Severe Insomnia

Has any of you recovered from insomnia using the TMS approach? If so, how?

 

Hi @mikeinlondon. I took a peek at your post history and you keep asking the same questions over and over. Are you reading the responses and suggestions? Have you attempted the SEP? It’s been suggested to you. I think it’s time to start the emotional work. Focusing on the physical isn’t going to help you recover.

 

Yes, indeed, I’ve started the SEP. I was wondering if anyone has healed their insomnia and what were their success stories. Is there a link to success stories for insomnia?

 

Here you go.

https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/recovery-from-chronic-insomnia.16653/ (Recovery from Chronic Insomnia)

 

@mikeinlondon: You can also hit the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the page and search "insomnia". It will pull up different threads. We also have a success stories category on the main page.

The reason I linked @Ellen 's is because it is beautifully broken down into why she had the fear, her realizations, and emotional work. It's realistic in how the emotional work looks like. In fact, the way she has broken it down can really apply to any symptom.

 

Hi @mikeinlondon

I wrote that success story on insomnia some time ago. As I understand it today, I would write something shorter. What I've come to understand is that the concept of outcome independence is the most important thing. You have to get to a place where you no longer care if you sleep or not. This is not easy, as we all prefer to be well rested to go about our day. But I think those of us with insomnia tend to catastrophize not sleeping. It's not the end of the world. It's not dangerous. It is a pain in the ass, but it can be endured. And the less you catastrophize about it, the more relaxed you will become and the better able to fall asleep. Eventually you will stop worrying about it.

Best wishes on your journey.

 

If you say its all TMS - then what do you tell the people who have insomnia from thyroid issues? From iron deficiency? From pheochromocytoma? From brain surgery (spoke to a person who said they had a tumor near the part of their brain which controls the circadian rhythm and can only sleep on sleep meds now) - what do you say to these guys? What do you say to a lovely lady who is in her 40s and has 2 children and had insomnia from her very first contrast MRI? What do you say to the 15 people I've read u onlinep who all developed insomnia from taking methyl b vitamins which messed up their methylation cycle (which controls everything from digestion to sleep).

If its all just mind/TMS, then you seriously do not understand the biomechanics involved in sleep - sleep is not a passive process. It involves over 50 neurotransmitters to be in perfect harmony. It involves a delicate balance of hormones, neurotransmitters and chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine and GABA to communicate with each other properly. Do you really think external factors such as medications, surgical procedures or predisposed psychiatric illnesses like bi polar cannot mess these chemicals up? What about toxic heavy metals such as gadolonium which they inject to hundreds of thousands every year? Compared to the billions of people who don't have these, you really think they care about a small number of people that might develop severe side effects as a result?

You clearly discount any effect of hormone or chemical disrupting environmental toxins.

Ps. I do agree TMS can definitely be the cause of insomnia for many people including Ellen (and I do believe that is the case with me following a traumatic incident). However, to just wave the TMS wand, like you do, as the root cause to all insomnia ills isn't really helpful in my opinion. It's seeing life through a very narrow pair of glasses. I like to take a more holistic approach and exclude all other potential root causes before I commit 100% to TMS. There are some symptoms I experience which I do not attribute to TMS but with more data points and evidence I may also reach a conclusion it's TMS. I do not do blind faith - that does not work because you have to believe it's true i.e. TMS as the root cause is true backed up by as much evidence as possible.

 

All the other factors could play roles too since the bodymind or mindbody are whole. There is a lot of research like bottom-up: trying to figure out the detailed biochemical mechanisms that affect the brain like mental illness or other diseases aka physical symptoms or findings.

TMS to me is more like a top-down approach because we believe the solution for real physical issues are in our minds. And to me the top-down approach is just simpler because we could work on things we could control, doing deep emotional work despite whatever impacts external factors may bring to our mindbody. And we don't have to discount external factors or figure out the exact mechanisms what may cause our symptoms because it may never end. At some point, maybe that is the radical acceptance or a leap of faith or whatever decision not totally evidence based just gut feelings, one may say hey whatever I will commit to the deep emotional work without caring what may cause these symptoms, and then the journey begins. And that is the hardest part for some, being convinced to start or totally believe it.

Somewhere I read but don't quote me, the brain could detect anything entering our body, germs, chemicals, toxins, you name it. And that gives the brain plenty of materials to work with if emotions need to be suppressed or repressed. And our biochemical balance is dynamic and constatantly changes. For example, one gets a shot and there may be some chemicals that may interrupt the balance, the brain could detect that. If things are going well no need to make a big deal out of it then maybe the body just let it out. But wait one gets really pissed off by something and that emotion is dangerous, the brain may scan around and find this chemical and Dada here comes the symptoms. My hypotheses is that if one gets this shot 10 times not everytime would have symptoms, but each time the emotional states may be different. Anyway that doesn't sound very scientific but just wanna share my thoughts with you.

 

I'm sharing my experience here, you can use whatever works for you. It might not apply to your situation. I don't know if it will help you. Anyway...

I go to bed early, around 8 - 8.30 pm. But...I'am careful not to get mentally excited a few hours before that. What does this mean? It means no TV, no loud music (I listen sometimes in the afternoon/evening to light music, zen music, elevator music etc). Also no excessive screen time after 4 pm. Most of the 3-4 hours before sleep I work on my hobbies. Only a few minutes here and there I spend on my laptop. Usually I watch YouTube videos (on mute) related to my hobbies. For example: about knitting, pencil drawing, fashion design, nutrition, gardening etc. On mute so no sound, only images. Sometimes I read the transcript if I really have to find a certain information/fact on that video.

I work out a little bit around 5 pm so I get tired, pleasantly tired after this. So I'll be tired when I go to sleep. I dance or do aerobic exercise or go out for a walk (hills here in my area). When I dance I listen to happy music, rhythmic but happy. My workout is more like HIT since it's short and a little on the intense side. I do Pilates at the end of the workout most of the time, 15 min maximum. It's like yoga in a way, they are not similar but also not very different. Instead of Pilates I might do some Qi Gong.

I always have a light dinner. I don't drink alcohol, coffee or soda pop/tea with caffeine. I never have sugar, I gave it up 6 years ago for good. I also follow a very low carb diet.

I don't get involved in drama, do not follow the news on TV (but I read something daily online/blogs etc - general things - limited time let's say for a few minutes, but never in the evening).

I meditate daily at least once or twice for about 30 min/session. Sometimes I meditate longer, approx 1 hour.

What I did/I still do - is to keep my mind calm and at peace during the day, the whole day, during the evening...so when I go to sleep I'm already calm and at peace because this is my usual way of being. The mind is used to being/staying at peace. I don't have to make an effort to calm down so I can go to sleep. That's the idea.

Also remember to spend some time outside daily in fresh air/exposure to the sun before lunch so in the morning. And dim the lights in the evening, no bright lights in any room (bathrooms included).

I hope it helps.

Take care.

 

Thank you for this!