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That is me, I took the 2 week course and have been sleeping well ever since. I took it last April, yes a year and a month ago. Martin Reed got me past my fear of not sleeping and listening to his other pod casts and utube made such a difference and someone I could relate to like #61 Bryan. I had insomnia for 2 years before I came on here and now I am off benadryl. I kept having to take more and more of that stuff. It feels good to be off of it and know I will sleep.
I know I use to worry about not sleeping and then I could not go to sleep. Now I say well got to get to sleep, I will eventually and got to get up tomorrow and go to the gym, my volunteer work or whatever I have planned. I think a positive attitude helps, planning what I am going to do and assuming I will get to sleep so I can do these things. Sometimes I just say time to go to sleep and I do, shut my eyes and rest and go with whatever happens. It seems simple but when I started ruminating and worry that is when the sleep problem got worse. I need to do nothing and that is what works. Quit trying to fix it. You will sleep when you get tired and eat when you get hungry. Basically it is the same thing.
I think we can tell ourself stuff and actually believe it. I know when I got insomnia I told myself if I could not sleep I was going to have a stroke, heart attack, die. I worried about sleeping and then I didnt sleep. When Martin Reed said I will sleep eventually. My sleep drive would catch up and I would sleep. I think when we just go on with life and quit all that worrying we do fine. I know I have slept good for the past year thank goodness. I thought I would never sleep again after a 2 year struggle, taking benadryl. I dont take it now. I just got myself into a tizzy worrying when there was no need. I picked my hours to sleep 12-7 and that is about it.
Do what is best for you. I know some people have had insomnia for years, some of them says 20 years. I had two years of insomnia before I found the 2 week free course but what a difference it made. I learned to quit worrying about sleep and know now it wont kill me, just go on with life and sleep will come eventually. I also know I will have bad nights from time to time. Martin says we have bad days and we have bad nights. Thankfully I have not had many bad nights now for the past year. At one point I thought I would never sleep again but Martin let me know I am not alone and that yes I would sleep. If I dont sleep good one night, I dont get all crazy about it now, I know my sleep drive will catch up with me and I will sleep.
Dont you hate it when you have a bad night of sleep. It is like having a bad day, every thing going wrong. I guess we just have to not care. It does not do any good to care or worry about it. I know now sleep will come eventually and will come when ever it wants. I know this
sucks.I also know I have had just a few nights over the past year that were not good. But when I quit worrying about it I get back on track quickly. Like so much in life there is nothing we can do about it. We just go enjoy our life and if we sleep we sleep and if we dont, it will come back eventually. When we dont let sleep control us we get better. I am going to have a good life and just sleep when I can. I think it is still a miracle I have slept so well this past year after 2 years of hell tossing and turning.
johnb, yes if I cant change these early mornings wakeup, might as well find something positive about it. I can get a lot done in the mornings. But for the morning walk, that is not me. Evenings suit me just fine. I am sleeping all night and have been doing so for a good year now. I just dont worry about sleep now or not very often, maybe if I get aggravated or something. I just say I will sleep eventually. Thankful for sleep even though I cant sleep late.
forgo the 8 or 9 oclock nap, easier said than done. I get so so sleepy. The only way would be if I was active. But what to do at that time of night? Clean out closets or walk around I guess but no one wants to do that. I think it is just ACCEPTANCE. I know I cant get up and go to the couch and then back to bed, that does not work for me at all. But all is fine, if I get to sleep later that is good, if not I am happy to be sleeping the night, so many cant do that!
Jesseco, I think relaxing is good. That helps me a lot, I just say relax, I cant force myself to sleep and I usually relax from 5am until 6 or 7. I am not a teenager any more so I think those late mornings are a thing of the past.
I just have no control over if I am sleepy or not. I can relax but if I am not sleepy I cant sleep. I dont take a nap in the early evening, wish I could but not sleepy. I am just accepting I am waking up earlier than I want but it is what it is. I know a lot of people would be glad to sleep like I do now basically 12 until 7 am. That sure beats staying up all night and tossing and turning. Glad I dont do that now. I also feel good the next day so I know I have had enough sleep. Sometimes on the weekends I sleep until 8. I hate when I wake up at 5am but try to relax until 6 or 7.
I am thinking this is something I have to accept. I know I am a night owl but I get so sleepy about 8 or 9 pm and take a half hour nap. Then I can stay up and watch my favorite shows on tv and go to bed about 12 or 12:30. I do sleep very good now. I have been sleeping good for a year. I went 2 years with insomnia tossing and turning until I found Martin Reed.
