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Deb – I can see where you are coming from about the anxiety. I am wondering if I still have anxiety some because I am still wondering if I should do away with the 7 hour SW and go with an 8 hour sleep, which is what I did before the insomnia hit? I just don’t know since I am still only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep which would mean I would be spending 3 to 4 hours in bed awake. I am just so afraid it would go into fragmented sleep again. I am not really tossing and turning when I do lay in bed but I am sometimes so tired in that 9:15 to 10:15 time period when I could be in bed but am waiting for the 7 hour SW to start. I just don’t know if I want to fully commit yet and that could be where some anxiety lays. I really have to think about this. I do keep practicing my ACT tools throughout the day and I really try to accept what sleep I get. And I really notice the anxiety is reduced from what it was. It is just obviously taking me a lot longer. I do know I can’t go back to strict SR/SC as my sleep was actually getting worse.
Hi Andy. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet that people use to get back to sleep. If there was, there wouldn’t be anyone with insomnia out there. Me included. What I suggest you do, is to e-mail Martin with your questions as his support is one of the things that you are paying him for. (I would also ask him to change your status from “Not a Client” to “Client” as that is what it should read once you paid.) Only sleeping 2 hours every night is not necessarily enough to build up your sleep drive. That is one of the things Martin can help you with. He is very good at what he does.
Mac – Glad you are sleeping better even with the “special event” insomnia. I wouldn’t know what to do about that, either. Just be glad you are getting the sleep on the other nights.
Deb – Thanks for staying with us here on the board for encouragement. I know others who have achieved success tend to leave and we really do need the encouragement. So thank you.
Well, another somewhat tough night for me. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t get to sleep soon after I went to bed. I know I finally went to sleep as I remember the dreams but I really don’t know how long I slept for. I don’t feel too bad this morning. I do accept whatever sleep I get but there is a small part of me during the day that worries I will start getting fragmented sleep again. At night, I am mostly comfortable and relaxed. I don’t toss and turn but do look at the clock every now and then. I mostly just lay there and use some of the tools when I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. And if I still can’t get back to sleep after say 10 minutes, then I just lay there and let my mind wander. I do notice that when I started ACT, I wasn’t worried about the alarm going off in the morning but now I do somewhat. Not a lot but a little. For those of you doing ACT, how long are you staying in bed? I am in bed now 7 hours but really wish I could go to bed an hour earlier and make it 8 hours while still getting up with the alarm at 5:15. I am just so tired at night from staying up until 10:15. Unfortunately, that tiredness isn’t translating into more sleep. Not yet anyway. Hopefully soon.
Hi Andy. When you say you bought the Insomnia Coach Program, do you mean Martin’s paid course? You are really not supposed to have less than a 5.5 hour SW as that is the core amount of sleep that you need. I know you aren’t getting that at first but try to relax as you will build up to that. It can take time. At the least, when you are up doing SC, you will be building your sleep drive for the next night so you can sleep longer. How long have you been doing SR?
Glad to hear everybody is doing fine on ACT. And nice to see you made it here featherly. I’ll give a little update on myself. Last night was an okay night for me and it was my 8th night on ACT since starting to practice it diligently. I fell asleep rather quickly and did not wake up within 15 to 20 minutes after initially falling asleep. This is the 2nd time out of 3 nights that that happened so I am pleased with that. I slept deeply about 4 and a half hours and after I woke up, I was probably in Stage 1 sleep for about a half hour. After that, I was wide awake so I practiced my tools and then just lied there in bed and rested and let my mind wander. I did not get to sleep again but it was a good rest and much easier than practicing SC. My problem is when I get up, I am still dizzy and find it hard to concentrate and really hard to focus my eyes. One of my demons is thinking surgery still caused all of this but I am welcoming that thought like you are supposed to. After all, I had a couple CAT scans since the surgery along with other tests and they all show I am fine. I just have to remember that 4.5 hours is still not a lot of sleep so there will be repercussions until my sleep really gets better. I am in bed for 7 hours now and while I was in bed for 8 hours before insomnia, I still hate to increase it by that much in case my sleep gets fragmented. After all, I am still not sleeping anywhere near that 7 hours yet. So I will keep using the ACT tools and going to bed to “rest” instead of sleep. I feel I am on the verge of breaking this. I just need to relax my brain more so it can go to sleep. Good luck to you all.
