Did You/Do You Need to Re-learn to Sleep? How?

[Abstract]

Oh @Friday ? Sorry! I'm sure it is no laughing matter but .... couldn't help it.

.I love my dog.... :laugh:

Well it can only be easier than that!

Thanks for the input. I am not one of those deluded people who thinks its all sweet squeals and gurgles and have some insight into the relentlessness of it all .... but!!! Yikes. Always said that anyone doing this deserves some sort of award. Or something. ;)

So if we look at that from a different perspective it seems they are easily thrown off their sleep agenda. And don't easily take to a healthy long lasting pattern when it comes to sleep. Am feeling like one of those babes! Starting to see Freida's drs point.

 

[Abstract]

hmmm. thinking self soothing skills much be one of the relevant things learnt. And general regulation.

 

[ILoveLife]

Hi Abstract :)

Meditation before bed cured my insomnia and yoga in the morning helps jolt my body awake (or any exercise really) - I'm getting 8 straight hours and drinking little coffee. I have to relearn my sleep patterns though, I'm still going to bed at 6:30pm and waking up in the middle of the night.

Pdoc said this schedule is because I feel safe alone during the night, when everyone else is vulnerable sleeping and no one will harm me, so I guess in order to feel safe during the day I need to overcome this fear.

I'm sick at the moment with a cold, so I'm sleeping patchy all day - must be catching up to the past months of insomnia.

I was always a heavy sleeper, no alarm could wake me up. Being in the psych ward changed that, when I started treatment and confronting my issues. Then last year this horrible insomnia broke out, and I've been kinda in a sleepy daze since. They say it takes a while for the body to recover from sleepless nights, so I might need a few years to reset my sleep to normality. I think it's progress I'm getting 8 straight hours, even though it would definitely be benefitial for me to sleep at a regular schedule.

 

[ms spock]

I just keep practising good sleep hygiene @Abstract, through the times I actually do get sleep and through all the crappy times I don't. I have actually hit some sleeping tablets recently which I really try to stay off but my psychiatrist is really good with the meds. So occasionally I try some out. But you need a good medico to be managing and monitoring that for you.

The Promise of Sleep by William Dement I think that is his name is really interesting.

Self Compassion - look at Kristen Neff's website.

The dbtselfhelp meditations

Sometimes playing "The Mindful Way Through Depression" helps me reorientate to this now without having so much panic.

I went through a stage of listening to American comedians on loop so I could reorientate to this now.

Now I use Rachel Maddow and Nicole Wallace - two strong opinionated woman - makes me feel safe to hear their voices when I wake up at 3am like clockwork, no matter what drug combination, exercise regime or etc I am doing.

Audiobooks with a voice that is soothing to you - currently I am listening to "Anti Fragile"!

Exercise - really important for sleeping. I have a regular routine which I do without fail. There is no not exercising for me or my sleep falls apart.

David Burns book - you've probably read it before "Feeling Good" - brilliant!

I have total Radical Acceptance about not sleeping well some nights or at all for weeks at times - this is what it is and this is how it is - and that is life. I can't control that but I can control my reactions to the lack of sleep, I can control how much exercise I choose to do in a day, I can choose what thoughts I choose to have (with great f*cking difficulty I must say) but I do have choice there. So everything that I can choose to do I damn well do it. And despite that and a wide range of drug combinations (which I usually avoid). It is no sleep for me.

My other problem is that I grind my teeth when sleeping and I have cracked teeth, and have cracked the splint. So that takes managing.

I also used to binge eat before going to bed. I stopped doing that during this last year. My terror about going to bed was so extreme that yes I used to binge eat before going to bed. That is a culmination of years of trauma work, therapy, exercise, all the above books as well as going Weight Watchers, who have changed their name to Wellness Works, but screw that they are always going to be Weight Watchers for me! I went from being obese to the top of my BMI as well this last year. It took me a year and 15 days to complete that part of my journey.

