For the last few months, my sleep has been a complete mess…..waking up almost every night between 2:30-4:30 no matter when I went to sleep. I tried melatonin and harder sleeping pills but didn’t seem to work. I changed my pillow, stopped looking at my phone and all the basics (no caffeine before bed etc)…I was starting to make it normal by using the time for my yoga and exercise (yes – walking 5km at 3:30am is a little strange).
I had no problem falling asleep but staying asleep was a nightmare.
I was completely exhausted and felt I hit a wall.
A few weeks ago, my specialist advised me to have Sleep CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). I didn’t know what this was and didn’t like the idea but I trust him and decided to do it.
I am pleased to say that after about 4 sessions I am in a much better place. My ‘therapist’ (can’t believe I used that word :-)) worked on helping synchronize my sleep cycle to get back to waking up at 5am as a start and working back she amongst other things forced me to not go to sleep before 12am (even on the weekend) and no naps near bedtime and preferably none during the day. This has been gradually eased to an earlier time.
She also advised me on lots of other things (I don’t want to betray the fine arts) some of which felt completely counterintuitive but I am pleased to say that it seems to be working. I can’t say problem solved (I woke up at 4:30am this morning) but my sleep quality as measured by my fitbit (scores every night of 80+ versus 60/70 before) but I feel much more alert and don’t feel asleep driving etc.
To date it doesn’t seem to have had a significant impact positively on PD symptoms but it has made a huge difference to me.
It is probably not for everyone and I am sure some practitioners are better than others but it is something to consider for someone really suffering……………
