Sleep Restriction therapy saved my life. An update from jittery18.

Hello Buddies!

 

As many of you know, I had struggled for 11 months with severe insomnia after a reaction to a flouroquinolone antibiotic, cipro. My nights were hell on Earth. If I was lucky, I'd get three broken hours a night. Many, many nights I would get no sleep at all. I was constantly wired, never tired....I had adrenaline coursing through my veins constantly. I tried EVERY supplement, OTC and RX med out there. I was absolutely convinced that my brain was permanently broken. As a last resort I went to see a Ph.D sleep psychologist. It was my last hope. He taught me ALOT about sleep and insomnia.

 

I learned that 99 percent of chronic insomnia is psychological. Insomnia can often start out as a result of a biological issues, then once your circadian rhythm gets screwed up, it becomes chronic and can last for years, or a lifetime if you never reset your circadian rhythm.

 

I learned that everyone has insomnia from time to time, even the best sleepers. But for those of us who stress about it...the insomnia grows. Insomnia is a beast, and if you feed it through thoughts and worry, the beast gets bigger and more powerful. The KEY to overcoming insomnia is to not worry about sleep (and resetting your circadian rhythm). If you chase sleep, you will never catch it.

 

I learned there are two factors that contribute to sleep. The first is the driver, how tired you are, and the second is the clock, which is your core body temperature. My driver was fine (I was plenty tired) but my clock was very broken. The clock is controlled by your circadian rhythym. Your core body temperature must drop enough for your brain to shut off the awake switch. In normal folks, the circadian rhythm prompts the body to lower it's temp as the sun goes down until it's time to fall asleep. A few nights of an erratic sleep schedule will disrupt this process. The other thing that disrupts the clock is anxiety. Anxiety, even slight, raises core body temp.

 

My sleep psych started me on sleep restriction therapy. It's a method that involves limiting your time in bed and getting up at a specific bedtime and waketime no matter what. If at any point in the night you cant sleep, after twenty minutes you must get up and do something boring without any bright lights. After 20 minutes you go back to bed and try again. Repeat the process as many times as needed. Eventually your sleep will consolidate and you will reset your circadian rhythm.

 

Let me warn you...this method is not for the faint of heart. The first seven days were BRUTAL. I had about 8 hrs in seven days. I was to go to bed at 12 and wake up at 6 no matter what. Once I slept straight through for five days I could move my bedtime back 30 minutes.

 

I'm happy to report that I am sleeping 6.5-7 hours most nights. This therapy does not mean you won't ever have a bad night again. You are reconditioning your body to sleep, but there is a concept called spontaneous recovery where every so often the learned insomnia will come back for a night. It's important that you not get upset when this happens and continue to work the program. Remember, even the best sleepers have bad nights!

 

I'm still not sleeping next to my husband, but that's the next step. This week I get to add another 30 min to my bedtime. I will be allowed 7.5 hours in bed now

 

I'm still suffering many sxs which I'm positive are related strictly to the cipro and not from the benzos. However, the glorious sleep has returned. I usually don't wake up but mauve once briefly, and when I do I don't worry or stress and I'm able to go back to sleep. The sleep, heavy eyelid nodding off feeling has returned. I can barely stay awake for my bedtime. I'm no longer wired during the day.

 

This has saved my life. You MUST stick to the program, not cheat, and give it time to work! I don't think I could have done it on my own without the help of my sleep psych.

 

Hope you are all doing well!!

 

Jittery

 

 

 

 

Jittery,

 

I remember the months and months you suffered so much.  But not only has your sleep returned, you have provided many of us a proven (by you) effective non-pharmacutical alternative.  A true gift that keeps on giving

 

 

WWWI

Jittery --

 

Thank you so much for writing this and letting us know about how sleep restriction has helped you. What you say about chronic insomnia being 99% of the time purely psychological gave me a huge sense of relief somehow -- because a lot of the time when I have sleepless nights, I end up thinking that there is something immensely wrong with my brain (as I'm sure many of us have once felt). To be reminded that this is psychological, meaning that it is something WE CAN get through, was a very welcoming remark.