Glad you slept well gdsmom! And I am glad you feel good today. You are getting better! I still don’t feel all that great today though. Maybe it wasn’t as deep a sleep as I thought I had but I still have an insomnia headache, have trouble with my eyes and am fatigued. Still, if I can keep getting that 6 hours of sleep, I hope I can start to rejuvenate my body. I do feel way better than when I get only 3 hours of sleep. Keep it up!
Okay, I don’t know if it was because I had a poor sleep the previous night or what but I had two deep sleep periods last night totaling around 3 hours each. I don’t remember waking up at all during them, just in between them. I don’t even think I woke up shortly after I initially went to sleep like I have been doing, either. The last hour I just laid in bed trying to practice mindfulness and the tools in the book. In retrospect, I probably should have just got up and went to the bathroom and then go back to bed. But, I will just continue with the ACT. I just need to remember to learn to use the tools when I wake up as I am starting to get nervous again and clock watch. As soon as I remember to learn to use the tools, I start to calm down quickly.
gsdmom – Hang in there. We will get through this. I am just so tired of not being able to focus my eyes. That to me is worse than the fatigue. I keep wondering if it’s because of the surgery and not insomnia related but I really don’t want to go there. I will cross that bridge when I start sleeping normally and see if the vision problems clear up then. I will just keep practicing the mindfulness. What I am surprised at is even with all of the fragmented sleep, I feel pretty good today. I can certainly function and don’t feel like a zombie at all. Although if I sat down, I would tend to nod off.
Well Deb, I have to tell you that last night was a very bad night for me. It was filled with fragmented sleep and very bad dreams and I had no deep sleep at all. The fragmented sleep could have been due to the bad dreams though. I was able to get the tossing and turning under control but it was the first night in a long time that I looked at the clock several times. I finally was able to lay there and let my mind wander and accept whatever comes. I am still committed to ACT for another couple of weeks to try and see some improvement but if I still don’t get deep sleep, even for a couple hours, I may have to cut back on the SW. I would still stay in bed and not do SC as long as I wasn’t tossing and turning but I would need to shorten my SW. Did you have any bad nights after you had some good nights or was it a slow but steady progression forward for you?
gsdmom – How are you doing?
I just want to lose the headache/lightheartedness/dizziness. I just hope I DonDon’t start getting g fragmented sleep! Thanks for your support Deb!
Hey Deb. I am doing okay, I guess. I still got to sleep relatively fast but woke up about 15 to 30 minutes later. Then I go into a deep sleep for a couple hours after which I wake up and usually go to the bathroom. Then for the rest of the night, I go into a light sleep where I drift in and out of sleep. Although last night, I don’t remember waking up as much. However, when I did wake up for the second to last time, I was stressing a bit. But I anchored myself in the moment and settled down and fell back to sleep for awhile. I am functional today but still tired along with some other insomnia induced symptoms. Last night was my fourth night using ACT and I extended my SW to 7 hours starting 2 nights ago. Just taking it one night at a time and learning to accept what comes. I really don’t toss and turn anymore except for that one time last night which I stopped after I anchored myself. I know this is going to take some time.
Really glad you are doing so well. It gives me hope.
Hi Deb – Yes, I know it’s only been one night but even the light sleep is welcome. I am learning, slowly but surely, that I can sleep and I am not “broken”. I have the same fears as you that any gains I will make will be short lived but that is one of the unwelcome thoughts that I welcome. I think the thing that turned me around last night was you telling me how you let your mind just wander. My mind started wandering and I started dreaming about that old TV show CHiPS that I watch now in reruns. And as I came in and out of sleep, I knew I was doing it but I just let it happen. I am really hoping this leads to my brain knowing that it can relax and that I can start going into deeper sleep. I also am not worrying about those awakenings I have soon after I initially go to sleep as Martin keeps telling me that awakenings are normal, so I know that by now. So, no matter what happens tonight, I am accepting the fact that I may get poor sleep but it will get better. I just have to keep using the tools I learned so far.
Hi gsdmom. Yes, I am optimistic this morning. I have had good sleeps before with CBT-i but this feels different. Maybe because I am doing more mindfulness. And I am looking forward to tonight even if I regress and don’t get much sleep. The first 6 or 7 nights using ACT I only got about 3 hours sleep. Last night though was the first real time I let go and let my mind wander. Sorry you had a poor night last night. Just keep doing what you’ve learned so far and things will get better. I don’t want to get too excited over my sleep as I know I can have bad nights again but I really feel with the mindfulness and all things will get better.