I wake up at 5 or 6am, sometimes I can sleep until 7 or 8 but not very often. I am 72, retired and would love to sleep until 8 or 9 but am accepting my hours are 12 until 7, usually waking at 5 or 6 am. If any one has any suggestions on how to sleep late I would love to hear it. I have went to bed at 12 oclock, 1 oclock, even 2 oclock but it seems 6 am is about when I wake and there is nothing I can do about it!
I found that going to Martin Reeds videos and watching them really helped me a lot. Especially when he talks about being positive. Thinking about the nights that I did sleep good and knowing sleep drive always wins. I know I sleep so much better now but occasionally will have a bad night. This sucks but it is ok, I dont have to let sleep control me and make me have a bad day. Then when I go on with my life my sleep drive will let me sleep again, it always does.
I know I went back and listed to the daylight savings time video because I was thinking this will mess me up but No, he explains it is just an hour, it will work itself out. I think a positive mindset really helps. It is weird how the mind works.
I dont know how to respond to being woken up. I have learned I cant control sleep, I have learned I can just lay there and relax and eventually I go back to sleep.
Thanks hiker for your reply. Yes, I have been sleeping good since I posted. Things do happen in life and I dont sleep good at times. I have to accept that. I guess I will always have that fear of sleeping once having insomnia. But the difference is I dont have to be scared to death, I eventually will sleep just like I will eventually get hungry. At one time I was scared I would not be able to sleep and got wired up. I was scared to go on vacation, afraid of not sleeping.
I dont have that fear any more thank goodness. Listening to Martin made a big difference.I hate you and others have experienced insomnia but it is good to not be alone. You and all the others do understand.
I did the two week emails and have been sleeping ever since then. I feel very fortunate. I had so much fear I thought I would never sleep again or have to be on meds but I go to bed at 12 and sleep til 6 or 7 and basically that is it. In April it will be a year of good sleep. Occasionally I have woke up but I told myself to just relax and enjoy that and I would then drop off to sleep. Yes doing nothing, putting no effort into it works. You will sleep when you sleep drive builds up.
If I start to get fearful, I say I cant control my sleep, it will eventually come and that settled me down . I use to be one of those wired tired people and felt so hyper, it was an awful feeling. Martin Reed’s words really helped me.
I had insomnia for 2 years. I was on trazadone and then got off that and went on benadryl but after a while I built up tolerance and that did not help. I like you went 3 nights and days without any sleep and was scared to death. I found this website and it made such a difference in my life. I listened to the podcasts on here and got the 2 week emails and learned that I would sleep eventually, I was not going to have a heart attack or stroke and die which I did catastrophize but I was just so miserable.
I started just living my life and not leaving places because I had not slept the night before. I told myself I would sleep eventually and I just went to bed and relaxed. I do feel very fortunate, I slept from 12 until 6am and sometimes 7. I have been sleeping good for almost a year which it will be in April. I know now my sleep drive will build up eventually and I will sleep but I cant control it. In the beginning I took an ibuprofen if I woke up but this only happened a few times. I sleep really good now, I was such a mess for a long time but there is hope because I cant believe it myself how good I am sleeping.
I fall asleep every night on the couch, this is probably not the best way to sleep but it works for me. My husband goes to bed early and I have always been a night owl. I really dont fear being awake any more. If I dont feel sleepy and I am in the bed I just lay there and relax and in some strange way enjoy this time be glad it is not time to get up and run around getting dressed and doing errands. It has been so cold here lately and feels good to snuggle under the covers with my electric blanket on low.
Like I said I fall asleep on the couch and in an hour or so I wake up and it is 12 oclock, and I head to bed and have been sleeping really good for almost a year now. I went 2 years with insomnia tossing and turning afraid I could not sleep but now I know different, I know I will sleep eventually. I went on doing things, enjoying life when the sleep was bad and my sleep drive builds up and I sleep. Listening to Martin Reed assure me that I would sleep made such a difference. Hard to believe my mindset could mess me up like that for 2 years but it has passed and my church delayed services tomorrow because of the weather and I told my husband Good, I can sleep late tomorrow. Wow I thought that would never happen but it does and I am able to sleep longer on the weekends also which is wonderful. Anyone who has insomnia knows how I feel.
