Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Welcome to the forum, yawning — and thank you for the great question!
The short answer is if you can’t fall back to sleep when you wake then you should get out of bed until you feel sleepy again. If you wake close to your alarm time and can’t fall back to sleep, then it’s usually best to just get the day started.
When do you normally go to bed at night? Is there a certain time during the night when you wake and find it hard to fall back to sleep? When do you normally get out of bed in the morning? How much 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.
Welcome to the forum, whitelori and thank you for sharing your story. The myth that we all need eight hours of sleep does so much damage and is the trigger for so much insomnia — it is something that we need to get rid of and the sooner, the better.
The good news is, just as the idea that we should all be getting eight hours of sleep has no evidence to support it, there is no evidence to say that insomnia causes any health problem whatsoever.
Many people feel that keeping a sleep diary is going to make sleep more difficult but are then very surprised at just how helpful they find it once they get into the routine of filling it out. CBT-I techniques themselves can definitely be challenging for the first few weeks, but I strongly believe they are the best way to improve insomnia for the long-term and within the shortest amount of time.
I am yet to talk to someone who has recovered from chronic insomnia using ACT for insomnia — but I am sure the techniques could be helpful for some.
—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 discussion is a good example of why evaluating sleep solely on sleep duration is not helpful.
We all need different amounts of sleep. One person may only need five hours of sleep to feel great, another person may need six.
When it comes to insomnia, the primary complaint is fatigue (not sleepiness). Interestingly, fatigue is associated more with inactivity during the day than it is a lack of sleep. More on that in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvUG_JcKFpM
Although insufficient sleep might lead to an increased risk of a car accident, there is not one documented event of someone with chronic insomnia falling asleep at the wheel — because people with chronic insomnia are highly fatigued during the day, not excessively sleepy.
In other words, people with insomnia are “tired but wired” — the body responds to our lack of sleep by giving us an extra boost to keep us awake and to get us through the day.
If you are excessively sleepy during the day (ie you fall asleep at random times without warning) then there is another issue involved that needs to be addressed.
Finally, to reinforce Edgar’s point, there is no evidence that chronic insomnia causes any health problem whatsoever. A couple of supplementary videos on this can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoX04HJihNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnVHQpVmFLw—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 shaner and welcome to the forum. Since your sleep issues only cropped up recently, it is very likely that your sleep will get back on track by itself very soon. In the meantime, try to avoid compensating for lost sleep by doing things such as going to bed early, staying in bed late, napping, and/or rearranging your life/schedule around 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.
Hello Aika and I am sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with sleep. To be honest, it is not all that surprising that your sleep has been affected by your AICD implant discharging. When was the last time this happened?
Sleep aids such as l-theanine & GABA aren’t going to help if the reason you can’t fall asleep is worry about the AICD discharging. Have you discussed this problem with your doctor? Have they offered any advice or suggested solutions?
—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 I am sorry to hear about your long-term struggle with sleep. As you know, sleeping pills such as Ambien are not a long-term solution for insomnia — and these drugs are not supposed to be taken for more than a few weeks. As I’m sure you also recognize, alcohol is not the answer, either.
Have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)? When do you currently 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?
—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.
First of all, let me reassure you that there is no evidence that getting less than seven hours of sleep causes any health problem whatsoever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoX04HJihNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnVHQpVmFLwIf you don’t feel sleepy before 2:00 AM, it is entirely possible that you are a night owl (you have an eveningness chronotype). If you aren’t getting sleepy at all, this suggests that you are getting sufficient sleep.
Are you currently following any kind of regular sleep window? If so, when do you normally go to bed and how long does it normally take you to fall 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.
Hello KelleyG and welcome to the forum. What are you currently taking at night before going to bed? It seems as though whatever you are taking isn’t working very well — otherwise, you wouldn’t be here! So, with this in mind, perhaps there is less reason to feel so anxious about going to bed without a sleep aid.
Can you tell us a bit more about your sleep issues? How long have you been struggling with sleep? When do you go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed, and how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night?
Have you looked into (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.
Sorry to hear about your ongoing struggles with sleep, Rfviking1. You mentioned that you have tried everything for your insomnia — have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)?
On average, people who start CBT-I have been living with chronic insomnia for 10 years. I have worked with clients who had insomnia for upwards of 30 years and they successfully got their sleep back on track after eight weeks of implementing CBT-I techniques — so don’t give up!
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.
Hello WestyWoman and welcome to the forum. Although it can sometimes feel as though you are incapable of sleep, let me reassure you that you can sleep, that your sleep system is not broken, and that you can get your sleep back on track.
Can you tell us a bit more about your insomnia? How long have you been struggling with sleep issues? When do you normally go to bed and when do you get out of bed to start your day? On an average night, how many hours of sleep are you getting?
—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 Alex and I am sorry to hear about your struggles with sleep. How long has this been going on for? It sounds as though your sleep problems began relatively recently — if that’s the case, the good news is that it should be relatively straightforward to get your sleep back on track.
When do you normally go to bed at night and when do you get out of bed in the morning? What do you think is stopping you from getting the sleep you want?
—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, Joejoe2007. Any idea what causes the bad weeks of sleep? Are they triggered by workplace stress/an identifiable cause or do they seem to happen completely at random with no warning?
—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, Aeglaeca? I suspect that CBT-I techniques aren’t working for you because you aren’t actually implementing the techniques.
If you are currently averaging four hours of sleep each night, your sleep window should be around five-and-a-half hours. Following a sleep window of eight-and-a-half hours is only going to guarantee you three hours of wakefulness during the night.
If you aren’t getting out of bed when you wake during the night, then you aren’t implementing stimulus control. Stimulus control, in particular, needs to be implemented consistently, every night for at least a few weeks before you will notice improvements. It took time for your insomnia to develop, so it will take time for CBT-I techniques to get your sleep back on track.
—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 are very welcome, Wasi — do keep us updated with your progress!
—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 boots and welcome to the forum. CBT-I can definitely be hard in the short-term — it can be helpful to simply adopt the techniques with a robotic mindset for the first few weeks. In other words, follow the rules without thought or consideration. After a few weeks, you will notice improvements in your sleep and sticking to the techniques will be far less of an issue.
CBT-I does involve some short-term challenge but the techniques lead to long-term rewards. I am guessing that what you are doing right now isn’t working — so they question is this:
Do you want things to stay as they are for the foreseeable future, or do you think that going through a few weeks of hardship in order to enjoy better sleep for the rest of your life would be a better alternative?
—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.
