In response to last week’s email on sleep, I had several people reach out sharing that they are struggling with some form of insomnia.
Insomnia is more common than people realise.
It is categorised as consistent sleep disturbance for more than a month. This could be trouble falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to get back to sleep, waking up earlier than expected and not being able to go back to sleep – or a combination of all three.
It’s also worth noting that lots of people with insomnia do have the odd, good night’s sleep because at certain points they are just so exhausted that their body sleeps all the way through the night, but then when they’ve caught up, the problems start up again.
Given the impact poor sleep has on our health and wellbeing in the short term and over the long term, it’s important, if you’re struggling with your sleep that you work on resolving the issues. I think it’s the case for a lot of people that they almost get used to living and existing on not enough sleep and lose sight of how much better things should be.
If you missed last week’s blog post and want to read more on the impact of poor sleep, catch up here.
Some of the people who reached out wanted to know how I resolved my insomnia. As I mentioned in last week’s post, it wasn’t a quick fix or linear process. It did take time, trial and error and a lot of effort – but all I can say is that it was 100% worth it!
One of the hardest things about insomnia is that often the reason you developed insomnia is not what keeps it going. There’s the original stressor, but then sleeping itself becomes a stressor and your mind starts to anticipate or even fear sleep being a problem every time you go to bed.
I’m going to share what worked for me, but it’s important to emphasise that what’s right for me might not be right for you and that it took me months to get back to sleeping well consistently. But if you do have insomnia, it’s worth considering trying some or all these:
Consult your doctor
I was prescribed a strong antihistamine, which I really didn’t like taking at the time because it made me feel drowsy the next day, so I stopped. But then I started taking it in smaller doses and it did help me sleep more through the night. I feel this mostly helped me by lessening the pressure of needing to sleep, not just the fact I was able to get a better night’s sleep, but over time sleep became less of an issue.
Here in the UK, your doctor might also be able to refer you to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for sleep. I also tried this, and it was very helpful. As I said above, insomnia can make you start to fear sleep and then you might also create thinking patterns and behaviours that make things worse. Working with someone to challenge those thinking patterns, hold you accountable to proper sleep hygiene behaviours and keep track of everything in a sleep diary can make a huge difference.
Try herbal sleep supplements
Valerian helped me sleep more deeply and through the night without waking up. I used ‘Kalms one a night’, each tablet is 385mg of valerian root extract. I took this about 30mins before bed.
Lavender is also well-known to aid sleep. I do use an essential oil and I was given a pillow spray as a gift. I won’t say they were a major reason I got over insomnia, but lavender can help you feel more relaxed.
There are several other natural supplements that are good for sleep – hopps, passionflower and magnesium to name a few more. I recommend consulting a naturopath or functional doctor, or at the least visit your health food store and try to speak to someone who knows about supplements.
I also invested in a high-quality CBD oil, and I have to say this really helped me relax and sleep at the time. I used the brand Unique, which I shared with you in a blog post a few months ago – read more about my experience and their oils here.
Please consult your doctor before taking any supplements if you have any pre-existing health conditions or are taking any medications.
Manage your stress & anxiety
Looking back this is one of the keys to my recovery. As I shared with you last week, I had the initial stress of the difficult, noisy neighbours that started my sleeping issue. But then the stress of the situation and the fact I couldn’t sleep became further stress, so I did whatever I could to lower my stress levels on a daily basis.
- I stopped intense exercise and focused on walking every day in nature.
- I listened to uplifting, positive podcasts.
- I took supplements to help combat stress and anxiety: ashwagandha and magnesium glycinate.
- I took time off work whenever I was able to.
- I went on a holiday and visited friends to get away from home.
- I made sure I was eating well; 3 decent meals a day and protein with each meal.
Change your environment
In the end, I moved the layout of the rooms in my flat!
My bedroom was in a position that meant if the neighbours below were noisy at night and smoking etc, it would directly impact me. This had not been a problem in the 10 years prior and initially I was resistant to the idea because I felt it was unfair that I should have to go to so much trouble and upheaval in my own home due to other people being inconsiderate and selfish. However, at a certain point, I had to accept that my health was more important!
If you’re struggling with insomnia, this may mean you have to do the same, or it might involve moving home altogether, something I seriously considered myself. Or it could be that you need to sleep in a separate room from your partner or get a new bed with two separate mattresses next to one another. Or perhaps you need to invest in soundproofing your bedroom – replacing windows etc.
Sometimes we may need to take drastic action if the original source of stress is ongoing.
Don’t look at your phone
When you can’t sleep it can be so easy to go to your phone. Even if you’re opening your phone to access a sleep app or meditation, you’re still looking at your phone!
When I was working with the CBT therapist, I stopped looking at my phone or even reading a book once I was in bed. I just had to lie there and try to relax. This was difficult initially because I felt that the sleep app or books helped me to relax, but in the end, I found that I fell asleep far more easily when I just lay there.
Distract yourself from stressful thoughts
The major issue with insomnia is that you get very stressed about not sleeping. This, for me, was one of the worst aspects aside from the tiredness – it’s lying awake for hours and all you can think about is the fact you can’t sleep!
I was taught a very simple mental technique and I was amazed it worked so well. It’s like counting sheep, but instead, you count backwards from 999.
You may find your mind distracts you and keeps trying to go back to a stressful thought but if you keep bringing your focus back to the counting, you should find it eventually sends you to sleep. You don’t know this until you wake up of course but this generally works for me every time.
What you’re doing is stopping stressful thoughts because if your mind is thinking something stressful then why would your body want to sleep? It thinks it’s under some form of threat due to the thoughts so it’s important to do whatever you can to distract yourself from any stressful thoughts.
Time-restricted sleeping
This is a method that is supposed to resolve insomnia – the theory is that you have created a bad sleeping pattern that your body is now following. So, to rewire this pattern you shorten your sleeping window to force exhaustion so much so that you sleep the whole time – for example, you only let yourself sleep from midnight to 5.00am. You do this for a few nights or maybe even for a week and then you slowly extend the sleeping window by 30 minutes every few days until you are back to sleeping the normal 7-8 hours.
It’s essentially training your body back to the desired normal sleeping pattern. Many people have had a lot of success with this, and I feel it’s worth trying. You may need a professional to help guide you through the process and there are sleep experts who can help you with this.
If you’re struggling to sleep well or perhaps you’ve been dealing with insomnia, I now know first-hand how frustrating and stressful it can be – you feel completely trapped!
Sleep is so important for our overall health and once it becomes a chronic problem it can keep us locked in a vicious cycle of stress and physical health issues like weight gain and other immune-related problems. You simply can’t be at your best when you’re surviving on less sleep than you need!
I’m here to say, don’t struggle on your own or accept that poor sleep is your fate as so many people do!
Having fully resolved my insomnia, I am even more well-equipped now to help clients improve their sleep. I offer complimentary 30-minute consultations, email info@katehorwood.com or click here if you’d like to book one and we can find out if working together to get your sleep back on track would be a good fit.
Kate x