 

I have been anticipating this post from you, as i'm sure others have, and reading about your experience with CBT has given me a lot of encouragement to keep going strong with mine. Last night was one of the "spontaneous recovery" nights for me where my insomnia returned after four days of success, but I'm not going to stress about it.

 

Congratulations on your determination and success in getting your sleep patterns back together. Wishing you all the best for future nights

 

Chantillie

I have followed your posts for awhile and am very happy to hear of your success. I am sleeping pretty good now too with only occasional insomnia. I have never tried sleep deprivation on purpose but I did always go to bed at the same time and then get up at a 5:50 AM every morning to go to work no matter what. The first few weeks of w/d I couldn't work but I still got up around 7 AM every morning. I have been blessed with sleeping for the most part every other night through the w/d process. If one night I didn't get any sleep at all the next night I usually slept 9 hours. There were only a few times that I did not sleep 2 days in a row. Sometimes I would even pass out in the rocking chair when I was in the worst of w/d and couldn't lie down long enough to fall asleep. However, even insomnia every other day is hateful and depressing. I am glad to be over the hump. Thanks for your update as I will try some of your suggestions if my insomnia comes back. One thing that helps me to relax now is nonalcoholic beer. For some reason it relaxes me and helps me sleep. I am not sure why but maybe it is the very tiny amount of alcohol that is in the beer. I have not noticed though any ill effects from drinking it and I don't drink alcohol at all since it tends to make me sick and very hung over even in small amounts. Anyway, I hope you continue in your successful sleeping. God Bless.

Thanks. Will get to this.

 

did your doc say anything about rebound anxiety>

 

If so, pls enlighten us.

 

jd

Glad to hear of this, jittery.

 

fg

Jittery --

 

Thank you so much for writing this and letting us know about how sleep restriction has helped you. What you say about chronic insomnia being 99% of the time purely psychological gave me a huge sense of relief somehow -- because a lot of the time when I have sleepless nights, I end up thinking that there is something immensely wrong with my brain (as I'm sure many of us have once felt). To be reminded that this is psychological, meaning that it is something WE CAN get through, was a very welcoming remark.

 

I have been anticipating this post from you, as i'm sure others have, and reading about your experience with CBT has given me a lot of encouragement to keep going strong with mine. Last night was one of the "spontaneous recovery" nights for me where my insomnia returned after four days of success, but I'm not going to stress about it.

 

Congratulations on your determination and success in getting your sleep patterns back together. Wishing you all the best for future nights

 

Chantillie

 

Hi Chantillie,

 

I'm sorry you have also been experiencing the dreaded insomnia. It truly is miserable. Spontaneous recovery is a very real phenomenon. It dates back to the first experiments of classical conditioning with Pavlov's dog. Even after a conditioned response (insomnia) has become extinct, it can spontaneously reappear for no reason. This happens because anything we learn is kept in our brain somewhere permanently. The good news is, the longer you do the program, the fewer bad nights you should have.

 

My sleep is no where near what it was pre-cipro and pre-benzo. I used to be able to chug a diet coke and then fall asleep watching TV in bed for 12 hours next to a snoring husband. Now, I must be in my own bed, earplugs in, noise machine on, lights out with NO TV.... and getting 6.5 hours is a GREAT night. I may never get to where I was pre-cipro, as I think that drug did so much damage to my body and is continuing to do so. It's not like benzos where w/d gets better, cipro and that class of drugs changes your DNA and reactions keep getting worse over time until they reach a peak.

 

I'd say out of almost 2 months of this program, not counting the first week, I've had 3 "bad" nights. I've had some nights where I didn't sleep as well as I wanted...but no where NEAR the horrific insomnia I had experienced.

 

I really would like to sleep back in bed with my husband. That seems to be a real challenge for me. It's like that bed creates so much fear, and every little movement he makes sends my blood pressure up. My sleep psych wants me to be more confident in my sleep where I'm at and then attempt to move me to the other bed. It may require backing up my bedtime again when that time comes and starting over with the SR for probably a shorter period of time.

