Feb 1, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
Thank you for the openness with which you shared this journey that you're on with regard to sleep. What I used to think of as insomnia in my younger years seems to have revealed itself as a natural Circadian rhythm that refuses to conform to societal norms. I'm so thankful to have ditched the 9-5, escaped the Rat Race, and created a life in which this no longer poses an issue. Also grateful to have ditched alarm clocks, for the most part, which I consider instruments of the devil's most heinous torture here on earth!
this was a superb article, thanks so much for sharing. My wife and I have said for a long time that if people just wore a sandwich board showing everyone a few things going on in their life (like 2 hours of sleep a night), we may all be just a little more kind and understanding. Thanks again Michael, great article.
Feb 1, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
Thank you for sharing this. I have intermittent issues with insomnia, usually I can go right to sleep, then wake up at 3am, my mind busy. Thought that would thankfully go away with retirement, but it hasn’t. Sigh...oh, well. I find when I take Aleve for my bad hip, I sleep better. Go figure!
Feb 1, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
Thank you for the honest discussion of insomnia, I also struggle with Insomnia & the well meaning advice of friends & family. The only thing that works for me are marijuana edibles. I try not to use them too often because I fear building up a tolerance to the one thing that helps. I try to appreciate the sleep I do get & use the time I can’t sleep to read, write, & meditate rather than toss & turn.
Beautifully told. Thanks for the honesty. I love it. Reminds me of Buddhism: Acceptance of What Is. Letting go. Releasing control. Is the lack of sleep the true problem? Or your relationship to the lack of sleep. You answered this skillfully.
Feb 2, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
I too have struggled for many years with lack of sleep. The longest I have slept is 4 hours in a row several years ago. I liken it to taking eight one hour naps in a ten hour period. Many days I take a nap, which is my best sleep time. Thanks for sharing.
Feb 2, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
Oh hell, I'm so sorry you've had this to deal with. But also - scratch that, in a way. You're accepting it as part of who you are, so saying "I'm so sorry" is - disrespecful?
My point is, Words Are Hard and I'm not very good at them.
But this is a hell of a thing to deal with. I've been struggling with it myself - especially since my newsletter became a fulltime focus and my nervous system went into overdrive with both the positive and negative things happening in my brain. But this is a new thing, and I've found ways to address it (one of them: travel to London and back on the train to see some excellent folk in one long day, then you'll be so tired when you get home that you sleep for 12 hours straight!). So there's no comparison here.
Wow. I'm not alone. This isn't a source of comfort by all means but rather a sense of not feeling so alone and weird.
I've been battling with insomnia since 2001. My father died unexpectedly and I had to commit myself into detox for prescription drugs shortly after. A perfect storm.
I worked shift work all of my life. I never had sleep issues until the 2001 one-two punch.
I ran pretty much the same course as you, trying to find the cause/solution. Nothing worked. I had to plan my work for later in the day so I didn't have to fight stressing about an alarm clock.
I did find out something rather interesting, though. After being awake all night and moving through the following day in an almost sleepwalking state at some point in late afternoons while battling closing my eyes I found a creative side that works better than I've ever experienced. Art isn't my strong suit. I'm analytical. It started with doodling, coloring, and then evolved into drawing and painting. I can write late mornings, but in recent years I've all but given that up.
I'm so glad you shared this demonic battle with us. You're so spot on... we all have that something to deal with, you showed me a new perspective. I can't say I'm grateful for it, but I'm thankful I don't have many of the other battles people must fight. Great read.
Thank you for sharing this personal story. Your frustrations resonated, and you are so right: acceptance and thankfulness go a long way towards living with things you can't change.
I can personally attest that Long Covid cures insomnia but (dang it!) not the tiredness the next day!
Same!! I will spare you my 15 year saga with insomnia and get right to my cure. My naturopath discovered that I had parasites- worms and amoebas. Once they were treated, I started sleeping through the night. Within days. It was as close to an overnight solution as one could have. Have you ever been tested for parasites?! Try it. It absolutely changed my life. Best of luck.
Feb 1, 2023Liked by Brent Hartinger, Michael Jensen
It sounds like you made your way through ‘acceptance and commitment’ therapy all by yourself! (It’s a real thing...) I really know what you mean about ‘sleeping with the enemy’ - my insomnia is nowhere near as bad as yours but after a few bad nights I always feel that I need to make friends with my bed again, like we’re getting over an argument.