So I do probably between 5-20 things on a daily basis which is all about managing sleep at night, and still I will have these patches where a bit extra stress, or a trigger will mean my sleep falls apart. It is just my lot in life and I have some great management skills, and I am always improving my management skills.

 

[Freida]

Hey all!

I found this in the March 19 Consumer Reports magazine (page 37). They had a couple different articles on insomnia treatments and sleep - but this one talks about the same kind of sleep program I went thru -- its called
CBT I (I for insomnia who knew :laugh: )


image approved by staff

 

[Wired4Sound]

So I do probably between 5-20 things on a daily basis which is all about managing sleep at night,

I agree! Number one for me is not drinking coffee/caffeine past 1 PM. Boring, but works.

I had a breakthrough recently when I started to wonder why I hyperventilated each night for about 30 minutes. I "identified" with an infant self who was terrified and needed soothing. Once I acknowledged this and gave it attention, it has fallen away gradually.

There's no claim I've solved my sleep puzzle entirely, but it's one more piece which has been put in place.

 

[Hopeful for Healing]

I now wake up about 3 hours into my sleep routinely. I just deal with it. It is part of my schedule. I make sure I have constructive things to do like painting, drawing, crocheting, whatever keeps me in a good mood. I take a supplement when I wake up that has some Melatonin in it as well as some herbs that help one of sleep. It is called MIDNITE here in the states.

Thank you for the helpful post. It's challenging but sometimes, making amends with those that hurt us is the biggest challenge of all. We all need closure. I hold no illusions that that may not come to fruition but one can hope.

Hi,
Don't want to thread hijack so starting this one here. Sleep is one of my most tenacious "symptoms". Its only improved recently and if my symptoms go up at all it bottoms out. Tried many things before was diagnosed and many things after. Including CBT, Being diagnosed helped a lot as conventional stuff just did not work (until recently). It works moderately well when my symptoms go below a certain level which is a more recent occurrence. In the last few weeks I have made new strides which is such a relief but its very unstable. I am back into getting very little the last few days after being triggered.


If you feel inclined Freida, would love to know more. The idea that my brain doesn't know how to sleep like a "normal" person resonates with me. Apparently I was fine for the first years of my life so don't believe its inherent.

I don't lie in bed tormented. I don't anticipate insomnia and build up issues to do with that. Most of the CBT didn't help as I was already doing what was suggested or it didn't work for me.

What changes in the brain with trauma? Obviously hypervigilance, intense emotional states and very obviously avoiding opening the gates for whats in there to come popping out, in sleep. Am I missing something? Thanks all!

I am tormented from the nightmare I've gone through that began in early August of last year. I pray for the strength and guidance to turn things around in a healing capacity that brings much needed closure.

Yes, my sleep doc said I needed to re-learn how to sleep! Hence, no sleep meds!

BUUUUUUUT!

I AM on meds that help overall and make sleep possible.

I honestly don’t think we can re-train the brain to sleep until we get the other issues under control. (As in, it’s a whole system thing, and sleep is just one of the wheels in the machine.)

Taking melotonin briefly helps but for the most part, sleep is few and far between. Prayer also helps.

 

[ms spock]

Self soothing, calming activities, banjo playing, swimming, busting those distorted cognitions as defined by David Burns Poll - Are You Familiar With The Top Ten Distorted Cognitions?

 

[Wired4Sound]

Parthenogenesis, Good point about checking for the cognitive distortions. I'm studying mental models now and all these look familiar. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Abstract]

Thanks so very much everyone. I cant do so now but shall come back and answer...

 

[ms spock]

How's it going with sleep @Abstract?

 

[rosey]

after decades of trouble sleeping at night I finally sorted it. I noticed that sleep during the day was easier and deeper. I set about replicating day during the night. I have a salt lamp on during the night which gives off a nice orange/pink glow and use city sounds on a sleep app to give a bit of back ground noise. Amazingly it has worked I now sleep consitently at night.