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 Forum2 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Insomnia Forum Homepage.

My Story: How I was cured of insomnia without drugs


Posted by Cured on May 31, 1999 at 17:15:49:

Today is my first visit to this Forum. I have read quite a lot of despair in the Forum’s postings and responses (very understandable). I want to offer some hope. When I first suffered from insomnia (16 years ago) there was very little information or resources for those who suffered from insomnia. I am 32 years old now and I sleep a normal 8 hours each night (give or take an hour). But it didn't happen over night (no pun intended). I hope that my story can help someone out there!

Please note - There are people with medical and/or psychological problems that may not find my "cure" applicable. However, if you have been cleared for medical conditions and do not suffer from severe psychological problems then I urge you to read on.

My solution may sound too simplistic, but I assure you it is 100% true.

This is my story:
When I was sixteen years old I attended an all-night racquetball party sponsored by my high school. Prior to that, my life was actually very happy for a teenager. I was up all night at the party so I tried to sleep in the morning when I got home. But, I wasn't tired. I got kind of worried about losing so much sleep. I tried even harder that evening to sleep, but I couldn't. Among other things, I was worried how I was going to function at school the next day. At that point I was up 48 hours straight without one single minute of sleep. However, I had to go to school! I went to school that day but what an ass I was to everyone.

I was obsessed with getting to sleep early to make up for my lost sleep. So I got into bed as soon as I got home. Of course, I was way too wound up to fall asleep. Things went on like that for about a week and I still did not have a single period of real sleep (the only rest I got was closing/resting my eyes for hours while my brain was racing). I went to the doctor for help. Over a period of nine months, I tried a variety of remedies. I tried a variety of drugs (most of them recreational drugs) to help me sleep but none of them worked. I tried biofeedback, hypnotism and therapy, but they didn't work either. I was tested for medical conditions, but was healthy (except for the effects of severe sleep deprivation, of course). I was very leery of taking strong sleeping pills for fear that I would become dependent on them. Plus, they did not seem to work for me.

In addition to suffering the paranoia and discomfort of severe insomnia, I was withdrawing socially. I would come into school late most mornings or skip school altogether (in the late morning or during a nap I might get 30-40 minutes of shallow, fitful sleep). When I did engage in social exchanges, I was often downright mean. I was often paranoid that everyone in the world was either ignoring me or against me. I was merely in survival mode.

Then after nine months of suffering, one doctor explained something very simple about sleep that was the first step to my cure.

Discovery #1: We have an internal biological sleep clock (i.e., our body has a natural cycle of wakefulness and sleep). This sleep cycle closely follows the earth’s daylight and nighttime. Anything that interferes with being awake during the day cycle and asleep during the night cycle can throw a person off his/her cycle. Some people seem to be more susceptible to disturbances in their sleep cycle than others. The more severe and the longer an insomniac has unusual sleeping patters, the more difficult for him/her to get back into his/her sleep cycle. My “cure” was to get my body back onto my sleep cycle. But to do so I had to teach myself to “succumb” to sleep, not “will” myself to sleep.

I did not use any sleep aids during my “cure”. I think your body must learn how to feel sleepy and fall asleep on it own without drugs in order to be on its natural sleep cycle.

Discovery #2: The harder we try or force ourselves to sleep, the harder it is to sleep. Before sound sleep the body must feel sleepy. Sleepy is different than tired. For example, after a strenuous workout your muscles may feel tired, but they don’t feel sleepy. Sleepiness is the signal your body (internal sleep clock) gives you that it is time to sleep. Don’t ever close your eyes with the intent of sleeping unless your internal sleep clock tells you that you are sleepy. Closing your eyes before you feel sleepy can prevent the sleepiness from comming over you.

Getting your body back onto its sleep cycle takes time and discipline. It means that you set your alarm clock for the same time EVERY morning (and of course, GET UP!)regardless of whether you slept well that night or not. It also means that you get into bed and close your eyes ONLY WHEN SLEEPY and no earlier than your normal bedtime. In other words, do not nap and do not go to be early. Try to go to bed at the same time every night, unless you do not feel sleepy. If you are not sleepy at your normal bedtime then stay up until you do feel sleepy. If you feel sleepy prior to your normal bedtime, then try to wake yourself up (without caffeine) until as close to your bedtime as you can. If you fall asleep more than a couple of hours before your bedtime, chances are you will wake up in the middle of the night and will not be able to fall back asleep. Also, try to get into a routine an hour before your normal bedtime (e.g., reading, taking a bath etc.). The more habitual your sleeping pattern, the easier it is to fall asleep and the more restful the sleep is likely to be. The trick is not to try to sleep, but to train your body to succumb to sleep on a routine basis. Your goal is to go to sleep at a regular time each night, sleep the entire night without waking up,wake up at the same time every morning (refreshed), and stay awake until your bedtime.

It takes time to “train” your body for normal sleep, but it will work over time. As I mentioned, I now sleep 8 hours a night (give or take an hour depending on the night). But don't expect the severe impact of insomnia on your sleep cycle to be erased in a few weeks. Your sleep will improve in a few weeks by following these suggestions, but it may take much longer before your sleeping is completely normal again. My sleep cycle seesawed back and forth from night to night: sleeping too much or not sleeping enough. After a while my sleep cycle stabilized and eventually I trained my body to sleep normally again! I hope you can sleep normally one day too! Make a commitment to yourself and stick with it! Please send me your comments.

Follow Ups:


Copyright ©1995-2000 Sleepnet.com, All rights reserved