Michael - thank you for sharing your story so openly! I started struggling with insomnia two years ago, and have had some rough patches with it where it’s really terrible. It *sucks.* It’s so frustrating that you can’t *try* your way into sleep...even if you’re a goal-oriented, high achieving human, sleep is the one thing you can’t force / will into happening. Grr!
A book I’d recommend (although you’ve probably already read it!) is No More Sleepless Nights. They debunk a lot of sleep myths -- like you mentioned, insomnia doesn’t actually shorten life spans, or increase Alzheimer’s risk, or any other long term health detriment.... it just makes you more sleepy. Which is annoying, but OK. That brought me comfort.
A daily, 5mg dose of Lexapro has worked really well for me. I also have the email of a CBT sleep therapist if you’d like a second sounding board.
Anyway, sounds like you’ve got it sorted for now -- I just wanted to say thanks, and I’ve been globe-trotting too, so cheers to seeing another travel writer here! 👋🏃♀️
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I really appreciated hearing what your mindset is. I too suffer from insomnia on and off. It used to be that I took hours to fall asleep at night; now it's that I wake up at 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning and can't get back to sleep. Folks who lecture us to always get eight hours of sleep per night ought to count themselves lucky. Also, I hope this article inspires people to quit assuming that someone with a particular health condition hasn't already tried the unsolicited advice they offer.
I feel you. I think what's helped me the most is...
-only have caffeine (tea, chocolate, etc) in the early half of the day
-making sure I don't eat or drink anything at least 4 hours before bed
-cool bedroom (huge huge huge and I don't like cool bedrooms)
-dim/yellow screens (and doc would say turn them off couple hours before bed)
-think about how lovely sleep is *while* envisioning/proclaiming that I'm going to sleep 6-7.5 hours, even noting what time I'll wake (super huge, as I'm no longer telling my brain that I can't/won't sleep)
--if I don't get sleepy, start reading with dimmed/yellowed screen, as reading books makes me so tired
Sleep is so so much better now. I now get 6-7.5 hours sleep most of the time, which is perfect for me (my Chinese med doc says 5 hours is just fine for him)
Thank you for the openness with which you shared this journey that you're on with regard to sleep. What I used to think of as insomnia in my younger years seems to have revealed itself as a natural Circadian rhythm that refuses to conform to societal norms. I'm so thankful to have ditched the 9-5, escaped the Rat Race, and created a life in which this no longer poses an issue. Also grateful to have ditched alarm clocks, for the most part, which I consider instruments of the devil's most heinous torture here on earth!
OMG! I thought it was just me! Thank you SO much for sharing this.
this was a superb article, thanks so much for sharing. My wife and I have said for a long time that if people just wore a sandwich board showing everyone a few things going on in their life (like 2 hours of sleep a night), we may all be just a little more kind and understanding. Thanks again Michael, great article.
Thank you for sharing this. I have intermittent issues with insomnia, usually I can go right to sleep, then wake up at 3am, my mind busy. Thought that would thankfully go away with retirement, but it hasn’t. Sigh...oh, well. I find when I take Aleve for my bad hip, I sleep better. Go figure!
Thank you for the honest discussion of insomnia, I also struggle with Insomnia & the well meaning advice of friends & family. The only thing that works for me are marijuana edibles. I try not to use them too often because I fear building up a tolerance to the one thing that helps. I try to appreciate the sleep I do get & use the time I can’t sleep to read, write, & meditate rather than toss & turn.
Beautifully told. Thanks for the honesty. I love it. Reminds me of Buddhism: Acceptance of What Is. Letting go. Releasing control. Is the lack of sleep the true problem? Or your relationship to the lack of sleep. You answered this skillfully.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
I too have struggled for many years with lack of sleep. The longest I have slept is 4 hours in a row several years ago. I liken it to taking eight one hour naps in a ten hour period. Many days I take a nap, which is my best sleep time. Thanks for sharing.
Oh hell, I'm so sorry you've had this to deal with. But also - scratch that, in a way. You're accepting it as part of who you are, so saying "I'm so sorry" is - disrespecful?
My point is, Words Are Hard and I'm not very good at them.
But this is a hell of a thing to deal with. I've been struggling with it myself - especially since my newsletter became a fulltime focus and my nervous system went into overdrive with both the positive and negative things happening in my brain. But this is a new thing, and I've found ways to address it (one of them: travel to London and back on the train to see some excellent folk in one long day, then you'll be so tired when you get home that you sleep for 12 hours straight!). So there's no comparison here.
