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Congratulations goldenbayboy. I do have a question for you for clarification. You say the only thing you didn’t do is Sleep Restriction? How about Stimulus Control, where you get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep in 30 minutes after waking up?
Hi Borgesbi. I was probably the person you remember saying they tried ACT. I tried it because it seemed more natural to stay in bed when you couldn’t sleep so that you could rest and not expend energy like you do with SR and SC. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything for me. I was very accepting that I had insomnia and didn’t have too much anxiety over having it. At least I don’t think I did. But accepting it didn’t help me fall asleep any better or stay asleep any longer than when I wasn’t using ACT and my sleep hours were all over the board. I was very tired the next day at work and could barely function. To me, ACT seemed more of a wishful thinking kind of thing. Just lie there awake at night accepting your situation and the insomnia will disappear. I must have tried it for three or four weeks when I realized it wasn’t doing anything for me and that’s when I switched to CBT-i. I was doing good with CBT-i until about a week and a half ago. I was almost at the point where I thought I could expand my SW by 15 minutes, although Martin advised me not to. The last week and a half has been a killer and I am back down to sleeping around 3 and a half hours a night. Not sure what the problem is. I am going to try to stay up later tonight to make me more tired and see if that keeps me asleep longer.
I also took CBD oil. At first I thought it helped but after awhile, I thought I noticed a withdrawal problem when the oil ran its course for the day. There is no doubt my anxiety was less after I took it, but when that withdrawal came, I was shaking like a leaf. It only lasted a half hour or so but it happened the same time every day and since I took it the same time every day, I can only assume that’s what made me shake like that. I could be wrong and maybe it was something unrelated to the CBD oil but at any rate, I’d rather try SR and SC without taking supplements. I hope to get back to 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours of sleep most nights soon. It wasn’t enough, but I felt way better than I have this last week and a half getting only 3 and a half hours. It’s been a tough struggle at work.
Hi Mike (Harpolectic). It does sound like this is more for people who have trouble falling asleep rather than those whose problem is staying asleep. I have a question. I am a client of Martin and he is putting me through the usual Sleep Restriction and Stimulus Control. So this app wouldn’t be good for me, would it? Sleep Control tells me not to go to bed, and therefore go to sleep, before a certain time. But this app wants me to keep practicing falling asleep. so it kind of contradicts the SR in that I would be falling asleep before my window begins, doesn’t it? Thanks.
I am tired when I go to bed. Not sure about dead tired. I read right before I go to bed and I find I am re-reading the pages to comprehend what I am reading. In addition, when I do go to bed, mostly I fall asleep within 15 minutes. My SW is 5.5 hours and Martin suggested I re-do it so that it runs from 11:30 – 5:00 rather than the 11:45 – 5:15 as it used to. I followed his suggestion. Do you think it is possible to re-condition yourself so that you get up at a certain time?
Glad you are back on track even if last night was a little rough. I know you took some time off from here but the thread was very busy last Saturday and Sunday.
I see this thread slowed down again. How is everybody doing? This is the 8th (out of 10) days that I have been awakened at around 3:30 in the morning. Did SC but still couldn’t get back to sleep. It almost seems that I am being conditioned to get up at this time. If I can just get past being awoken at this time, I feel I will start sleeping more hours. Three and a half hours a night just isn’t cutting it.
Hi Gill. Just to clarify, are you taking Martin’s paid course or the free one? I have taken the free one and am in the middle of his paid one. It does work but just keep in mind that just because the course is 8 weeks long, it doesn’t mean you will be “cured” in 8 weeks. It could take months. It depends on how severe your insomnia is. I don’t want to say too much in my post here. What I suggest you do is search the forum for the thread “Support Group for People Who Are Doing SR”. Re-post your questions in that thread and you will get a lot of people wanting to help you out and share their experiences with you. Good luck with the course.
Martin – Would this app undo my work with you? Not sure if I could use it with my hearing impairment but definitely don’t want to try it yet if it would undo everything I worked so hard for so long.
I don’t know Delv. It is only $9.99 US Dollars but there seems to be only one review of it. Kind of hard to believe that something that was designed in a sleep lab could be replicated on a smart phone. If you get it, let me know how it goes.
