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Your experience is not unusual and fits the model of how chronic insomnia develops from a night of bad sleep with an identifiable trigger into a longer-term problem.
I think you’ll find this video helpful: How one night of poor sleep can turn into 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.
Hello Irina and welcome to the forum. Everything you describe is quite typical for people with chronic insomnia. Usually, the best thing to do when you are in bed and feel wide awake and anxious is to get out of bed until you feel relaxed and sleepy again.
Have you looked into cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques? I think you’ll find them helpful.
You might find this video helpful, too:
Why CBT-I is so effective when worry, anxiety, and a racing mind are fueling your 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.
I think you’ll find the free sleep training course helpful, Huj. If you have any questions as you go through the course, please let me know.
—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 Alison and thanks for the good questions!
We don’t typically record the kind of sleep we get on a sleep diary since this is not constructive because we have no control over sleep stages. Sleep is an autonomous process and the body decides how much time we spend in each sleep stage. If we try to control this, the end result is worse sleep.
What I can tell you is that when we have a bad night, the body compensates by prioritizing deep sleep so although you feel as though you are getting a lot of light sleep, you are far more likely than not to be getting enough deep sleep.
By consolidating sleep (and improving sleep efficiency) we typically see better overall sleep quality over time. Observing a regular (and appropriate) sleep window also helps build sleep drive and this can also help to increase sleep quality.
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 wsh and welcome to the forum. The way your insomnia developed is not unusual so I see no reason why CBT-I techniques will not be helpful for you. You might find this short video helpful:
How one night of poor sleep can turn into chronic insomnia
Are you working on CBT-I with a therapist? Your sleep window sounds a bit too long compared to your current average nightly sleep duration. If you are currently getting around five-and-a-quarter hours of sleep each night, I’d suggest starting with a sleep window of around five hours and 45 minutes.
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.
Sorry to hear about your struggle with nighttime awakenings, 12sleep. 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. Are you currently receiving any kind of therapy or treatment for your anxiety or your sleep issues? Many people find it helpful to combine coming off sleep medication with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques since these techniques help address sleep-related worry and anxiety, help you regain confidence in your ability to sleep and will help improve your sleep over the long term.
—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 love your positive attitude and I think this goes a long way towards helping people with chronic insomnia get their sleep back on track.
Can you tell us a bit more about your current sleep pattern? When do you currently 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.
Hello John and sorry to hear about your recent difficulties with sleep. The key to recovery is to act as though your sleep hasn’t been disrupted. In other words, don’t try to compensate for the bad nights of sleep. Don’t go to bed earlier than normal, don’t nap during the day, don’t stay in bed later than normal, and don’t cancel plans or try to conserve energy.
If you trust your sleep system to get back on track by itself, I am confident it will do so. Sleep drive always wins — you will not be able to go without sleep indefinitely. Sleep will happen.
Remember that you have experienced seven months of good sleep. You know you are capable of sleep and so, in the grand scheme of things, this is a very minor setback. Concentrate your attention on all the good nights you had, don’t try forcing sleep or doing things like sleeping during the day, and I think your sleep will get back on track sooner rather than later.
—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 can’t offer specific advice because I don’t know enough about you and your sleep.
Unfortunately, without you enrolling as a client I can only give general suggestions.
A sleep window of 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM would mean allotting seven hours for sleep which is still significantly longer than your typical nightly sleep duration.
You might find the resources page about sleep restriction helpful.
—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, Matthew Walker’s book is one of the worst books written about sleep, particularly for those with insomnia. It is full of scare mongering and encourages people who may be sleeping just fine to work on sleeping more. This can actually trigger insomnia.
In fact, I have worked with clients who had no problem with sleep until they read this book and then worried about their sleep and tried to get more sleep than they needed.
This worry and attempt to control sleep made their sleep worse and led to chronic insomnia.
I have nothing good to say about this book and highly recommend everyone avoid it. In my opinion, it is doing significantly more harm than good.
If you currently sleep well and feel fine during the day, I would encourage you not to try to control sleep, not to try to get more sleep, and not to interfere with sleep since doing so can easily lead to sleep becoming worse rather than better. I have seen this happen and seen the negative impact it had on others and I do not want this to happen to you, too.
—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! If you follow a sleep schedule of bed at 4:00 AM or 5:00 AM and get out of bed between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM, do you have any issues with sleep?
If not, you may be experiencing delayed sleep phase syndrome — this is a circadian rhythm issue rather than insomnia. Someone who specializes in circadian rhythm disorders may be able to help you adapt your sleep schedule to more socially acceptable hours.
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.
Good to hear from you again, Phil. So, right now, it sounds as though you are allotting roughly nine hours for sleep (you go to bed at 9:00 PM and get out of bed around 6:00 AM) any you typically manage around four hours of sleep (on a good night).
With this in mind, we can see that you’re likely allotting too much time for sleep compared to your current sleep “capability”.
In other words, right now you are able to generate roughly four hours of sleep (we want this to increase, but right now this is what you are capable of). Spending nine hours in bed is, therefore, only going to lead to five hours of guaranteed wakefulness.
This wakefulness increases sleep-related worry and frustration, leads to lighter and more fragmented sleep, and makes it very hard for you to improve your sleep.
You would likely find it helpful to reduce the amount of time you allot to more closely match the amount of sleep you currently get on a typical night (I’d suggest starting with a sleep window of around five-and-a-half hours).
This will lead to less time awake, more consolidated sleep, and better sleep quality. As sleep quality improves, you will feel better during the day, sleep drive will become stronger, and — over time — you will start to get more 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.
If you are feeling calm, sleepy, and relaxed, then it might be worth giving yourself some more time to fall back to sleep when you wake during the night. Most “good sleepers” take anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes to fall asleep, and waking during the night is actually quite normal.
—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 struggles with sleep, Pat. When do you normally go to bed at night? Do you get out of bed at a consistent time each day? When you wake during the night, what do you think is stopping you from falling back to sleep relatively quickly?
—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.
