I only have time to sleep.

I started reading Barry Krakow's book,
Sound sleep, Sound mind.

Most of the talk of sleep hygiene here is the physical kind.
This book deals w/the psychology of sleep hygiene.

The first sleep deterrent that is addressed is clock watching/calculating habit.
I never expected to be hit by a bullet train running at full speed when I opened this book.
Not only have I done this since I could read and understand clocks, for the last few years before
my OSA diagnosis, it has become obsessive.
I am a text book example of the desturctive effect clock watching has on your sleep hygiene.
He compares this behavior and the need to break it,to breaking the cigarette habit.

Last night was my 5th night without a clock.
He gives great examples of Cognitive Behavior Therapy techniques to over come this behavior.
I am very familiar w/this kind of therapy and I am using his examples to over come this.
It is not easy to break a life long behavior like this.

I'm not going to start a poll, but I am curious if anyone else has read this book and
are you practicing any of the techniques.
Particularly breaking the clock watching/calculating habit.
Does anyone practice the SOLO technique
or Close your day
or TFI (thoughts/feelings/imagery) balancing?

Thoughts/comments/suggestions appreciated

I haven't read the book, but several years ago I had read about clock-watching while in bed. You know, freaking out because it was late and now you were only going to get 5 hours of sleep. Then freaking out some more when you realized you were only going to get 4.5 hours, etc., etc.

I know I was doing this when I was going to school (over 10 years ago) and decided to ditch my illuminated alarm clock. I think I even put the new non-illuminated clock where I couldn't reach it from the bed to check the time.

Just like a habit, after a while I broke it. Now, my wife has a non-illuminated clock on her nightstand and we have a large non-illuminated clock on the wall (it's an old clock with "Betsy Ross Bread" on it that came out of my uncle's old country store). So I can see the clock before the lights go out and in the morning, that's it. And I don't worry about time anymore while in bed.

I only get antsy about time and bedtime if I'm goofing off on the computer and staying up too late.

I'll have to see if I can find that book in the library. It sounds like there are some other techniques that are interesting and valuable.

Used to watch the clock at night, then like spacetoast read how it contributed to sleep anxiety so started covering the face and it was hard to break that habit. I never checked time until I started CPAP when challenged to remain asleep when CPAP went to full pressure (4 nights) and when I started having frequent wakeups in July (checked time to calculate frequency to see if they might be events in REM). I still kept the clock face covered and just moved the cover aside to read time, then re-covered.

Watched a TV segment yesterday on The Doctors that discussed using the Zeo to identify sleep stages and total sleep time. Once the issue if there is one is identified, you can visit their site and plan a course of action to hopefully normalize sleep architecture. One good tip if you are challenged to shut down your mind is count backwards by 3s from 300 (or any combination that requires attention) which is pretty boring but requires thinking preventing you from mulling over whatever it is that keeps you wired and unable to fall asleep.

Have not read the book c-man, reading more about challanges to sleeping just seem to increase mine

I did find that book in the Jefferson County library system! It's checked out, though. Is that you Carbonman?

Slightly off topic, but I think most library systems these days have online capabilities now and you can usually browse for an author or title and put holds on books. Our library system will even move a book from one library to the one you live near so you can pick it up and return it there. Very convenient....and affordable!

C-man, I haven't read the book... but now I want to! I'm not much of a clock watcher. I think I was before treatment (waking up frequently) and at the beginning of treatment (will I get enough sleep?).

My wife has a clock radio on her side, but she doesn't clock-watch at all. It also forces me to physically get up to turn the alarm off; however, since treatment, I find myself relying much more on my internal clock, which wakes me up at the appropriate time (~6:15 am) before my alarm goes off (6:30 am).

I can always use the alarm on my phone to wake me up since I can't see the clock on it when it's in hibernate mode.

Like SpaceToast, I've also requested the book via our library's online network catalog. They'll be sending it out from Boston to my local library!

Muse-Inc wrote: One good tip if you are challenged to shut down your mind is count backwards by 3s from 300 (or any combination that requires attention) which is pretty boring but requires thinking preventing you from mulling over whatever it is that keeps you wired and unable to fall asleep.

This is what TFI (thoughts/feelings/imagery) balancing addresses in the book.
Even counting sheep or backwards increases your brain wave activity.
Not what you want to be doing.

spacetoast wrote:I did find that book in the Jefferson County library system! It's checked out, though. Is that you Carbonman?

That would be me.

spacetoast wrote: Slightly off topic, but I think most library systems these days have online capabilities now and you can usually browse for an author or title and put holds on books. Our library system will even move a book from one library to the one you live near so you can pick it up and return it there. Very convenient....and affordable!

Been there, done that, doing that.

tattooyu wrote:C-man, I haven't read the book... but now I want to!

....great minds.....
I was just going to send you a PM.....yes, get the book.

TTY, in thinking about the journey you are about to embark on....
be strong. I know anxiety and panic attacks.
In the end, you manage. But it is much better than being controlled.

