Good article on coping with insomnia

Hello fellow insomniacs.

 

This article sums up really well a lot of good advice on managing insomnia:

 

https://medium.com/@brittany.ciocca/8-counterintuitive-things-that-helped-me-fix-my-chronic-insomnia-96c6cc82d75c

 

Thanks for sharing MTfan. Those ideas sounded really good. I feel more relaxed about going to sleep (and later than usual to try that out).

CBT can be helpful, but might not work for someone in acute when the brain is hijacked by so much glutamate and cortisol; but it doesn't mean one cannot persist learning CBT to learn how to become a better sleeper. For me, it has taken sometime to learn proper breathing techniques, meditation, yoga, and sleep physiology to become more mindful. I didn't know that blue light exposure, the right diet, the right body temperature, the right vitamins, and right thinking could be crucial changing my sleeping habits. Now that we have longer daylight hours, I have to wear amber goggles earlier in the evening and when I wake up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom. While in the computer, it is essential. Also, I am using blackout blinds/curtains to have my bedroom completely dark and noise proof. I truly recommend it. The body scan meditation is really helpful, but it takes some practice. I truly believe one can train the parasympathetic nervous system to chill out. I also believe that getting rid of brain inflammation is important for the neurotransmitters have better connections. So lay off all processed sugars and foods and anything toxic to the brain (that includes watching toxic tv that will produce surges of cortisol). Once that adrenaline is pumping, it can lasts for hours in our systems; so simple breathing techniques throughout the day can help with anxiety. The body temperature for sleeping has to be cool. I love hot baths, but afterwards I have to let my body cool off for a bit. One can take cold showers or immerse the feet in cold water also if you are brave. I have come to love this now. Having the delusion that we cannot sleep without sleeping pills  is just that, a delusion. Finally, whatever personal problems one may be going through let God carry you and surrender completely.

Thank you for the article.  I have free access to the Sleepio program.  I am 6.5 months out and need to do the program and try to implement some of the recommendations. 

 

Yes, this touches on a lot of the real bedrock principles of CBT-I, especially sleep restriction. It is true though that if someone is in acute withdrawal, none of this may help much in inducing and maintaining sleep. HOWEVER, I do think building up good sleep hygiene habits, practicing relaxation techniques, restricting time in bed, etc. could potentially put yourself in a position to recover more quickly from withdrawal-induced insomnia versus folks that do nothing but wait it out. Also, for a lot of us, insomnia was the condition that got us on the benzo to begin with! One thing folks need to decipher is whether they have WD-induced insomnia or if it is simply the underlying condition (or both!). If it's mostly the latter, following CBT-I practices is THE #1 thing people can do to help their sleep naturally.

You all make some excellent points. Not all of the recommendations in this article may work in acute but experimenting with them, and moving towards them as you are able, can be very helpful. Ultimately I think most of us who have gone through wd and started to recover have had to institute some form of sleep hygiene. We seem to need to develop a whole menu of sleep strategies (like some of what Solyluna listed) to coax recovery.

 

I often read in the insomnia section about folks trying to go to bed too early, not being able to sleep, and getting very upset. Just delaying bedtime takes some stress off and lets the sleep pressure build. I'd love to go to bed at 10:30 or 11 but I know that either my brain won't allow me to sleep, or, if it does, I'll wake up too early. So I've had to make some peace with staying up until 11:30-1 until my brain gets more in sleep mode. I'm still going to have to woo sleep some in bed but it won't be an epic battle.