Getting Past Insomnia

While it is very hard not to be frustrated and have negative feelings about lack of sleep and other symptoms, there is something that we can do about our situation.

1) Attitude IS everything.  It is a mindset that takes precedence over all other facts.

2) You CAN control whether lack of sleep is easy, hard or somewhere in between, by your Attitude!

3) So many people look at lack of sleep and respond negatively and expect negative things to happen, (I did) and they literally "speak" themselves into negative results, thoughts and feelings!

4) CAN IT!  Success comes in CANS, not in cannots!

5) The Negative Psychic in you assumes you are broken and will have poor sleep the rest of your life!  Not true!

6) Stop seeing the non sleep giants around you and start seeing the sleep giant in you. 

7) Be a thermostat, not a thermometer.  A Thermostat SETS the temperature.  It doesn't read it.  Set the thermostat of your attitude to ACCEPTANCE, GRATITUDE and SURRENDER thinking.

You are the head and not the tail when it comes to sleep!

9) Know that Sleep will return, you are not a victim.  You are in control.  Be positive.  Be thankful for any sleep you do get!

10) Stop caring if you sleep or not.  Regardless of your actions/reactions to sleep, you most likely cannot change the outcome.  However, not chasing sleep and not freaking out when you don't sleep will go a long way toward getting "some" sleep.

11) Begin to believe you CAN handle anything WD throws at you including little or no sleep.

12) Take Responsibility for your sleep or lack of it.  The root word of responsibility is "response."  Your response to what sleep you get can help to reduce sleep anxiety and break that cycle.

13) Refuse to be overwhelmed and frustrated.  It is what it is and it will end when it ends.

14) You are not broken.  You can heal.  You can sleep again. 

15) WD is a temporary storm.  The fear is real, but won't last forever.  The hopelessness and frustration will end.  The sleep will return.

Great insight, thank a lot for your words of wisdom.

Mary

Really appreciate your posts TheWay, and I'm glad you're back.

I've slept around 3 hours per night for a year or so now. The last few months I have sort of bounced between 2 and 4 hours, although sleeping a bit more than I was in the initial months of withdrawal. I believe you said you averaged around 3 hours per night for 9 months or so? Strangely, you would think I would be getting pretty worried, but I'm confident I will return to normal sleep. I do worry a bit, of course, and it is very unpleasant going to bed and realizing fairly quickly you aren't falling asleep, but I can generally find a reason for it and have learned how to set the right conditions for sleep, or fix the wrong conditions. I think I have also healed quite a bit, so even sleeping 2 hours for one or two nights is not a big deal anymore, whereas in the past I thought I would die before sudnown.

So yes, it gets easier, even if your sleep doesn't improve much, quite a bit of healing still occurs. At the start I thought I may not heal at all due to the extreme, intractable insomnia, but I don't think sleep is so integral to healing. Some people sleep 6 or 7 hours per night and still have post-withdrawal symptoms for 18 months, so it can't be that important, right?

I took Klonopin for sleep, so I kind of expect that to be the last thing to come back. It's always been my weakness, and attacking you where it hurts most seems to be a benzo specialty.

Anyway, I hope everyone ends up getting over their insomnia faster than I did. As well as I'm dealing with it, a year of this crap is a long time!

Thank you for this post! your posts help me so much through this.

Theway,

I always appreciate your posts and excellent advice. I don't know that I've ever been able to reach the point of not caring about whether I sleep or not. The best I've been able to pull off is noticing the attachment to getting sleep, surrendering it over and over, and practicing acceptance and gratitude. My preference is strongly that I sleep and sleep well. But even framing it as a preference, as in, "I would prefer to have a good night tonight but whatever happens I know I'll be fine" or  "I would have preferred that I slept last night but I know I'll be OK"  These statements feel different, and lead to better choices than, "I've just GOT to sleep" or "I can't do today without sleep!" The last few nights have been quite poor for me after recovering from an illness so I'm getting a refresher course on all of my skills

MT

Theway,

 

I always appreciate your posts and excellent advice. I don't know that I've ever been able to reach the point of not caring about whether I sleep or not. The best I've been able to pull off is noticing the attachment to getting sleep, surrendering it over and over, and practicing acceptance and gratitude. My preference is strongly that I sleep and sleep well. But even framing it as a preference, as in, "I would prefer to have a good night tonight but whatever happens I know I'll be fine" or  "I would have preferred that I slept last night but I know I'll be OK"  These statements feel different, and lead to better choices than, "I've just GOT to sleep" or "I can't do today without sleep!" The last few nights have been quite poor for me after recovering from an illness so I'm getting a refresher course on all of my skills

 

MT

MT,

That is a much better way to frame it.    Early on, I was so desperate for sleep and repeated the "I don't care if I slept or not mantra" from the advice of another BB.  I love the way you frame it and will start using that in future posts! I really did care and did want to sleep, but didn't freak out or worry that it would harm my physically if I didn't.  Being positive and showing gratitude and thankfulness for any sleep fits in with that nicely!