How Kirstin regained her natural ability to sleep after feeling dependent on sleeping pills (#59)

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22 күн бұрын

Ready to get your life back from insomnia? Learn more about my sleep coaching programs at insomniacoach.com
Kirstin began using medication every now and then to help her sleep on Sunday nights. When she faced a big personal challenge that made sleep more difficult, she started to use it more often. The plan was to take a small dose to get her through that difficult period and then stop the medication because she didn’t want to be reliant on something to help her fall asleep.
Unfortunately Kirstin found that when she tried to stop taking the medication, sleep didn’t happen. She went without sleep for three or four days straight before reaching for the medication in a desperate attempt to make sleep happen. Kirstin developed the belief that she couldn’t sleep without medication and this created a lot of panic, distress, and confusion.
Kirstin became obsessed with sleep. All she could think about was insomnia. Her days were filled with researching sleep remedies and experimenting with sleep-related rules and rituals. Nothing worked.
Kirstin tried to stop herself from thinking about insomnia. That didn’t work either. As nighttime approached she would get extremely nervous, scared, and upset. People tried to be supportive but nobody understood what she was going through.
Things changed when Kirstin came across the Insomnia Coach podcast and realized that she wasn’t alone. As she listened to the stories of others, insomnia started to feel less mysterious.
At this point, Kirstin started to reclaim her life from insomnia. She made and followed through on daytime plans, regardless of how she slept. She prepared for difficult nights in advance so she had alternatives to struggling and battling all night long. She abandoned all her sleep efforts, rules, and rituals. She allowed all the difficult thoughts and feelings she was experiencing to exist - she acknowledged them and allowed them to come and go as they pleased. She practiced being kinder to herself.
Kirstin’s journey was not easy. She experienced ups and downs. When things felt difficult she made the conscious effort to focus on actions that would keep her moving toward the life she wanted to live and the relationship with sleep she wanted to have.
Kirstin is also applying many of the skills she gained from her experience with insomnia to other parts of her life. And, she is sleeping without medication.
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My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching programs that will help you stop struggling with sleep so you can get your life back from insomnia. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for insomnia at insomniacoach.com/sleep-train...
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All content found on the Insomnia Coach KZfaq 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.
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Пікірлер: 8

@InsomniaCoach 20 күн бұрын

All content found on the Insomnia Coach KZfaq 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.

@Yuvsters 17 күн бұрын

This helped me immensely, been battling with insomnia for past 4 years with Z-drugs now Benzos, thinking I’ll never be able to get off them having lots of sleep anxiety daily. This gives me some hope that I can come off these drugs slowly and make peace with my intrusive thoughts about insomnia. Thank you so much Kristin for sharing your story and thank you Insomnia Coach for podcasting and helping people!

@bradpowell5931 16 күн бұрын

Hi Martin thank you very much for the free content you post. Your podcast played a big part in shifting how I think about insomnia for the better, which has helped me navigate the ups and downs of sleep. Keep up the great work.

@danh2310 17 күн бұрын

Kristen your not alone we all think them same exact thoughts. I can totally resonate with everything you said. People who havent suffered dont have a clue what its like.

@BF2021-kf8xz 2 күн бұрын

My insomnia is triggered in very specific situations. I take ambien when this happens ....which maybe is an average of once or twice or month.

@lillianyoukhana8451 16 күн бұрын

Kirstin how hard was it coming off the meds?

@kimjane7172 Күн бұрын

Hi, a little insight into my struggle of coming off sleep meds as I believe it may help you. I was on sleep meds for around 14 years and I was on some of the most potent stuff ie 800mg of quetiapine, zopiclone, ambiem, promethazine, diazepam but I wasn't on all of them at the same time, it was only once I built a tolerance to each one I went onto to another med. I suddenly woke up one morning and thought to myself I don't want to be on sleep meds to help me sleep anymore as I wanted my body to naturally sleep without them. I did manage to ween off sleep meds with the help of my GP and it was easy, it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, because I kept thinking to myself I'm never going to sleep without them and a lot of other negative thoughts as well and that caused me a lot of hyperarousal and it was that that kept me awake and not so much coming of the sleep meds. It was my thought patterns that caused me to have severe insomnia. I did succeed manage to come off them and obviously I still have sleep troubles but it's slowly improving. Coming of sleep meds is very achievable it just takes a lot of will power and you've got to want to come off them. I believe you can come off them and with the right help and understanding of chronic insomnia you will manage to sleep without them and I know this because im living proof of it and I was on some pretty heavy stuff and if I can do I believe anyone can. I hope this helped😊

@Rushu770 11 күн бұрын

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