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Hi Mac – haven’t been on here for awhile. I didn’t get any emails from this thread. It’s 3:30 and I can’t sleep. First time I’ve had a night like this in a long time. I attribute it to messing up my sleep schedule while my husband has been gone. But he came back tonight so hopefully I’ll get back on schedule. Glad you got back on track after your zombie night. Did you start back at work again yet?
Chen – how are you doing? It was good to talk to you on FaceTime and meet you face to face. I hope your weaning off your sleep medication is going ok.
Hi Steve – \Very sorry to hear about your stroke. Well, at least now you have an explanation for what’s been going on with you. Wishing you the very best!
That’s great Jill! If you have any questions about it, just write again here or on the ACT thread. It can be tricky and is not as straight forward as CBT-I. Good luck!
Have you heard of ACT? I had sleep onset insomnia too, lying in bed for hours, and ACT helped me recover from it. If you haven’t heard of ACT (most people haven’t including sleep doctors, psychiatrists and therapists) then check out “The Sleep Book” by Dr. Guy Meadows. There’s a thread here completely devoted to using it. I had insomnia over a year and now I’ve been sleeping very well for over 3 months, many times sleeping 8 or 9 hours (I don’t have to get up early.)
Have you tried ACT yet? Some of us here have had good results with it and there is a thread (a very long one) devoted to it. I did Martin’s course first and got better but not all the way. Then I found ACT. Read “The Sleep Book” by Dr. Guy Meadows to learn about it. Its focus is on learning how to reduce the anxiety so that sleep naturally comes. I’ve been sleeping very well now for over 3 months, many times sleeping 8-9 hours (I don’t have to get up early.)
Heat has definitely kept me awake. Can you do anything about it? Turn up the air conditioner, turn on a fan, etc.? In the meantime, try to let the anxiety go. Worrying about not sleeping will only make it worse and is the cause of chronic anxiety. So “chill” out if you can!
Hi Chen – just wondering how long have you been doing SRT and SC. Has it worked at all for you and have you been disciplined about it?
Hi Mac – sorry you’re having some rough nights. My guess is there is some underlying anxiety about going back to the office soon. Also, as you said those two events brought on some anxiety. But once you have more confidence in your ability to sleep those events will stop triggering bad nights. For instance, yesterday I traveled to CA. We got there late, I had a coke late (well maybe about half a coke) and didn’t get into bed until very late and into a strange bed. As I was lying there, there was a little anxiety and I wondered if all of this would keep me awake. But I had no problem sleeping. In the past when my recovery was still was fresh, I could get triggered much more easily. When I had relapses, they lasted longer too.
So your nights of good sleep is still relatively new and I don’t think you’ll completely recover until you’ve built up confidence to sleep on your new work schedule. Then over time you’ll develop confidence to sleep when the special events or anything else comes up as well.
Odinsky – so sorry it’s so difficult for you right now. We know what it’s like. We’ve been there. That’s the thing about this monster, insomnia – you can be totally exhausted, but because of the underlying anxiety, you still don’t fall asleep. I know it’s miserable. I also know how it feels to try so hard and still struggle. You start to feel hopeless and despairing, yet you know you can’t give up. I finally had to get an antidepressant to help me cope.
I’m not sure what to say. Maybe stick with SRT for awhile and see if it gets any better. If not, go back to ACT. Whatever you do, keep coming here and we’ll support you the best we can. You can also get help from the experts like Martin and Dr. Kat from ACT.
Odinsky – naps helped me both physically and psychologically. When I was very tired, it was so hard to keep going all day. When I took a nap it gave me a second wind and then I could get through the rest of the day. So physically I felt better. Psychologically it helped me because I could tell myself if I didn’t sleep much I could always take a nap the next day. So then it wasn’t a big deal if I did’t sleep much and this reduced my anxiety. My naps were never that long. I usually limited them to about 30 minutes and sometimes up to an hour. I figured if I only slept 2 or 3 hours the night before, a 1 hour nap is not going to reduce myself sleep drive much especially since I usually need at least 7 hours. I wouldn’t nap any longer than that though.
Sounds like the SRT/SCT is working for you so far, Odinsky. I did SRT/SCT before I did ACT and it worked well for the most part in helping me fall asleep. I’ve always had sleep onset insomnia.
Mac, I’m doing well these days. It’s been 3 months now since my last major relapse. I had a couple times within the last 2 weeks where there was some anxiety and I didn’t fall asleep for a few hours. But each time I just reminded myself that worrying about it just made things worse. So I let go of the worry and after a day or two I was back to normal again.
Hi Odinsky – I’d have to disagree with Mac here. I think since you’ve had success with ACT, you should stick with it. SRT might just bring on more anxiety. I think it’s just going to take some time for your whole nervous system to settle down. ACT helps with this because you learn to relax and let go. Oppositely, the more you worry about things, the longer it takes. Everything you are going through is normal – the aches and pains, the depression, the mixed experiences of calm mind with nervous stomach, the light sleep mixed with no sleep, the struggle socially. I am a marriage coach and it was so difficult for me to see clients that I cut my practice way down. About the calm mind, but nervous stomach, I didn’t have the nervous stomach as you had, but I similarly was peaceful in my thoughts, but underneath the surface there was some anxiety, which kept me awake. Once I was able to let that go, then I got better.
Anyway, my point is that everything you are going through is completely normal. Please remember that the fundamental cause of insomnia is ANXIETY. So just keep practicing ACT and keep letting things go, and over time your anxiety will decrease which will result in better sleep. Like Gdsmom said, she’s had relapses but over time she has gotten better and better. This will happen to you, too, the more you learn to let go and stop worrying. I had 3 major relapses which lasted about 3 weeks or more each time. But now whenever I start feeling anxiety about sleep or can’t fall asleep I remind myself that worrying about it always just makes it worse. So I let go of the worry and soon I’m back to normal within a day or two.
I’m lucky I can sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00 if I need to. I probably would still be struggling with insomnia if it weren’t for that. Any word on when you have to go back to the office, Mac?
Sounds difficult, Odinsky. Laying in bed for hours with terrible anxiety is not going to help at all. ACT worked for me because I knew how to get into that quiet, peaceful state and just stay there in that state all night if necessary. Then if I was really tired in the morning, I would take a short nap during the day to get a second wind to get me through the day.
Since you can’t calm your mind right now using ACT, maybe it would be better to try SRT. You have to stick with it though for awhile to begin to see results. Maybe try it for 2 or 3 weeks to see how it goes. Also, watch Martin’s videos because he’s the expert on this.
