and when do you get out of bed to start your day? Roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night, and why do you think you find it hard to fall asleep when you get into 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.
Hello almondbrowneyes and welcome to the forum. So, we can see that you are sleeping but you would almost certainly benefit from getting more sleep! So, let’s see what we can do about that!
When do you currently go to bed at night, and when do you get out of bed to start your day in the morning?
How accurate do you think the belief that you will NEVER sleep again actually is? Have you ever heard of someone who NEVER gets any sleep whatsoever or someone who has lost the ability 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.
Hello Benny! Candles, melatonin, and meditation cannot generate sleep — so I’m not surprised that they didn’t do anything!
What time do you normally go to bed at night and when do you get out of bed to start your day? Are you still typically averaging around five to six hours of sleep? When you wake after 10-15 minutes, what do you think is stopping you from falling 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.
This sounds psychological to me, and could very well be a symptom of conditioned arousal. In other words, you have learned that if you don’t fall asleep between 10:00 PM and 11:30 PM you will find it hard to sleep because this has happened so many times.
Let me ask you this, have you ever had a difficult night of sleep when you fell asleep between 10:00 PM and 11:30 PM, or is your night always 100% perfect when you’re able to fall asleep between those times?
Let me also ask you this — if you forced yourself to stay awake for five days straight (I am not suggesting this!), do you think you’d be able to fall asleep outside of that 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM sleep window? I imagine you would be able to because you would be extremely sleepy.
It sounds as though arousal is the perpetuating factor behind your insomnia — and the best treatment option for chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
Nothing in your post makes me think that you wouldn’t be a good candidate for CBT-I.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
—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.
Ups and downs are completely normal — and that’s why you should use at least one week of sleep diary data (ideally two weeks) before evaluating your sleep window. How are you getting on since you posted, hutch?
—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.
