Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thank you for your reply. If you are getting between five and six hours of sleep and feel fine and refreshed during the day, it’s unlikely that you have anything to be concerned about. Individual sleep needs are different, and there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ sleep requirement. If you are not sleepy during the day, and you feel refreshed upon waking in the morning to start your day, you may simply be someone who needs a relatively short amount of sleep at night.
If you have any concerns about your sleep (or your palpitations), you should definitely discuss them with your doctor.
—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.
Hi Oz — we’ve talked a lot over email so I will get right down to business and simply answer the great question you posed in your post:
How do I tackle the problem of being so thrilled when I get a good couple of nights that my desire for this to continue leads to anxiety and rebound insomnia?
First, did I get the question right?
If so, my advice would be this — see every single night as a fresh start (because it is). If you had a bad night last night, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a bad night tonight. If you had a good night last night, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a good night tonight.
When you go to bed, don’t have any expectations. Just see what happens.
Also, bear in mind that improving sleep is a long-term process. So, it’s not always constructive to consider single nights as a measure of success, failure, or progress. Instead, look at your sleep over a longer time-frame. You want to improve the climate, not the weather. In other words, look at the long-term trend rather than what is happening in the short-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.
Hi Jeff — just thought I’d chime in here. Since we can’t control sleep, it’s important to consider that sleepless nights will always happen. They happen to everyone. However, after a night of no sleep, sleep pressure becomes very strong — and this increases the likelihood of sleep the following night (as long as nothing is done to reduce this sleep pressure, such as napping during the day). Over time, these sleepless nights will become less frequent.
As you know, getting out of bed when unable to sleep isn’t intended to improve sleep that night. Instead, it is intended to break the formed association between the bed and wakefulness by ensuring that the bed is only used for sleep. In other words, if you are awake and in bed, you get out of bed. Over time, this creates a mental link between the bed and sleep (not wakefulness), and makes the bed a much stronger trigger for sleep.
All the techniques you will learn during a course of CBT-I will take time to work, and they require consistent implementation. They are challenging — and that is one reason why sleeping pills are so popular. However, if you remain committed, your sleep will improve and you will be left with life-long skills that you can implement for the rest of your life to ensure better 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.
That must be very frustrating. What do you think is stopping you from falling 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.
It’s little wonder that you dread going to bed when, as soon as you get into bed, you tend to immediately feel alert and awake. This usually suggests that you have associated the bed with wakefulness rather than sleep and your arousal system is overriding your natural urge to sleep as soon as you get into bed.
Fortunately, these issues are usually successfully treated using CBT-I techniques. Have you discussed this (or your sleep in general) with your doctor?
—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 Conny. Sleep restriction therapy may not be appropriate for those with very high levels of anxiety. In such cases, sleep compression is a better alternative. This involves gradually reducing the amount of time allotted for sleep rather than dramatically reducing it all in one go.
It’s worth mentioning, too, that CBT-I techniques take time to work — especially when the cause of sleep issues are deep-rooted. This can be very challenging and is one reason why it’s important that you have a strong social support system and/or the support of a therapist or professional coach to help keep you motivated and keep you on track.
Can you tell us a bit more about a typical night for you? Are your challenges primarily to do with falling asleep or staying asleep (or both)?
—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.
That must be very frustrating! Waking during the night is not actually uncommon, and is quite normal. It typically happens as we emerge from one sleep cycle to begin another. When you wake during the night, what do you think is stopping you from falling 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 and thank you for sharing your sleep problems with us. I am not surprised that you worry whenever the weekend is approaching since you know that you will be awoken in the early hours by your husband leaving to go fishing! Is this going to be something he does for the foreseeable future, or will he stop doing this within the next few weeks or couple of months?
I would suggest getting out of bed when unable to sleep on these weekend nights. By doing this, you will be removing yourself from the bed/bedroom when unable to sleep and this will stop you from being in bed worrying about sleep, feeling worried and anxious (which makes sleep more difficult).
It will also train your mind to associate the bed with sleep and not wakefulness. Over time, as you practice this technique, the bed will become a stronger trigger for sleep — and so, although this won’t necessarily stop you from waking in the morning when your husband leaves to go fishing, it will likely help you get more sleep on those weekend nights by reducing sleep-related worry and anxiety.
—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 metrying and welcome to the forum. I am not surprised that you have a very real fear of sleep when you are regularly woken with a choking sensation. That must be terrifying and very worrying.
It sounds as though addressing this issue in combination with targetting your sleep problems would be the best strategy. Is the mucus issue more or less resolved now or does it still occur quite regularly?
When it comes to your sleep issues, you should probably discuss CBT-I with your doctor to see whether they feel it would be beneficial for you. It sounds to me as though you would likely benefit since it will help reduce the power your arousal system has over your sleep and it will help you recognize any behaviors (such as constantly worrying or thinking about sleep) that can actually make sleep more difficult.
—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 Barefoot, and welcome to the forum. What is the biggest sleep challenge you face? Do you find it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep (or both)? Do you feel sleepy when you go to bed at night?
