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Suicide is not the answer, gc22. If you are having suicidal thoughts, please call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255.
Unfortunately, as mentioned by @Carls, staying in bed is not helpful and can actually make insomnia worse. Psychiatrists tend to focus on medication management and prescriptions — have you seen a psychologist or therapist for your insomnia? Have you tried implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques with any of your medical providers?
—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 Drowsy. As mentioned by @Carls, chronic insomnia is not going to kill you. In fact, there is no evidence to state that chronic insomnia causes any health problem whatsoever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoX04HJihNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnVHQpVmFLwHave you asked your doctor whether he or she thinks you would be a good candidate for 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.
Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing your story.
How do you currently feel during the day, with your current sleep pattern? Do you find it hard to get through the day or do you feel quite well and have productive days?
—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 some great advice, @Padron1926!
Try not to dwell on whatever happened in the past, @Steve. If you make a mistake, recognize that mistake, and use it as a learning experience for the future.
The sleep window will usually take a few weeks of consistent implementation before you notice results. Even then, there will likely be a few remaining “holdout” nights of reduced quality sleep each week that will take a bit longer to get rid of. More on that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlfO0nm-WHY
It doesn’t really matter what you do when you get out of bed during the night to implement stimulus control techniques as long as you aren’t doing anything too stressful or activating. In other words, don’t watch Saving Private Ryan on the flatscreen with surround sound at maximum volume or start bouncing up and down on a trampoline!
Blue light isn’t really a problem when it comes to watching TV at night since we usually sit far away enough from the screen. I actually spoke about watching TV at night in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuHE462q_c8
You really don’t want to be falling asleep when out of bed and implementing stimulus control. As soon as you feel sleepy again, return to your bed and see what happens.
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, NoahDoor. I am sorry to hear that you have been struggling with sleep for such a long period of time.
Why do you think you have trouble falling asleep and falling back to sleep at night?
You mentioned that you are on medication for nighttime seizures — do you feel comfortable sharing your diagnosis? I am curious to know what was determined to be causing these seizures since this is not something associated with insomnia.
It sounds as though you have good sleep hygiene — but sleep hygiene doesn’t really help when it comes to tackling chronic insomnia. Have you talked to your doctor about (or tried) CBT for 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, Monica — and I am sorry to hear about your current struggles with sleep. Can you recall anything, in particular, that happened a month ago to trigger your current difficulties with sleep?
Can you tell me a bit more about your current sleep pattern? When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed in the morning, and how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night?
Why do you think you are finding it so hard to fall asleep at 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.
If my memory serves me well, I can’t think of anyone who has posted here with a long-term success story with any type of medication.
You can always try typing individual medication names into the forum search bar near the top of the page to find discussions that mention specific meds.
Have you looked into solutions for insomnia that don’t involve medication? Specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)? CBT-I is proven to be more effective than sleeping pills for the long-term and gives you skills that will be with you for the rest of your life.
—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, nightowl. Can you tell us a bit more about your current sleep pattern? When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed in the morning, and what happens in between those times?
—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 don’t offer private messaging in the forum due to the potential for misuse. I get a lot of spammers try to register here and post things about meds, meditation files, blankets, and various other “snake oils”. By not allowing private messaging, I can easily spot members who aren’t genuine, and — as a result — keep this community genuine.
If you would like to connect, each of you can contact me giving me permission to share your email addresses with one another.
To address the other comments from this discussion post:
1. There is no evidence that 5-Hydroxytryptophan is an effective treatment for chronic insomnia.
2. There is no evidence that diphenhydramine (the antihistamine in Benadryl) is an effective treatment for chronic insomnia. Even if it seems helpful at first, our body actually develops a tolerance to this drug after roughly three nights of use.
I am so encouraged that you decided not to call in sick to work, @Sleepless in SSB. When we do this, we often perpetuate the problem because we have no distractions during the day (so we spend much more time thinking and worrying about sleep) and we are far more likely/tempted to engage in compensatory behaviors that make sleep worse. Being inactive also leads to more fatigue (not less).
I spoke about this in these videos:
Rearranging your life around sleep only feeds your insomnia and makes the problem worse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJQ-pAs2wTM
Why it is so important not to compensate for a bad night of sleep when you have insomnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiwIs-ZOiuY
It’s also worth being aware of the fact that stimulus control (getting out of bed when unable to sleep) is a long-term strategy. It isn’t intended to improve sleep on the actual night the technique is implemented. Instead, it is designed to help you “relearn” to associate the bed with sleep, and therefore improve sleep.
Just as it took time for insomnia to develop, it takes time to address it.
—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 am so sorry to hear about the death of your friend. It is completely normal for sleep to be disrupted in response to traumatic events like this. The best thing you can do is avoid compensatory behaviors such as going to bed earlier than normal, staying in bed later than normal, napping during the day, etc. If you do this, it’s very likely that your sleep will recover all by itself.
Unfortunately, taking a month off work might make it harder for you to get your sleep back on track since this can lead to more time spent thinking and worrying about sleep, more opportunity for unhelpful compensatory behaviors (such as spending too much time in bed or taking daytime naps), and inactivity can lead to more fatigue.
If you choose to stay off work for the month, try to stay active and get out of the house every day. Try to be social, and try to avoid the compensatory behaviors I mentioned in this post.
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, Youngandtired. I am sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with sleep.
You mentioned that you have 20-30 restless events per night. Can you tell me more about what you mean by a “restless event”?
You also mentioned that you tried CBT through a sleep center but did not find this helpful (and you suspect that it wasn’t even true CBT-I). Can you tell us a bit more about this? What kind of techniques were you implementing and why do you feel they didn’t work?
—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, Len. In almost every case of chronic insomnia, the best treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Have you looked into CBT-I or tried implementing any CBT-I techniques?
—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 my experience, I’d say that about half of those with insomnia worry about traveling and the other half look forward to it!
Conditioned arousal is a problem for many people with insomnia — they have learned to associate their bed with anxiety and wakefulness. So, when they move to another bed (for example, in a hotel) they actually sleep quite well and look forward to getting away.
For those who dread traveling with insomnia, this tends to be a confidence problem. In other words, these people are already worried about their ability to sleep and the effects of poor sleep — and the idea of traveling leads to further worry about their ability to sleep and the effects of poor sleep.
The best thing to do is to tackle the insomnia using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques since these can help reduce sleep-related worry, help you regain confidence in your ability to sleep, and give you all the tools you need to tackle any sleep-related problems should they occur at any time again in the future.
—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, Dopey — and I am sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with pain and sleep.
You mentioned that you wake multiple times during the night. Does it take you a long time to fall back to sleep when you wake during the night? Do you find it relatively easy to fall asleep at the start of the night, when you first get into bed? How are you getting on with the CPAP machine?
—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 Sleepy43 and welcome to the forum. First of all, please be reassured that you can sleep! Can you tell us a bit more about your current sleep pattern? Can you describe a typical night for us?
—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.
