How Eric changed the way he responded to insomnia, stopped battling, and improved his sleep (#44)

[@InsomniaCoach]

All content found on the Insomnia Coach KZbin channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. The statements and opinions expressed by guests are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by Insomnia Coach LLC. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[@gabrielamailow8526]

Hello Martin I'm a student and have been experiencing insomnia for 2-3 weeks First week was a nightmare like i couldn't sleep for 2 and a half days but then it got better because i've watched people who cured beat their insomnia on KZbin and then i've found you and what you are saying is really sensible. But I am still a lil anxious and have questions for you could you please answer So ,nobody has this issue in my family insomnia so it's not genetic right even my doctor said it's not genetic if nobody has this in your Family(my mom dad grandparents...) i know even asking this is stupid but I'll be really relieved if you answer The second one is I am not quite sure what exactly trigger to sleep issues But last couple of months i stressed a lot about my exams ,my family, my anger issues, i got sick from COVID-19 and after recovering i got sick five times and took many medications unfortunately,i was drinking lots of water and would wake up in the middle of my sleep and after waking up i would look at my phone for fun then would sleep again, i had a wifi in my room (now it's far away from my room ) ,since childhood i hate lights when i sleep it really triggers me so i got dark curtains, i was lonely (i've staying in house for two years and i don't like this i am accustomed to getting up early and get ready for school, So which one is the trigger cause of my insomnia The third one is What should I do when I wake up in the middle of the night Can i study? Or read or write something And i've changed my mind about focusing on sleep like i do exercise for health not for sleep I have black curtains because i don't like it it's not because of sleep I removed the Wifi cause it's not good for your health not for my sleep.... The fourth one is The First week was terrible but second week was great like i would get 4-5 hours of sleep sleep but sometimes it's 1 or 2 and a half hour what does it mean Martin Is this normal to happen

[@InsomniaCoach]

@@gabrielamailow8526 I don't really see a link between insomnia and genetics. Some people identify themselves as coming from a family of people with insomnia, others find they are the only person in their family to find sleep difficult! If the trigger of your sleep disruption isn't obvious, then it's possible that it's being kept alive by all your understandable efforts to "fix" it - these efforts often involve putting effort into sleep, trying to get rid of wakefulness, and trying to fight or avoid the thoughts and feelings that often come with insomnia and typically make sleep more difficult. When you wake at night (which is a normal part of sleep) I don't think you need to do anything in particular. If the wakefulness becomes really unpleasant then you might simply give yourself the opportunity to do something more pleasant until conditions feel better for sleep to happen. Ups and downs are normal - you might find this video helpful: How to stop the sleep roller coaster and make sleep more consistent and more predictable - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmfUdZKJe7WXaJY

[@gabrielamailow8526]

@@InsomniaCoach Thanks for answering Martin I am actually on your 2 week free Insomnia guidance right now And I am on the second day And now i don't really care about sleep that much I believe that the worry will slowly go away

[@InsomniaCoach]

@@gabrielamailow8526 Thanks for sharing!

[@gabrielamailow8526]

@@InsomniaCoach hello Martin Is it ok to stay in bed during night because i can fall back to sleep and i don't have anxiety anymore And is it ok to have a lil Vertigo after 1 month lack of sleep When i have good sleep i don't have it but when it's like 4-3 hours yep i have a lil Vertigo

[@sarwatsheikh8278]

My heart goes out to all those who struggle with sleep problems. I had been there as well but guys TRUST ME, you will get over it! You will get back to your sleep just TRUST that! Nothing's wrong with you! Just keep letting go! No extra baggage! Just trust nature! Sleep will always come! LET IT! ALLOW yourself! I sometimes visit this channel to give moral support to all those who are struggling and appreciate Martin! His tools really work! JUST let go! Let go! Let go! Its OKAY! Its not the end of the world. There's always a day ahead AND you will get through it ❤❤❤🤩👍

[@vanessabernardesteixeira5586]

Thank you for these words! It was very helpfull

[@InsomniaCoach]

Thank you for sharing these kind and supportive words, Sarwat!

[@maturomero47]

How long was your struggle? Is your sleep like before? What about residual fear? Did you see a change on your sleep? Meaning is there something like a micro controlling effort or thought?

[@Fruitbasket5101]

Every video you post is reassuring that the tools you teach are effective and truly work! I absolutely support your content, Martin!

[@InsomniaCoach]

Thank you, Stephen! I appreciate your kind words and your support!

