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Welcome to the forum, Andrea — and I am sorry to hear about your long-term struggles with sleep. It certainly sounds as though you have a busy schedule — are you able to allot enough time for sleep and follow a predictable sleep schedule?
Although it may feel like you aren’t capable of sleeping without sleeping pills, that is not true — you are able to sleep, you have not lost your ability to sleep, and you can enjoy natural, restorative sleep again. You were not born with insomnia, so you do not have to live with insomnia.
Have you looked into CBT for insomnia? If you are determined to improve your sleep, it is likely the best solution for improving 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.
Hello SueJo and welcome to the forum. You are absolutely capable of sleep without pills — just as Deb suggested. With that being said, if you are currently relying on sleeping pills it can be difficult to simply stop taking them without a tapering-off plan or implementing techniques to address the root cause of your insomnia.
Have you discussed your desire to get off the sleeping pills with your doctor? Have you spoken to him or her about 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, and I’m sorry to hear about your current struggles with sleep. Health-related worry and anxiety will often disrupt sleep. In fact, this is quite normal and our sleep will usually recover over time by itself.
Mindfulness can help promote relaxation — but it is a skill, and requires practice. It’s also important to bear in mind that the ultimate goal of relaxation is relaxation, not sleep!
The good news is that your sleep issues started relatively recently. So, if you take steps to tackle them now using evidence-based CBT-I techniques, you will find it much easier to get your sleep back on track because your insomnia hasn’t had time to become too entrenched.
—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.
From what you’ve said, you are allotting between 10 and 10.5 hours for sleep each night but you are averaging between five and five-and-a-half hours of sleep each night. Does that sound right?
A proper course of CBT-I involves sleep restriction. So, I have some concerns about the CBT-I you are receiving — it’s hard to understand why you are allotting so much time for sleep when a core component of CBT-I is to allot an amount of time for sleep that is similar to your average nightly sleep duration.
In your case, I would expect you to be allotting no more than around six hours for sleep each night if you were following a course of 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.
What time do you normally go to bed, when do you normally get out of bed, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on an average 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.
Sorry to hear about your struggles with sleep, Ozi. Can you tell us a bit more about the CBT course you are doing? It is very unusual not to be experiencing any results after two months.
—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 tried the techniques for a week — so you haven’t failed! You will only fail when you give up on the techniques and don’t implement any strategies to implement your sleep over the long-term. It took time for your insomnia to develop, it will take time to get rid of it. You’ve got this!
—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.
Just thought I’d chime in on whether or not we need to continue with CBT-I techniques for the rest of our lives. The short answer is “not really”. Here’s the longer answer:
CBT-I techniques are implemented to get our sleep ‘back on track’ — so, when we are living with insomnia, we implement specific evidence-based techniques intended to improve sleep for the long-term. As sleep recovers, we can begin to take a more flexible approach to sleep, just like ‘good’ sleepers do.
However, should sleep ever become a problem again in the future, we now know exactly what to do to improve our sleep and get it back on track.
I fundamentally disagree with those who claim CBT-I introduces ‘crutches’ that need to be relied upon for sleep. I liken this to the idea that a plaster cast is a ‘crutch’ for someone who broke their leg. When you break your leg, you use a plaster cast to heal. When you are healed, you remove the plaster cast. If you are unlucky enough to break your leg again in the future, you’d get a plaster cast again. This makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
It’s the same thing with CBT-I.
With CBT-I techniques, you use them when you are struggling with sleep. When your sleep is ‘healed’, you don’t need to rely on the techniques. However, if sleep issues return in the future, you know exactly what to do and you can implement the CBT-I techniques that you know from experience helped you improve your sleep to get you back on track.
Did you notice how Sasha Stephens talks about sleep restriction being a crutch, but then on page 79 she declares in big, bold type that ‘mistake number one’ when it comes to creating an insomnia monster is spending too much time in bed?! Sleep restriction is all about spending less time in bed — so there is a big contradiction here!
—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 Layman and I am sorry to hear about your current struggles with sleep.
First, let me reassure you that you are capable of sleep — and that you are capable of sleep without sleeping pills.
You mentioned that for the last few months you have experienced high anxiety and stress due to a few health scares and a relationship breakup. With this in mind, it is no surprise that your sleep has suffered. This is normal, natural, and to be expected.
At this stage, it’s important to prevent these sleep issues from becoming entrenched by worrying too much about sleep, trying to control sleep, and doing things to compensate for poor sleep. All these interventions actually make sleep worse and can turn short-term sleep disruption into a longer-term problem.
You would likely benefit from CBT-I techniques since they will reduce sleep-related worry and anxiety while strengthening your sleep system. The end result is long-term improvements in your sleep — and, because CBT-I is skill-based, the skills and techniques you learn will stay with you forever. So, if sleep problems return in the future, you will know exactly what to do 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.
May I ask what program you are following, Daf? I only ask because in your opening post it didn’t sound as though your routine was particularly structured since you mentioned that when you can’t sleep you do one of the following:
- Try to get up sometimes,
- Listen to mindfulness tapes,
- Watch TV,
- Pray,
- Stay in bed.
If you were following a structured program, you would only be doing one thing when you can’t sleep — you would be getting out of bed.
Getting out of bed when unable to sleep is hard. It seems counter-intuitive, and it can lead to less sleep on the night you implement the technique. However, with consistent and ongoing implementation, it will make the bed a much stronger trigger for sleep.
If you are currently averaging five or fewer hours of sleep each night, I would suggest sticking to a sleep window of five-and-a-half hours. Make sure you are averaging your nightly sleep duration over at least one week.
—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 your response, Goose. At times like this, it’s important to identify (and tackle, if possible) the cause of your sleep issues rather than becoming worried or concerned that your insomnia has returned.
It’s completely normal for sleep to be disrupted by stress — so starting to think about returning to work is likely to be the cause of your current sleep issues. As long as you don’t go back to compensatory behaviors such as spending too much time in bed, your sleep should recover naturally. I suspect that you will notice your stress will naturally fall after you take that lunch with a former boss.
Think of times you’ve worried about something in the past but after the event took place, it wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it was going to be. Use this as a reminder that our worries aren’t always a reflection of reality — and that our thoughts aren’t always accurate.
—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.
Practice really is key when it comes to any relaxation technique — because relaxation is a skill (and skills take time to master).
—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 again, Goose. Good to see you, although I wish this was under better circumstances! Any idea what triggered the return of your sleep anxiety? Did something happen recently to disrupt your sleep or did this come entirely out of the blue?
—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 this, Daf. I think you would really benefit from taking a structured approach to your insomnia and following a specific CBT-I program. This would prevent you from trying a number of different things at random times and help you remain consistent with the techniques you implement rather than frequently changing your routine or strategies. This constant change, doubt, and uncertainty aren’t helping to improve your sleep.
Although you had two nights of no sleep at all, how were the other five nights (the majority)?
—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 that you are now sleeping better, Andy — long may this continue!
—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.