Thanks for the encouragement Karen. I am on Week 5 of Martin’s course. I definitely have had a rough patch as about 2 weeks ago, I was averaging almost 5 hours of sleep a night. Since that time, it has been about 3.5. I stick to my SW as well and I have done the SC both last night and the night before. For me, the trouble with SC is that if I get up to do it, when I get back to bed, I would only be able to sleep for an hour or less. I think that gives me more anxiety knowing that even if I did get back to sleep, it would only be for a short time. I would just like to get back around 5 hours of sleep a night again and then take it from there. I don’t do much meditation but I do the breathing exercises as they help relax me so I can get to sleep. Currently, my problem has been early awakenings. This is going to be a long road for me.
How is everybody else doing?
Hi Borgesbi – When I first wake up, I do look at the clock even though that’s frowned upon. So, I do have a starting point as to when the 30 minutes begin. Then I do one of two things. If I know I am not going to get back to sleep right away as I am too wide awake, I get up. In that case, it doesn’t matter if I get up early as I know I am not going back to sleep. Might as well get up and try to get sleepy again. If I think there is a chance I might fall back to sleep, I can pretty much tell when 30 minutes are about up. I do verify it by looking at the clock again and I can’t remember a time where I have been off by too much. Then I get up. So my times are either verifiable or it really doesn’t matter (like when I know I am not going back to sleep so I get up). I am a zombie today and I had to do SC last night. Just once but it was enough. I lately haven’t had to do it too much but I am having a string of bad nights lately. Way more bad nights than good.
Mac – Are you back on track now?
Deb – I’m really surprised you went back to ACT after you had so much trouble with it the first time. I know you want to be “normal”, but we are insomniacs and for now, have to live with that fact. Are you still having trouble in the second week of ACT?
As for me, I was in a zombie state Friday but slept well Friday night and so Saturday was in great shape. I got the oil changed on my truck, mowed my lawn, went to a local nature center and hiked 3 miles and rode my old 10 speed bicycle another mile. However, apparently, all of that didn’t do anything for me and Saturday night, I only got around 3 hours of sleep again putting me in a zombie state on Sunday. Last night, I got about 3 1/4 hours sleep so I am near zombieish today. I did do SC again last night but it didn’t help any as I couldn’t get back to sleep. Just remembering that each night is independent from other nights so I hope I have a good sleep tonight.
Martin’s course has helped in that I get to sleep more quickly, most nights. Usually within 15 minutes. The week I slept good I had an SE of 85.5%. This week I was plagued by early awakenings. Some after getting only 2.5 hours of sleep. I would then go back to sleep but still would wake after only getting a total of 3.5 hours. I need to solve the early awakenings problem. I know I can sleep as I proved it to myself that week. Now I just have to do it again.
Thanks for the support Deb. I know these setbacks are normal but they sure are hard. Like I told Mac, at the end of last week, I was very upbeat. I was even thinking of getting a cat again and I joined a dating service. But after a week like this, it’s just rather disappointing. Still, I will persevere and try to remain upbeat. Mac is correct in that I have to start thinking more positively.
How are you doing? Are you still going to sleep when your husband does?
Well, I have only been in SRT for 6 weeks. Two weeks with an online SRT course called Sleepio and then 4 weeks with Martin’s paid course. The first week was rough as I had to do SC most of the week. The second week I had to do it less. Then I started to get consolidated sleep which was better for me but I was still getting less sleep than before I started SRT. Of course, the sleep I got before I started SRT was very broken and one night I was getting 2 hours and then the next I would get 5. It was all over the board, which is why I say the consolidated sleep was better for me. Two weeks ago, I started to get really good sleep and for the week, I had 4 nights of 5.0 hours, two nights of 4.5 hours and one bad night of 3.5 hours. But this past week I went down hill and I got mostly in the 3 to 4 hour range of sleep. Not surprisingly, I am dead tired and it’s difficult for me to focus and do my work. I was so upbeat after last week that I was starting to plan my life again. At the end of this week, I feel I will never get better. That’s about it in a nutshell. Why do you ask?
Well, I hope you get back on track soon. I can understand about not posting for awhile. I may take a break as well. Keeping up the posts here in a way is counterproductive as it keeps you thinking about the insomnia. Besides, it seems everybody else took a break as well. I need to get back on track too. I am still in Martin’s paid course so I am awaiting his comments on this past week which was awful for me as well. Good luck to you.