 

Please keep me updated on how you are doing.

 

Jittery

Wow, very interesting info on insomnia.  I never knew about the body temerature dropping.  Makes sense though because I am always cold after my shower at night.  I wonder though if I need to have a colder room.  I sleep in some pretty thick pajamas.  I may try this after I get off of ambien.  Trazodone relaxes me enough right now so that I fall back asleep.  I do wake up several times during the night though-most of the time because I have to go to the bathroom.  And I don't drink very much fluids after 6:30 pm.  I am going to share this info with a co-worker who has trouble sleeping as well.  Definitely keep us posted on this.

Hi Jittery. I've been waiting to hear this information from you. I'm so happy for you! It makes me want to try the sleep restriction. How did you decide on going for 6hrs in the beginning? Was that just an amount of time you thought you could reasonably sleep?

The one thing that concerns me is when I get up after the 20 minutes, I tend to get more awake, making it more stressful when I go back to bed 20 min later. Also, I have to sleep with my husband since my son now lives in our guest room. Do you think the ear plugs help, even tho you are sleeping alone? Are you using the zzz glasses? They really seemed to help when I first got them. Not so much now. Also, do you think it messes you up if you take a unison one nite? Do you just need to set aside a week where you have minimal plans to you can be exhausted from so little sleep?

So you want your body temp to be low, then why do we take hot baths at bedtime? Also, do you just immediately get in bed or do you wind down and read or listen to relaxing cps for 1/2 and hour. Is it ok to read in bed before turning out the lite or do you need to be in another room?

Lastly...I know sleep from 10pm-12pm is very critical for health....especially in ayervedic(Indian) practices. Will you be able to move bedtime to 9:30 or 10 eventually? If I tried to go to bed at 10, would I set the alarm for 4am? Would that make sense? If you do the 12-6 program, do you just force yourself to stay awake till 12?

Thanks for all your help. I know this information will be so helpful for so many people. I do think tho, that you have to be fairly far along in withdrawal for this to work. Early in withdrawal, your body is still too messed up, in my opinion. Could be wrong tho.

Anyway, thanks again and keep us posted on how you are doing. I'm so happy for you, but miss seeing your posts.

Take care, Kathi

Hi kathi

 

No unisom or melatonin or any other sleep med...u have to teach your body to sleep naturally. When you get up go to a quiet dark place, no lights tv or computer. Read a boring book or do a relaxation exercise and no getting upset if you can't sleep. You can listen to relaxing stuff before bed but NOT in bed...that's trying to hard to sleep. Sleep should be a reflexive response. Many nights I fall asleep as my head hits the pillow. Ear plugs do help. Raking a bath helps because your body temp drops when you get our of the bath and it coincides with what should happen during the circadian rhythm. You find your allowed time in bed by keeping a sleep log for a week and calculating your average number of hours a night you sleep. He gave me six hrs because I have a baby to tend to all day. I didn't have the luxury of picking a slow week... I have a job and a baby.

 

I had a rough night the last few nights bc I slept in till 8 and 9am on my trip and that advanced my sleep phase...so I'm back to the midnight bedtime for a few days until I can reverse the damage..bad me!!!  I knew that would happen but I did it anyways.

 

The first week will kill you but then it gets so much better. You can't give up. You may also be doing good then have a random bad night...that's NORMAL and you can't get upset about it!!!!! Just keep working the program. I think if I didn't have brain damage from the cipro I would be sleeping ten hours, but I'm doing the best my brain will allow now.

 

Good luck kathi! You can do this!!!

 

 

Oh ps...that ten to twelve thing is a myth...it's the first two hours of sleep that are critical. People just assume you are on a 10-6 sleep schedule, which is where those numbers came from!