Spongecake — it sounds as though your biggest issue is falling asleep at night. Does that sound right? Unfortunately, there is little clinical evidence that hypnosis is an effective treatment for insomnia so it isn’t all that surprising that you didn’t find it helpful. Have you looked into 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.
I love your attitude! It’s inspirational and I have no doubt that you will manage to improve your sleep with your outlook!
Can you tell us a bit more about your sleep? What are you unhappy with and how do you want your sleep to improve?
—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 experience with these jerks that wake you just as you are drifting off to sleep. This must be very worrying and make you feel very anxious about going to sleep at night.
If you are experiencing hypnic jerks, you should be reassured that these are relatively normal and unremarkable — although they can be frustrating and disconcerting, they are not harmful.
What could also be happening is that you have a heightened level of arousal and worry about sleep. So, when you get into bed, your mind is constantly ‘checking’ to see if you are asleep. This self-monitoring makes it more difficult to sleep, but as soon as you do fall asleep, the brain recognizes this and suddenly wakes you up to proclaim its success at falling asleep! Unfortunately, this can trigger the sudden jerk and racing mind and heartbeat that occurs when you suddenly wake from drifting off to sleep.
Have you discussed your symptoms with your doctor? How long have you been experiencing these symptoms? Do you remember when they first started or what first triggered them?
—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 Sheri. Welcome to the forum, and I’m sorry to hear about your struggles with insomnia, anxiety, and depression.
All three conditions are related — and so your question about whether the depression caused insomnia or insomnia caused the depression is an appropriate one.
Research suggests that the relationship runs both ways, with sleep problems exacerbating depression and depression exacerbating sleep problems.
The best way to calculate your sleep restriction schedule is to take a broad overview of your sleep over at least one week (ideally two). Once you have your average nightly sleep duration, add half an hour. As long as this is more than five-and-a-half hours, you now have the amount of time you should be allotting for sleep. If it is less than five-and-a-half hours for sleep, then you should be allotting five-and-a-half hours for sleep.
Unfortunately, we cannot control sleep — so although you don’t want to wake at a certain time, if that’s when your body wants to wake, that is when it will wake. However, over time, as your sleep stabilizes, you should be able to make adjustments to your sleep schedule to get it closer to where you want it to be.
The fact that you experience nights of very short amounts of sleep followed by a night of longer sleep suggests that your sleep is being disrupted by your arousal system. This can temporarily override sleep drive, but because sleep is a biological function, sleep drive eventually reaches the point where it forces sleep regardless of your arousal system. After a night of longer sleep, your sleep drive falls and so your arousal system takes over and makes sleep difficult once again. CBT for insomnia helps break this cycle by weakening the arousal system and strengthening the sleep/wake cycle and sleep drive.
Sleep restriction works because it reduces the amount of time you spend in bed awake at night, tossing and turning, and worrying about sleep (all of which make sleep more difficult). As a result, it increases the amount of time you spend in bed asleep rather than awake and, over time, this makes the bed a stronger trigger for sleep.
It’s also worth mentioning that when you have set your sleep window, the start of the sleep window is the earliest time at which you can go to bed. If you don’t feel sleepy when your sleep window begins, you shouldn’t go to bed until you do feel sleepy. However, regardless of what happens during the night, you should always be out of bed by the end of your sleep window in the morning.
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.
CBT isn’t easy — it can be challenging, but in return for the effort, it will get you results. My clients rarely tell me that they struggle to incorporate CBT techniques into their schedule — and that’s because none of its components really add any time or tasks onto the day, other than filling out a brief daily sleep diary.
In fact, CBT-I tends to help relieve a busy/complex schedule by addressing the unnecessary sleep routines and behaviors people with insomnia often have.
Are there any particular components of CBT-I that you feel will be difficult for you to implement because of your schedule? If you can share them, I can better answer your question.
—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. It’s impossible to force yourself to stay asleep through the night, just as it’s impossible to force yourself to fall asleep within a certain amount of time, or sleep for a certain amount of time. Although we can ‘set the stage’ for sleep, we can’t control sleep. Trying to do so only makes sleep more difficult.
Waking during the night is normal and tends to occur as we emerge from each sleep cycle. The difference between ‘normal’ sleepers and those who struggle with nighttime awakenings is that the ‘normal’ sleepers pay no attention to these awakenings and they don’t worry about them. As a result, they tend to fall back to sleep almost immediately — and often don’t even remember waking up.
CBT-I is the best treatment option for insomnia because it helps address the thoughts and behaviors that tend to disrupt sleep and increase sleep-related worry and anxiety. Of course, I am biased because I run an online course that uses cognitive and behavioral techniques to improve sleep — but I have worked with clients who have suffered with sleep issues for decades and we have managed to improve their sleep within a couple of months.
What I will suggest is that if you look for online CBT-I, you choose a program that comes with a lot of individual support and guidance from a human sleep coach or other professional. That’s because some of the techniques can be challenging to implement, so having someone who is always available and who has your back as you progress can make the difference between success and failure.
—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.