An interesting thing I was hearing about recently - a push to reframe insomnia as a phobia, and treat it accordingly: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/23/insomnia-former-sleep-doctor-promotes-treating-it-as-a-phobia.html I'm not sure of the validity of that approach, but it's certainly something very new...
Wow. I'm not alone. This isn't a source of comfort by all means but rather a sense of not feeling so alone and weird.
I've been battling with insomnia since 2001. My father died unexpectedly and I had to commit myself into detox for prescription drugs shortly after. A perfect storm.
I worked shift work all of my life. I never had sleep issues until the 2001 one-two punch.
I ran pretty much the same course as you, trying to find the cause/solution. Nothing worked. I had to plan my work for later in the day so I didn't have to fight stressing about an alarm clock.
I did find out something rather interesting, though. After being awake all night and moving through the following day in an almost sleepwalking state at some point in late afternoons while battling closing my eyes I found a creative side that works better than I've ever experienced. Art isn't my strong suit. I'm analytical. It started with doodling, coloring, and then evolved into drawing and painting. I can write late mornings, but in recent years I've all but given that up.
I'm so glad you shared this demonic battle with us. You're so spot on... we all have that something to deal with, you showed me a new perspective. I can't say I'm grateful for it, but I'm thankful I don't have many of the other battles people must fight. Great read.
Thank you for sharing this personal story. Your frustrations resonated, and you are so right: acceptance and thankfulness go a long way towards living with things you can't change.
I can personally attest that Long Covid cures insomnia but (dang it!) not the tiredness the next day!
Same!! I will spare you my 15 year saga with insomnia and get right to my cure. My naturopath discovered that I had parasites- worms and amoebas. Once they were treated, I started sleeping through the night. Within days. It was as close to an overnight solution as one could have. Have you ever been tested for parasites?! Try it. It absolutely changed my life. Best of luck.
It sounds like you made your way through ‘acceptance and commitment’ therapy all by yourself! (It’s a real thing...) I really know what you mean about ‘sleeping with the enemy’ - my insomnia is nowhere near as bad as yours but after a few bad nights I always feel that I need to make friends with my bed again, like we’re getting over an argument.
Michael - thank you for sharing your story so openly! I started struggling with insomnia two years ago, and have had some rough patches with it where it’s really terrible. It *sucks.* It’s so frustrating that you can’t *try* your way into sleep...even if you’re a goal-oriented, high achieving human, sleep is the one thing you can’t force / will into happening. Grr!
A book I’d recommend (although you’ve probably already read it!) is No More Sleepless Nights. They debunk a lot of sleep myths -- like you mentioned, insomnia doesn’t actually shorten life spans, or increase Alzheimer’s risk, or any other long term health detriment.... it just makes you more sleepy. Which is annoying, but OK. That brought me comfort.
A daily, 5mg dose of Lexapro has worked really well for me. I also have the email of a CBT sleep therapist if you’d like a second sounding board.
Anyway, sounds like you’ve got it sorted for now -- I just wanted to say thanks, and I’ve been globe-trotting too, so cheers to seeing another travel writer here! 👋🏃♀️
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I really appreciated hearing what your mindset is. I too suffer from insomnia on and off. It used to be that I took hours to fall asleep at night; now it's that I wake up at 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning and can't get back to sleep. Folks who lecture us to always get eight hours of sleep per night ought to count themselves lucky. Also, I hope this article inspires people to quit assuming that someone with a particular health condition hasn't already tried the unsolicited advice they offer.
Same! Mine comes in six week cycles. I've surrendered to my insomnia and have learned to live with it.
Thanks for sharing your struggles and insight.
I feel you. I think what's helped me the most is...
-only have caffeine (tea, chocolate, etc) in the early half of the day
-making sure I don't eat or drink anything at least 4 hours before bed
-cool bedroom (huge huge huge and I don't like cool bedrooms)
-dim/yellow screens (and doc would say turn them off couple hours before bed)
-think about how lovely sleep is *while* envisioning/proclaiming that I'm going to sleep 6-7.5 hours, even noting what time I'll wake (super huge, as I'm no longer telling my brain that I can't/won't sleep)
--if I don't get sleepy, start reading with dimmed/yellowed screen, as reading books makes me so tired
Sleep is so so much better now. I now get 6-7.5 hours sleep most of the time, which is perfect for me (my Chinese med doc says 5 hours is just fine for him)