Jittery-

 

What did he say about dreams?  I had to updose a little back on Valium because, as you might remember, I was going insane from sleeping 0-3 nights for over two weeks and I hadn't even finished tapering.  Anyways, had to updose a bit (with Valium, not Ativan), and am not trying to stabilize and gain some weight and sleep before my tapering resumes.  I have noticed A LOT of dreams in the last couple weeks.  I think this is a good thing since it's not DIRECTLY related to the Valium--I know benzos only give stage 1 and 2 sleep and not REM sleep (I think), so I know the REM sleep is my own brain doing it's healing.  Also, what do you mean the first 2 hours are the most important?  I can usually sleep 2-4 solid hours right now, and everything after that is very broken up.  Once it's 4 or 4:30, I am usually awake for the day.  Anyways, I know I have a taper ahead of me and am hoping to stay on top of the insomnia.  I also can't wear earplugs because I have tinnitus and it's too loud with earplugs.  Oh, I also haven't been using any other supplements or meds which is good (for now).  This whole sleep thing can be such a beast.

 

Oh, one more thing--Jittery I also have never had problems sleeping.  I have never been a "napper" but always a great sleeper at night and loved sleeping in on the weekends, etc.  I think that for people like us, it's so tough because we remember what great sleep and easy sleep was like--and we miss it--even have to temporarily mourn for the way it "used to be".  Anyways, I know you think most of your issues have to do with Cipro, but I never took Cipro, so I know the benzos have messed up my sleeping--as I didn't go on them for sleep in the first place--just some mild anxiety (grrrrrrr--so bitter about that).  I also had (before I stabilized) the adrenalin, wired, not sleepy feeling.  Actually even now, I still don't feel sleepy...looking forward to that returning.

 

SO HAPPY for you that you are doing better and I'm sure that 8-10 hours will resume in time.  You are YOUNG.  You will get there.  Is Cipro damage ultimately reversible, even after years?

 

Take care,

Tina 

Thanks Jittery. You have inspired me. I hope it can work for me, being post menopausal and a crummy sleeper all my life. Do you think someone as hard core as me, can be successful with this sleep restriction? I am going to try it when we get back from Palm Springs. I have about a month before our Arizona trip. Will a month be enuf time to get under control?

Thanks ever so much for the information. I'm a detail person, and want to do it right. Since it's so hard at first I don't want to mess up by doing something wrong, like using unison or melatonin. I'm going to try the ear plugs. Last nite I wore a sleep mask and I think that helped a bit, and I couldn't see the clock. Unfortunately I woke at 3 and don't think I went back to sleep. Maybe tonite will be better. I'm also messing up with the wine. It will be hard to go to Palm Springs with friends and not have wine. Maybe I can limit it to one nite.

Thanks again. I'm so glad you found that sleep DR.

Take care, Kathi

Hi Jittery

 

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us.  I know many of BB insomniacs have been waiting for your promised report and you detailed it so well.

 

MalteseI am also post menopausal and have also always been such a lousy sleeper so guess you and I are in the older hard core category.  I know Jittery said no melatonin etc so we can train our brains but research has shown that as you age your brains ability to produce melatonin declines so much so that by 70 you are only producing 15 - 20% of what you produced in your 20's. I am in my 50's and even though I exercise and live in sunny SA, eat healthy I know age is a factor in the rate of healing so if I have to add supplements (moderately) so be it.

Thanks again Jittery

and

Good morning Meeee. I have been up the entire night. Have not had a night like this in ages and it was horrible. Don't know why. I've had wine the last couple nights so maybe my body misses it.

I live in S. Calif too. I'm in Yorba Linda. How about you? I thought my sleep was finally back in Dec., then gone again. I really can't believe I didn't sleep at all....again. When we get back from Palm Springs I guess I'm going to have to try the sleep restriction. Last nite I took both tryptophan and 2.5 of melatonin. It didn't do zip. Usually it works. I guess my brain was just wired, tho I wasn't worrying about anything and at 10 I was sleepy and yawning and expected to go to sleep. Wrong. I just don't get why this happens...especially after being 1 yr and 1 month off the benzo.