[@rischroeder]

Martin, Your content is very useful. Thank you for posting these videos.

[@InsomniaCoach]

Thanks for letting me know - and you are most welcome!

[@kyleabergquist7596]

Martin’s content has helped me through some of the most difficult times in the past three years - I will always be eternally grateful ~ truely a bed on in the dark

[@InsomniaCoach]

I appreciate you sharing that, Kylea.

[@santsu8392]

Larger audience think what's the big deal with sleep and why do you need a coach to sleep. "you can sleep" is one such assurance from a coach who understands the 1% humans like me who are terrified to go to bed. I'm thankful this man exists and knows what the fear of sleep is. The jerks and spasm from shoulder, legs and tummy are horrific mental episodes. Nightmare rush and visions the moment I close my eyes while I'm tired.

[@InsomniaCoach]

Thank you for sharing, Santosh. I appreciate it.

[@jelenat1271]

Hi, how do you deal with the hypnic jerks when falling asleep? Arm or leg moves, or I am making strange noise similar to snoring, sometimes adrenaline rush. Every time I am about to fall asleep my body wakes me up. Also I noticed that I've got slightly elevated body temperature since my insomnia has started 3 months ago.

[@InsomniaCoach]

I have a video about this, and there's many great comments that come with it, right here: Why you jerk yourself awake every time you try to fall asleep (and what to do about it) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXfPqZyOl76El8k

[@najirhussain2119]

Hi Martin, when managing long term insomnia using CBTi, do you have any specific advise for new parents? Given the disrupted sleep with a newborn. Should they adjust a longer sleep window or any other suggestions would be appreciated

[@InsomniaCoach]

I think we definitely need to be more flexible if sleep is getting disrupted by a newborn! Sometimes it can be more useful to practice moving away from the effort we might exert in an attempt to make sleep happen, to move away from any pressure we might put on ourselves to make sleep happen, and to move away from trying to fight or avoid any difficult thoughts and feelings that can show up when things are difficult (rather than creating rigid rules and rituals that are likely to be disrupted by a baby!). Don't forget to be kind to yourself, too - and congratulations on the little one!

[@najirhussain2119]

Thanks Martin! Ive had insomnia for the last year and your videos have helped me soo much! Mainly ive found sleep restriction to be very effective but im just worried now how to maintain that routine with a little one on the way, by the sounds of your advice just be more flexible..!

[@InsomniaCoach]

@@najirhussain2119 Ah, the little one is on the way! How exciting! Yes, flexibility (and being kind to yourself!) can be helpful approaches!

[@michellelogan-nelson8966]

Hi I'm new to the site. I started with insomnia in October last year, not sure why. Recently I have noticed I'm falling asleep after listening to self hypnosis music but waking up at 2.30am every morning. I go bed 10.45 usually asleep by 11.15pm but awake every day at 2.30am and can't get back to sleep. Surviving on 3 hours a night and at a complete loss what to do. Plus I don't really feel tired the next day. Can you give me any advice?

[@InsomniaCoach]

Hello Michelle! Waking during the night is a normal part of sleep. What can make falling back to sleep more difficult is trying to make it happen. You might want to experiment with not checking the time when you wake and exploring how you might practice being more comfortable with wakefulness when it shows up, rather than trying to fight or avoid it.

[@lindsayangus2482]

I started trying cbti a few months ago after reading some articles and tried to implement the techniques myself but I didn't have all the information and got discouraged and gave up. Now I have found your channel and have been doing it for about 9 days and I've seen a massive improvement already. Only had to use stimulus control once. Have gone from minutes of sleep to anywhere between 3.5 to 6 hours. I'm wondering at what point can we change the sleep window? Now I am feeling less wired and more tired during the day due to getting more sleep and am struggling to stay awake to get to earliest bedtime... But I'm guessing I need to hold out as I'm new to it?

[@InsomniaCoach]

Good on you for giving it another go! I think it's OK to change the sleep window whenever you feel ready to do so - you might just want to avoid changing it too frequently, in response to what happens on individual nights. So, perhaps weekly or every two weeks might be a good time to reflect on whether a change might be worthwhile?

[@lindsayangus2482]

@@InsomniaCoach thank you!

[@InsomniaCoach]

@@lindsayangus2482 You're welcome!

[@tealmountaintrekking6141]

I get about 2 hours of sleep a night, then I just get jolted awake every time I nod off. Now I'm 4 days into this and I'm starting to see things that aren't there. Any advice? My doctor gave me ambien but it hasn't helped.

