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Mind you I get that there’s no overnight fixes. That ‘trying’ doesn’t work, that having a positive mindset helps, etc. The problem is that I can know all this, but ultimately, if I consistently can’t seem to fall back asleep, and feel that same high level of fatigue through the day, and it’s just difficult to get through and remain optimistic..
Hi Chee and Scott, thanks for the reply. You’re right that before insomnia, I’d also wake up quite frequently in the middle of the night, but I didn’t think much of it and generally would go right back to sleep.
And Yes Scott I think that the meditations have become another sleep effort. I’ll try to really just not try anything special to sleep. Its hard to do when you’re in the moment, frustrated tossing and turning and want to just go back to sleep. But I probably just need to do less instead of more.
I appreciate the help!
Hi Scott, thanks for getting back to me. I started with a 6 hour sleep window (12:30-6:30) when I started CBTi a couple months ago. I’ve gradually increased it to about 7:15 (11:15 – 6:30) as my sleep onset reduced. Im usually very sleepy and hardly can make it to bedtime. The problem has been the 3-4 am wake-ups. At that point I feel much less sleepy and nerves can take over and result in wakefulness. Since it’s happened so many times and often I haven’t been able to get back to sleep, it’s gotten in my head. It’s not so much a terrible fear, more like an “ugh, not again, i’m probably not going to be able to get back to sleep and I’ll have yet another day of fatigue, brain fog, etc”. I try to meditate, PMR, etc but the results are often mixed getting relaxed enough to drift back to sleep. I try to do SC – going downstairs and listen to a podcast or something – knowing that it’s a long term strategy. But since I’ve been trying that for a couple months I’ve gotten a little dismayed by it. Not sure what else I can try. Before insomnia, I would often wake up I the middle of the night for various reasons, but I’d be able to fall back asleep almost every time.
Thanks Martin, your advice has been invaluable throughout this difficult bout of insomnia. FYI I sent you an email asking how I can compensate you for the time and resources you’ve provided.
