A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Insomnia Forum
Posting

Archived Insomnia Forum16. To post a new topic go to the Insomnia Forum Homepage.

Re: Fourth Night....

Posted by Paul on September 14, 2002 at 09:54:13:

In Reply to: Fourth Night.... posted by heidi2 on September 14, 2002 at 08:38:05:

Heidi2-

Congratulations on making it through the fourth night!!!

Day four was the hardest for me...I still wasn't sleeping and I was extremely fatigued. I was ready to give in that night, but I didn't! Things do get better in time.

Beth is absolutely right about the clock. Do not look at the clock during the night because the passage of time will stress you out. Either turn it around or cover it up so you are not getting worried about how much time has gone by and have thoughts like, "Oh my God! It's 4:30 and I have to get up at 6:30! I have to get some sleep!" Then you'll get stressed and try to force sleep...which as we all know will cause you not to sleep at all. If you don't know what time it is, you won't worry as much about it!

Another thought: you have the same problem with your bedroom that I do...noise. I sleep with earplugs in to keep all of the little noises from waking me up. I also have a large fan in my room in case my neighbors are up to something during the night. I can turn on the fan to help block the noises out if I can still hear the neighbors through the earplugs. I find the sound of a fan relaxing anyway so it works out well.

I sleep more solidly now so I haven't had to use the fan in many months, but I still use the earplugs.

A final thought: You've made it through the hardest four days of Sleep Restriction! Please don't even consider throwing in the towel now that you've accomplished so much! I can tell you from experience that it won't be long before things start to look up. I used to think that I was the world's worst insomniac and that nothing short of a sledgehammer to my temple would be able to put me to sleep. I used to feel so hopeless that I would never be able to sleep on my own again without medications and that I would have to deal with being a raging insomniac my whole life.

Well, I was wrong. I can sleep on my own again without medications and it turns out that I wasn't the world's worst insomniac after all.
I no longer have 0-1 hour nights for weeks in a row and now my worst nights are far better than my best nights were before, even on Ambien.

Please rest assured that although my insomnia was very bad and that I had a nasty addiction to Ambien, I was able to get off the Ambien and start to sleep again by using the techniques in the book you read. It just takes patience, a lot of discipline, a positive attitude and of course, time. You seem to have all of those qualities so I'll bet this should work out for you like it did for me.

Keep it up and thanks for the frequent reports!

Paul

Follow Ups:


Archived Insomnia Forum16 To post a new topic go to the Insomnia Forum Homepage

  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Related Breathing Disorders are most common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved