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Yes, I suppose the end result desired is to have more time awake to be productive and bewith my family, by consolidating my sleep through the sleep window. The 6 hour window has been very helpful with that, when previously my sleep was so fragmented.
Hi Martin, thanks for the encouragement. I am looking at it in a positive light now.
So just wanted to confirm, in this case I still should keep my sleep window at 6 hours right?
I have the same issue. Been doing a 6 hours sleep window for a week now, but waking up an hour or so before the window. I get up and try to relax but by the time I’m relaxed again, the sleep window is over. Should I just keep going with this and hope that my sleep duration will improve?
Thanks Martin. I do practice CBTi and have been working on it for years, and constantly trying to keep a positive mindset and acceptance of things that happen beyond my control. Initially, a few years back, I used sleep restriction but not anymore, in the sense that my sleep window is a full 8 hours now. Most nights I usually am able to get the full 8 hours. It’s just that at some odd night I am completely not able to sleep until daybreak, which I find rather distressing because when I get used to sleeping well for a while I get into a good rhythm in my life, and then it happens out of the blue. I’m wondering if I am sleeping too much and incurring a “sleep surplus” over several days leading up to a bad night, and I’m thinking about restricting my sleep again to 6 hours or so per night.
Hi Jopheus. I assume based on your post title that what you are having is sleep onset insomnia, and from what you have described it seems pretty similar to my issue. I too had difficulty initiating sleep at my designated sleep time even though I was feeling very sleepy already. I also did SRT, SC and Sleep Hygiene but they did not seem to work initially. My record was about 2 weeks up with just a few hours of sleep. I suffered badly last year. I discovered through my own trial and error that even though I was addressing the physiological component of my sleep issue, I was not doing anything about the psychological part. My anxiety was through the roof and it kept feeding itself with every successive night of no sleep. The key to my breakthrough was realizing that I cannot force sleep and the only way I was going to get sleep was to relax and let go of any thoughts keeping me awake. But it was easier said than done. I had a tough time trying out different ways to quiet down the anxious thoughts. The first thing that worked on me was listening to a low volume on TV over a boring talk show. That seemed to help distract me and I'd eventually fall asleep, but the results were erratic, I was probably successful only 30% of the time. I later discovered podcasts that were effective for distraction as well, and even one that was targeted to help people sleep (google “Sleep with me podcast”). The Sleep with me podcast has a huge following and you may want to try it. They have an FB group where many people swear by it's effectiveness. SWM was even better than TV, most nights I would take only 15 mins to nod off. But some nights it still took longer to sleep and some nights it didn't work at all for me. I settled with it for a while, thinking I should be content with the improvement, but those 1-2 bad nights a week still bothered me so I kept on looking. The latest trick I'm using now is the mySleepbutton app. I stumbled upon it while researching many weeks ago. So far my success rate is 99%. Here is their website if you need more info: https://mysleepbutton.com/support/.
Martin, I'm tempted to buy it. My sleep issue is purely onset and even though its improved a lot, there are some nights it still takes me an hour or so to nod off. It's not out until next year thiugh.
It looks like they updated their website now and getting ready for the mass market: https://ebbsleep.com/products/ebb-insomnia-therapy
I wonder if there is a physiological component that could be tweaked though. My wife suffered from chronic insomnia for many years and she began to practice acceptance therapy. After many years of doing that she gets her daily 8 hours now without effort. Must be some imbalance in the brain that resolved itself.
Thanks for the tips. I do sleep pretty well most nights, it's just an odd night out of 10 good nights where I get less than 5 hours of sleep frustrate me. I guess I have a low threshold for frustration. I'm jealous of most other people I know who practice 0 sleep hygiene and sleep 8 hours consistently night after night. I read your post about trying Manuka Honey a fey years back. How did that work out for you?
Thanks. I haven't had a bad night since March. The worst one was last night and I slept only 4.5 hours. But I normally sleep 6-8 hours everyday now since March. So am I considered a normal sleeper now?
I get it now! This was the last piece of the puzzle for me!
You will become sleepy at some point depending on your circadian clock. Insomnia happens when you “try” to sleep and your body is not ready yet. Then you become anxious and the anxiety makes you unable to sleep even when the time comes. Going to bed only when you are sleepy reduces the chance of anxiety setting in.
I've been doing well with Sleep restriction therapy, but I relapse every couple of weeks and now I think I know the reason why: there are times I try to initiate sleep when the body is far from ready to sleep and anxiety sets in.
I think they have not launched the product yet until the next half of this year, that is why they are keeping it quiet. It seems some reputable blogsites have cited Cereve, for instance:
https://thesavvyinsomniac.com/2016/06/06/cereve-sleep-device-approved-for-treatment-of-insomnia/
So it may be worth waiting for when it comes out?
Thanks Martin. Yes, I keep telling myself that. Actually when I look back at my diary I think I've never been sleeping better than these last few months. It's just that when the odd relapse occurs it feels I'm back to square one. Perhaps what aggravates it is that when those nights happen, I see my wife soundly sleeping and I get jealous.
I get the opposite reaction. My insomnia started after I tried an LCHF diet plan, which eschews sugar in the diet. I have since abandoned the LCHF diet and started to consume sugar/carbohydrates again, and am on my way back to recovery. This month most nights I slept 6-8 hours except for one bad night (if you could call 4 hours bad). I find that blue light restriction (or the lack of it) has no effect on me. I think mine has a dietary component and an anxiety component. I've been very successful putting myself to sleep by tuning the radio onto talk shows that keep me distracted enough to displace my anxiety, and I just relax while listening and the sleep comes naturally most nights. Sometimes I listen to podcasts, I pick the ones that are not too boring but not too engaging either, and they work too.