I discount the "clock-watching effect".

I often look at the clock when I awaken during the night. If you had asked me during the early days of CPAP, I would have said, "I need to get the clock out of sight. It is contributing to my insomnia."

Then I tweaked my CPAP therapy, got more exercise, lost 25 lbs., reduced my blood-sugar levels from pre-diabetic to normal, and started sleeping better. The same clock is still there, but my insomnia is greatly reduced. When I do have bad insomnia, I can always tie it to something like overeating, bad nasal congestion, muscle soreness from exercise, etc.

Without the clock I would be lying awake worrying about what time it must be.

YMMV.

carbonman wrote:

Muse-Inc wrote: One good tip if you are challenged to shut down your mind is count backwards by 3s from 300 (or any combination that requires attention) which is pretty boring but requires thinking preventing you from mulling over whatever it is that keeps you wired and unable to fall asleep.

This is what TFI (thoughts/feelings/imagery) balancing addresses in the book.
Even counting sheep or backwards increases your brain wave activity.
Not what you want to be doing.

Yeah, pt taken c-man, read that too. I think the backwards from 300 by 3s is similar to what the counting backwards when undergoing a general anesthetic does, prevents you from thinking about the really worrisome issue...a sort of brain distraction as it were. If someone actually enjoyed the process and didn't find it boring as hell leading to falling sleep, this technique would never work for that person...lovers of arithmetic beware

What's the SOLO technique?

millich wrote:What's the SOLO technique?

I hope it doesn't involve a Wookie, whatever it is.

Stop what you are doing.
Observe yourself....know your mind.
Let yourself be.....just breath.
Observe yourself.....know your body.

It's a method to get in touch w/your thoughts/feelings/images.
What is happening to me, mentally and physically, at this moment.
Sort of like a quick moment of meditation.....can be just a few seconds
or a few minutes....or.....

I am practicing it at my work now.
Go SOLO when I'm angry or frustrated or happy
and see if I can determine where those feelings are
coming from and how to deal w/them, better.

spacetoast wrote:

millich wrote:What's the SOLO technique?

I hope it doesn't involve a Wookie, whatever it is.

....now go to your room.

I only have time to sleep

It's curious how the Universe guides and directs us.
The title that I chose for this thread has become my sleep mantra.

It starts the process each evening as I
begin to put together the thoughts that will
Close my day. Close my day may prove to be the most
important process that will come out of this reading.
It begins to prepare my mind and body
to accept my Wave of sleepiness and let it come ashore,
when I actually go to bed.

It helps me to focus and over come my fear and anxiety of
no longer having a visible clock in my bed room.
In just a few days, it is amazing how comforting it is to tell myself
and believe, that time is only for my sleep.

Once I am in bed, no longer distracted by my cpap mechanics,
I am starting to use the TFI balancing to turn off my mind.
Confirmation of Close my day list and check that any mental or
physical residue is taken care of. No more problems will be solved tonight.

Bring in the feelings of the day that were pleasant and enjoyable.
The successes, fun, a conversation w/a friend, the images from a bike ride.
Let them flow in, feel the feelings of each, recall the thoughts, see the images and
let them go.
.....and let my Wave of sleepiness come ashore.

Just like cpap, all of this seemed difficult in the first few days,
but as I continue to think about the processes during the day,
I am prepared to practice it at night......and I'm starting to see results.

I have finished reading the book. It is a great read. It is really geared toward people
that have problems w/insomnia and his work w/people that have PTSD more than cpap users.
Anyone w/any kind of sleep problem could benefit from the information he presents.

He does, in the last chapters, address SDB and cpap.
He walks you through the entire SDB process. He addresses the possible emotional trauma
of being diagnosed w/SDB and the entire process to get to therapy, including an account of
what to expect at your sleep study. I wish I would have had this information before mine.
He presents a very interesting and frank discussion about the sleep industry and
it's short comings, especially the problem w/the DME support system.

I will be rereading and making more notes in the next week.
If anyone does read this book, please post your reactions.

Hi,

I have more or less ditched the clock. When I started CPAP, I was up every 90 minutes like clockwork, so I would often notice the clock. Since I wasn't getting much good sleep, I needed that thing to wake me up so I could start my day. Since doing CPAP, I have turned the clock backwards, and only used the alarm once this past year. I go to bed when I am tired, and I sleep until I wake up. I have a job where I have flex time, so I don't have to worry about being late. I find that I am often waking up an hour or two before the time that I would set the alarm for anyway--life is so much better now that I am able to get good sleep at night.

-john-

i haven't read the book... yet... but jnk quoted some portions to me, especially the part about the clock and the thoughts/feelings/etc part. the part about the clock made sense, and i will confess that there is a clock in direct view of where i sleep and i would check it ever time i would wake during hte night. it got to the point where i could even tell my brain to wake at pretty much any specific time during the night.

although i haven't moved the clock, i try to ignore it. i find that i just fall back asleep.

but, it sounds like a good read. thanks for mentioning it!