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Warm baths can definitely be helpful — and if they are working for you, that’s great!
Warm baths can be helpful in two ways; first, the rise and subsequent drop in body temperature following a bath can help promote sleep. Secondly, the amount of time spent in the bath gives you time to unwind from the day. This promotes relaxation and can help you sleep, 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.
There can be no doubt that getting through the day after getting absolutely no sleep is tough. Unsurprisingly, in your case, you find that sleep drive becomes so strong that you will usually sleep fine the next night and then have a better day.
Although I can’t make those days following zero sleep any better, have you tried reframing your thoughts during the day so you dwell less on how hard it is to get through your work and instead think more about how likely it is you will sleep that night?
In addition, what steps are you taking to make those nights of no sleep less common?
—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.
One thing I will add to this discussion is that it’s rarely a good idea to try another program, seek advice from another therapist or coach, engage in another course, or even do excessive amounts of sleep research if you are already engaged in a CBT-I program or coaching course.
That’s because everyone who practices CBT-I techniques has their own implementation philosophy, makes slight tweaks to the techniques, and implements different components at different times.
So, if you follow advice from different books, courses, programs, etc, all at the same time, you can end up with seemingly conflicting information and this can increase the likelihood that you will stop implementing certain techniques that will work if given enough time and commitment. It can also plant seeds of doubt, leading to wavering commitment, further reducing the effectiveness of the overall techniques.
In effect, the myriad techniques and advice become overwhelming and risk moving you back to square one as you try too many techniques at once, and become confused about what you should be doing, and when.
In my course, I cover relaxation/mindfulness/acceptance in detail in Session 4. I leave it relatively late in the course because relaxation and acceptance is a skill that requires practice — and implementing sleep restriction and stimulus control (in my opinion) tends to lead to faster improvements in sleep efficiency and helps begin the process of relearning to associate the bed with sleep rather than wakefulness.
—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.
Apart from your sleep schedule, I don’t see anything there that should be of concern. What I will say is take data provided by any consumer sleep tracking device with a grain of salt since they can only guess which stage of sleep you are in because they do not measure brainwave activity.
—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 it’s something you are concerned about, you should mention it to your GP.
—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.
Sleep restriction ultimately helps you get more sleep more by ensuring that you spend more time in your bed asleep rather than awake.
Over time, this retrains your mind to associate the bed with sleep rather than wakefulness. As your sleep improves, you gradually increase the amount of time you allot for sleep so you can get more sleep.
You can read more about sleep restriction here — please let me know if you have any more questions!
—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 Susanne. You mention that your insomnia has been getting worse lately. Has anything happened lately to coincide with the worsening of your sleep symptoms?
You’re probably aware of this, but for anyone else reading it’s important to note that there is a difference between feeling physically tired/fatigued and being sleepy — so make sure that when you go to bed you are sleepy (itchy eyes, struggling to keep eyes open, yawning) rather than just fatigued (feeling generally worn out).
—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.
Most members here are living with insomnia rather than other sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome or periodic limb movement disorder. Have you discussed these concerns with your doctor? It may be helpful to get an overnight sleep study.
—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 think you realize that you are probably going to bed too early. Where did you get the “general rule of thumb of lights out by 10 pm” from?
A far better rule is this: Only go to bed when you feel drowsy and ready for sleep.
I suspect you will find it helpful to implement a sleep window. You can read more about this on the sleep restriction page in the resources section of this website.
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.
Someone mentioned a naturopath here (it didn’t help their insomnia):
https://insomniacoach.com/forums/topic/hello-19/
What are you hoping to get from a naturopath that you are unable to get from a CBT-I practitioner? I only ask because there is overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of CBT-I when it comes to improving 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.
It sounds as though you have quite a lot going on in your life — chronic back pain, and exam stress. Therefore, it’s no surprise that your sleep has been suffering as a result. It’s important to allow your sleep time to recover naturally after stressful events or difficult periods before becoming concerned that something is wrong.
Is your biggest challenge falling asleep at the start of the night, or staying asleep once you initially 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.
Sorry to hear about your struggles with sleep. Your story is not actually uncommon — most cases of insomnia start with an identifiable period of stress or a major life change (such as a career change or health scare) since it’s only natural that times like this disrupt sleep.
Unfortunately, once the trigger passes, sometimes our sleep doesn’t recover. Normally this happens because we now find ourselves worrying about sleep and paying far more attention to sleep than we ever did before. This immediately makes sleep more difficult and starts a vicious cycle of ever-increasing worry about sleep, and ever-worse sleep.
I would suggest making sure that you only go to bed when you feel drowsy and sleepy — but, at the same time, make sure you are always out of bed by the same time every day.
Techniques such as sleep restriction rarely lead to less sleep because the sleep window is calculated by adding to your average sleep duration. With that being said, some CBT-I techniques may lead to less sleep in the short-term, but in exchange (and with commitment and dedication) you will enjoy long-term improvements in 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.
I’ll have to read Sasha Stephens’ book to learn more about why she is against sleep restriction — because I certainly don’t consider it to be a crutch!
Here are some things I consider to be a crutch:
- Taking a nap during the day to get through the day
- Drinking alcohol before bed to ‘aid’ sleep
- The long-term use of sleeping pills
- Morning lie-ins because it’s too hard to get out of bed
If someone was released from the hospital after a car accident, would we consider them going to physical therapy a crutch? I suspect not!
Sleep restriction is a temporary measure intended to increase sleep efficiency, build sleep pressure, and strengthen the sleep/wake cycle. It is also intended to help us relearn to associate the bed with sleep rather than wakefulness.
I am rather perplexed by the suggestion that sleep restriction is a crutch — when it is, in fact, an evidence-based solution that is designed to help you regain trust in your ability to sleep (something the author claims to be in support of)!
—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 is a great discussion!
ACT is definitely worth trying — however, it is a skill that requires practice. When it comes to comparing ACT with stimulus control, if you wake during the night and feel relaxed and confident that you’ll fall back to sleep, there is no need to get out of bed and begin practicing stimulus control.
If, however, you wake and immediately feel worried, anxious, or stressed, practicing ACT may be less effective unless you are a highly skilled practitioner of ACT. In this case, I would suggest getting out of bed and implementing stimulus control.
ACT shouldn’t be seen as competing with any component of CBT-I. All these techniques are helpful and complement one another. It’s just a case of finding what’s right for you — a reminder that an individualized approach is usually the best approach.
—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.
Have you asked your psychiatrist about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)? CBT-I has been found to significantly improve sleep even in those who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. More on this here:
https://www.healthcentral.com/article/how-and-why-traumatic-brain-injury-harms-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.