I know what you mean about melatonin. My naturopath says it is fine to take it, but maybe just not during the period of sleep restriction. I guess I have to try it at least. I do think there are so many women in our situation....post menopausal and not sleeping. I really miss having my wine, but everyone seems to feel you can't drink it if you have sleep problems. I have several friends that can't sleep either and they don't drink any alcohol. Very frustrating. I'm off to Palm Springs and I sure hope I sleep. I'm taking unisom and melatonin. Will not go thru another night like this one!

Jittery

Great news, the best news I've heard in a long long time!

Yes!

Nice.  Congrats!

Melo x

Hi Chantillie,

 

I'm sorry you have also been experiencing the dreaded insomnia. It truly is miserable. Spontaneous recovery is a very real phenomenon. It dates back to the first experiments of classical conditioning with Pavlov's dog. Even after a conditioned response (insomnia) has become extinct, it can spontaneously reappear for no reason. This happens because anything we learn is kept in our brain somewhere permanently. The good news is, the longer you do the program, the fewer bad nights you should have.

 

My sleep is no where near what it was pre-cipro and pre-benzo. I used to be able to chug a diet coke and then fall asleep watching TV in bed for 12 hours next to a snoring husband. Now, I must be in my own bed, earplugs in, noise machine on, lights out with NO TV.... and getting 6.5 hours is a GREAT night. I may never get to where I was pre-cipro, as I think that drug did so much damage to my body and is continuing to do so. It's not like benzos where w/d gets better, cipro and that class of drugs changes your DNA and reactions keep getting worse over time until they reach a peak.

 

I'd say out of almost 2 months of this program, not counting the first week, I've had 3 "bad" nights. I've had some nights where I didn't sleep as well as I wanted...but no where NEAR the horrific insomnia I had experienced.

 

I really would like to sleep back in bed with my husband. That seems to be a real challenge for me. It's like that bed creates so much fear, and every little movement he makes sends my blood pressure up. My sleep psych wants me to be more confident in my sleep where I'm at and then attempt to move me to the other bed. It may require backing up my bedtime again when that time comes and starting over with the SR for probably a shorter period of time.

 

Please keep me updated on how you are doing.

 

Jittery

 

Jittery,

I see what you mean about the difference in cipro vs. benzos. I am really sorry to think that some of the changes occurring may be permanent -- I really truly hope not, or at least if it is, I am praying that in the end, they will be very minimal.  You have a wonderful attitude and I am happy that you're capable of getting 6-7 hours on most nights now. That is truly an accomplishment, and is in fact a very healthy number to be sleeping each night!

 

I, too used to be a wonderful sleeper. I even thought to myself at some points how it was amazing that I could sleep in what appeared to be any kind of condition. I could have my room light shining right above me, music blasting from the room next door, laptop left open with bright screen on my bed right in front of my face where I'm laying on my pillow (terrible thing to do), drink coffee and coke and have a meal that leaves me feeling bloated, but nothing seemed to stand in my way of being able to sleep. Now I am the complete opposite. I completely cut off caffeine (recently including tea), wear earplugs, need darkness and silence. I imagine that as we are strengthening or rebuilding our sleep, this is what it requires for some time until we are more confident in our ability to sleep.

 

My time in cbti is slow but progressive. I try my best to stay within the same sleep and wake times but I admit that I fall into the temptation of staying in bed longer than I should on occasion! As of now I am getting 6-7 hours nightly with 2-3 awakenings usually. This pattern only recently started consolidating about a week and a half ago though, prior to that I was not doing as well. What you mentioned about the first two hours of sleep being very important is very true -- I am starting to understand that the better nights I can remember were when I seemed to be sleeping deeply early in my night. I am hoping that as I continue with cbti, I will start having more deep slumber (instead of a heavy amount of dreams) and less awakenings. Strict sleep restriction has been said to improve both.

 

Chantillie

 

 

 

 

 

I know this information will be so helpful for so many people. I do think tho, that you have to be fairly far along in withdrawal for this to work. Early in withdrawal, your body is still too messed up, in my opinion. Could be wrong tho.

