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Don’t know if this will help or not, as I’m just beginning too, but I did try CBT-! for the first time last year and had to quit in the third week because the constant getting up and going back to bed and getting up, and worrying over the passing time, checking for sleepiness every twenty minutes (nope!) only made things infinitely worse. It turns out I’m one of those those people who find it a lot easier to tough out a no-sleep night by just staying quietly in bed and waiting out the time, trying to stay as comfortable as possible and talking gently to myself. And once in a while I actually do fall asleep for an hour or so. Using this technique this time around instead of stimulus control was a godsend for me. It took away so much stress. I guess both methods have their champions, but just lying in bed and “resting” seems to melt away a lot of anxiety, for me anyway. Maybe it would help you too.
I will try this. I am ALREADY trying this. The nights are not so hard; it’s the long, long, red-eyed days. So hard sometimes to keep going when there is no end in sight…you think, well, if I knew this is only for six weeks or so, I could tough it out, no problem. But of course there are no guarantees except that everybody seems to get through it eventually. I’ll hold on to that hope.
Wow! Your words should be set to music! So encouraging! I’m feeling 100% more hopeful!! Thank you!
Thanks, Laura. I know you’re right. And sometimes I’m able to do just that. Other times, not so much. But your success is really encouraging to me. It’s so good to hear from a fellow sufferer who’s doing so well!
Yes, that IS an insight. I know I don’t have narcolepsy or anything like that…it’s just that I am so sleep deprived that my brain seems to be taking every opportunity to get me to sleep, knowing I need it, and since there are no restrictions in place during the day or early evening, I’ll go out like a light with no prompting…which should prove to me that my body certainly DOES know how to sleep perfectly well, and nothing is broken! But when the sleep window opens and then I HAVE to sleep, all hell breaks lose and I lose all my so-called powers. Especially if I’m embarking on the third totally sleepless night in a row. Two I can do; three are too much for me.
Laura, how did you manage to control your anxiety after so many sleepless nights? I find I can do okay if I don’t sleep for one entire night, and okay-ish if I have to do a second sleepless night in a row. But when the third one rolls around, when my sleep window “opens” and I lie down and find myself still awake an hour and a half later, that’s when the uncontrollable panic starts. I just can’t face a third day. I should mention I’m on my second week of sleep restriction, and following the programme religiously, but seem to be getting nowhere. All the mindfulness in the world isn’t enough to quell the panic at having to do a third 24 hours awake. I know the sleep pressure is building up, but it just never seems to be enough.
I’m in the second week of doing sleep compression, and have almost arrived at my five and a half hour window. Staying up till midnight is already so difficult, night after night, but even worse are the days, because I absolutely cannot stay awake…nodding off uncontrollably, twenty, thirty times in a row. It also happens in the evening while I’m waiting out the time till midnight. But once in bed, its Hello! Wide awake! Could the cumulative effect of all these nod-offs be what is preventing me from having any discernible success yet? How do other people deal with this?
Thanks! And…what is the AWAKE exercise? Is that the thing where you try to keep your eyes open, where you try to stay awake instead of trying to sleep?
Wow, it sounds like we’re the same person. That’s EXACTLY how it is for me. Every single detail. I find it’s so easy to be brave and tough if I’ve had a reasonably good night or two, but when there are several rotten nights in a row, it’s so hard to stay the course. I still want to cry and yell like I used to, but so far I’ve stayed relatively calm, with great effort! Results are just not coming yet. But it’s a comfort to know there’s someone just like me out there.
