Posted by nocturnally yours on January 31, 2008 at 06:46:31:Hello everyone. I'm just stopping by to see how everyone is doing. I see lots of new people and some familiar old names. I just though I'd report on my situation, since I know that everyone who comes here is looking for answers. At least, that's what I was doing when I visited here. I don't know the answer to this insomnia thing. I have good stretches and a few bad here and there, but basically I sleep pretty good these days. Last night was unusually bad, which prompted me to come here, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that I started this diet which limits carbs, and as everyone here probably already knows, carbs are necessary for keeping us calm. Anyway, I did want to mention that one thing that helped me a great deal was doing some CBT, religiously. I picked up a book, and inside the author gave me an exercise which I stopped using when I was able to sleep well, but probably should keep doing every once in awhile. The exercise is a basic argument with yourself, and what you are doing is talking sense to yourself. We stop sleeping because we tell ourselves that we "must" sleep, which creates pressure on us, but the truth is that it's nice to sleep, and it feels good to sleep, but we don't have to sleep. There are plenty of occassions where we haven't slept and made it through the day. Our bodies will eventually sleep whether we want them to or not, so we don't need to worry about it, but the thing that I found in doing this exercise is that though I thought that I had beat the anxiety, there actually was some residual anxiety which didn't keep me up all night, but it did sometimes interfere with my sleep. So that book was a life saver for me. Also, it's possible that when laying in bed, your mind associates it with anxiety, and in that respect I agree with the sleep specialists that it's probably a good idea to get up and wait until you feel tired before getting back into bed. I remember telling a friend that I was sleeping only 3 or 4 hours a night and he said, "Oh, that's horrible." This was when I was doing my CBT exercises, and I replied, "No, it's unfortuante, and a royal pain, but it's not horrible or terrible." Sleepless nights are only bad if you tell yourself that they are, but actually, sometimes they serve to help you get things done that need doing. Rememer, the good sleepers have bad nights that they take in stride. It's beneficial to keep things in perspective. I hope this gives some of you encouragement. I know I'll sleep like a baby tonight, due to my lack of sleep last night, but some years back, even a bad night didn't get me sleeping. There's hope for us all.