 

Agreed..

 

I started CBT (sleep restriction included) right on Day 1 of CTing from ativan and although my body could handle it at first, I quickly found myself going downhill in the second week. I had to remove sleep restriction from the therapy for 4-5 days because it was honestly too much for me to take. I was hesitant to do this because I wasn't sure if the exhaustion was normal..everyone mentions that daytime sleepiness will occur, and I thought I was supposed to toughen it out. The truth, in my opinion, is that you should not set sleep restriction if you are finding yourself very debilitated in your wd. I was having sx like heavy chest/heavy head/breathing issues that only resting on my bed for a prolonged period of time seemed to be relieving. I was 'babying' myself in a sense and I feel that it was for the best.

 

I would suggest to anyone to listen to their bodies if they want to start sleep restriction early in their wd. Yes, be aware that you may feel zombie-like and it will be really tough in the beginning..but if it is leaving you completely debilitated, I would halt sleep restriction for awhile and continue with other aspects of CBT until sx improve a little. Sleep restriction is an important part  of CBT, but not the only one. 

 

Chantillie

 

 

Hi Chantillie. How long have you been doing sleep restriction? How long did it take before you were sleeping fairly well? I think I am going to try it when we get back from Palm Springs. I am somewhat fearful because I've always been a poor sleeper. Last nite I slept zero and getting up only seems to make things worse instead of better. I'm worried if I have to get up after 20 min. in bed without sleeping, that I will be up and down all nite, in 20 min. increments. Most people eventually fall asleep, but like last nite, if I don't go to sleep fairly soon, or have help with unisom, I may not go to sleep at all. I have done better just lying in bed resting and listening to cds. Last nite I just gave up about 3am and got up permanently. So frustrating.

Jittery had such bad sleep problems and now is doing so well it gives me hope. Now with you too, having success it makes me want to try it, tho I know it will be very unpleasant in the beginning. I'm just so tired and yet wired at the same time. Hope I sleep in Palm Springs.

Thanks for your help.

Kathi

Hi Maltese

I am not from Southern California, I am from S.A as in South Africa - guess we can deduce that insomnia is an international "curse". 

 

I am sorry you had such a lousy night - I have been taking my l-Tryptophan, melatonin (3mg) as well as GABA, and I use Natural Sleep which is a mix of Magnesium, glycine and theanine that get mixed in 100ml of water.  I did a small 7.5% cut last Friday night and my sleep has been so lousy - scary because I am still taking so much Zolpidem.  I also have Atarax (Vistral) which I take for the first few nights after I have cut - I take a full 100mg!! (as I said I am a hard core insomniac).

 

I have been very good re Wine and had my last glass on 27 Dec. - it was my son's birthday so I do remember and I too love my wine :'( :'(  so I miss it dreadfully.

 

 

Chantillie, I was writing to you while you were posting. I am over a year off the benzo and ambien so this should be a good time to try the sleep restriction. I can't believe you tried it so early in withdrawal. I can't imagine you being able to sleep at all. I had to use benadryl and unison for a long time.

What other CBT practices have you used successfully? Are you working with a sleep psychologist like Jittery? I want to make this work and want to get as much information as possible to make it successful. I need some sleep.

I wonder if the small chocolate bar I had at 2pm could be why didn't sleep? I am very sensitive to caffeine.

Hi Meeee. Funny how I got S. Calif out of S. Africa. Must be from being sleep deprived. You are still tapering so unfortunately you can expect to probably sleep poorly for a while. I am over a year off an 8 month taper and still not sleeping without help. I think I've gotten too dependent on Unisom. I used it the last 3 nites and slept well. Last nite was horrible with zero sleep...even with the melatonin and tryptophan. So discouraging this far off the drug.

Hope you sleep tonite.