[@InsomniaCoach]

This video might be useful: Why you jerk yourself awake every time you try to fall asleep (and what to do about it) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXfPqZyOl76El8k

[@jacob88166]

how are you doing now did your sleep get better?

[@tealmountaintrekking6141]

@jacob88166 oh, I'm infinitely better. This was during a period of high stress about 14 months ago now. I sleep soundly now. I just use melatonin.

[@joswa4680]

I'm really confused with my sleep because i directly dream but suddenly wokes up every 1 or 2 hours. I just want to ask if you can call it a sleep or not? I'm having headache everday. And I can't recognize my sleepiness. Plssss help me, if anyone who's experiencing like this plsss let me know how'd you overcome this kind of sleep disorder.😭

[@joswa4680]

It feels like my head have a lot of fog

[@InsomniaCoach]

If you're waking up, then you were asleep. If you're having trouble recognizing sleepiness, you might find this video useful:How to improve sleep when you don't feel sleepy and don't know how to get sleepy - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipKpdWefq8x_gdk

[@girganipallavi1743]

@joswa same issue am facing i directpu enters into dream im not feeling sleepy im facing this problm from 11 months how ur now?

[@girganipallavi1743]

Same joswa im also facing same sleep disorder from 11 months im mot feeling sleepy at all how to overcome? How ur now?

[@girganipallavi1743]

​@@InsomniaCoach i want ask u one question im following this channel from 11 months im favong this problem also from 11 months I dnt know what happen i dnt have any sleep problem one day i dod ear wash for cleaning wax after one day i didnt slept from that am not feeling sleepy i used to takd nap also before even that is also not coming why im not getting sleep? 2) sleep is related to ear 3) i used to jave lot of hair and long hair but from when am favong this problm im getting lot of hair losss am a girl my question will complete get will lose?

[@johnnykilo4967]

Hi Martin. Although my sleep has definitely improved over the last 30 days on CBT-I, my deep sleep is very minimal. Once in a while i do get a reasonable amount and can feel the positive effects. Would you have any recommendations to improve? Thanks for the great vids.

[@InsomniaCoach]

How do you know your deep sleep is very minimal, Johnny? What would you be doing differently with your life if you were getting more deep sleep?

[@johnnykilo4967]

@@InsomniaCoach I’m basing my deep sleep from Apple Watch app. Days when I seem to have more deep sleep, my energy and overall wellbeing improved significantly.

[@InsomniaCoach]

@@johnnykilo4967 We can't control sleep architecture - and we don't need to, since it's something the body takes care of all by itself. The more we focus on sleep (something we can't control) the more we can set ourselves up for a struggle and that's when things can get even more difficult! This is why devices that track our sleep can sometimes be unhelpful since there's not usually much we can do with the information anyway! Perhaps it's more helpful to do things that matter, that keep us moving toward the kind of life we want to live, even when our energy levels feel low and even if we might have got less deep sleep than we'd like to have generated.

[@johnnykilo4967]

@@InsomniaCoach You’re right. I should be happy that my sleep is finally getting back on track after so many years. I shouldn’t allow the stress of deep sleep affect me in any way. Thanks for the reply.

[@InsomniaCoach]

​@@johnnykilo4967 We can't make happiness happen - and happiness is never a permanent state anyway! As a human being you'll experience all different thoughts, feelings, and emotions - some feel good, some don't. Some are useful, some aren't. What matters is how we respond - if we try to fight or avoid certain thoughts and feelings we might be get a bit tangled up in a struggle since we cannot directly control our thoughts and feelings (at least, not permanently)!

[@robpz448]

I had probably one of the worst cases of insomnia in the world over the past several months. From mid September- to November I probably slept less than 5 hours. After this , my sleep was fragmented. This started after a traumatic event. I even developed Peyronies due to the lack of sleep. Point is , I tried everything to sleep better. Nothing worked. ALL the remedies for insomnia are BS. Want to know what cures insomnia? 1. Being tired , 2. Overcoming whatever trauma / anxiety you're experiencing , 3. Going to bed at the same time everyday and waking up at the same time everyday. Melatonin, pills , behavior therapy , is all BS.

[@InsomniaCoach]

Thanks for sharing, Rob! It sounds as though you mentioned at least a couple of behavior changes there - so perhaps behavior change/therapy has some value!

[@robpz448]

@@InsomniaCoach Good point.