Hi Chantillie. How long have you been doing sleep restriction? How long did it take before you were sleeping fairly well? I think I am going to try it when we get back from Palm Springs. I am somewhat fearful because I've always been a poor sleeper. Last nite I slept zero and getting up only seems to make things worse instead of better. I'm worried if I have to get up after 20 min. in bed without sleeping, that I will be up and down all nite, in 20 min. increments. Most people eventually fall asleep, but like last nite, if I don't go to sleep fairly soon, or have help with unisom, I may not go to sleep at all. I have done better just lying in bed resting and listening to cds. Last nite I just gave up about 3am and got up permanently. So frustrating.

Jittery had such bad sleep problems and now is doing so well it gives me hope. Now with you too, having success it makes me want to try it, tho I know it will be very unpleasant in the beginning. I'm just so tired and yet wired at the same time. Hope I sleep in Palm Springs.

Thanks for your help.

Kathi

 

Hi Maltesemom,

 

I've been in sleep restriction for about a month, and I would say that the time my sleep *truly* began improving was about a week and a half ago. Prior to that, I had to spend the time figuring out my own sleep patterns, why I personally could not fall asleep, and make adjustments to my day/night in order to optimize sleep.

 

Some questions for you..sorry to bombarding!):

- What is your routine like?

- Do you typically have the same sleep/wake times right now, and how much sleep would you say you're getting daily?

- How do you feel throughout your day?

- When you listen to your cds, how long does it typically take for you to fall asleep?

- Did you feel 'awake' when you couldn't sleep at 3am last night?

 

I completely understand what you mean about your fear with sleep restriction with the 20 minute thing. In the beginning, I was also very uncertain about doing this too. I felt like if I couldn't sleep within 20 minutes and was required to keep getting up and going back, I'd be making myself more "active" and adding additional stress. I thought that by letting myself drift over time in my bed, I would be further preparing myself to sleep. The truth is, the reason why sleep restriction and the '20 minute rule' may cause us to become more stressed out is because of what we think of it, and what we are thinking while we are doing it. During the moments where we do end up getting back up from bed, we are supposed to be doing things to wind us back down again. As long as we are accepting of this, trusting the program, and allow ourselves to follow through sleep restriction, we will find it working for us. If we keep our mind focused on "I keep having to get up, this isn't working, it's not going to work, getting up every 20 minutes isn't helping", then the opposite occurs.

 

The reason why CBT tells us to get up and get moving is because the end-goal is to be able to sleep without any sort of mental preparation once we're in bed. We are conditioning our minds to associate the bed with immediate onset of sleep. It is trying to prevent the anxiety that can be created when we are not ready to immediately sleep once we're in bed, and the "anticipation" of falling asleep which usually is the biggest blockade.

 

Also want to add that during sleep restriction, we are not supposed to be keeping an eye on the clock to see if 20 minutes has passed by. We're supposed to get up if we simply feel like 20 hypothetical minutes have passed and we are not sleeping..then to get up, and go back to sleep once we are feeling sleepy (I don't mean physically tired or mentally tired [lethargic], I mean feeling as though you can't really keep yourself awake..something I couldn't distinguish at first).

 

I hope that some of this helped..please let me know if you have any more questions, and keep us posted.

 

*Hugs*

 

Chantillie

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Chantillie. I really need the details. It helps a lot. So when you get up after about 20 min. do you stay up until you feel really sleepy or go back to bed after about 20 min anyway? What if you never feel sleepy? Do you just stay up all nite? that is how I was last nite. Never sleepy except at 10pm. I was yawning and tired but somehow never clicked into sleep. Just listened to the rain cd and never went to sleep. Then I passed my sleep window and was wide awake. The melatonin did nothing or the Rescue Sleep. I'm just afraid I'll have other nites like this where I'm just awake. So what do you do then....just stay up or go back to bed and try again?

Also, can you read in bed and listen to cds or no?

Thanks

Jittery also did he say anything about early wakening?  I usually have no problems falling asleep but wake up very early-last night was 3:30 am am wide awake and never fell back asleep. So tired today. Don't understand why my body is so wired yet exhausted. Sleep was easy before this.