Speakers: Sherry B., Insomnia Clinic Patient
Describe your sleep problem before coming to The Insomnia Clinic.
Sherry B.: Hi. So to describe my sleep problem before I came to the insomnia clinic, I was not being able to get to sleep at night. I was tossing and turning. I even felt like I had restless legs. I would wake up several times in the night. Sometimes, I felt like it took two or three hours to go to sleep. Once morning came, I couldn't hardly get up and I felt like I'd been hit by a mack truck most of the time.
Describe your experience trying to fix your sleep problem before coming to the clinic.
Sherry B.: So, what I tried before coming to the The Insomnia Clinic on sleeping, I went to my family doctor, talked about that I just couldn't sleep. They prescribed trazodone for me. It did work for a while. It would get me to sleep pretty good and I'd wake up maybe once or twice at night, but I could still I feel like I could get some sleep. Although I was still very tired when I woke up. I would try going to bed way early, thinking well if I go to bed now, I'll get extra sleep and I'll be able to get up in the morning. And after a while the medication quit working. Going to bed early actually didn't help. I tossed and turned even longer. So it was time to figure out my next step.
What was different about The Insomnia Clinic?
Sherry B.: The thing that was different about The Insomnia Clinic versus the medications and trying to sleep on my own. They have a very laid out plan for you on how to start getting to sleep when you go to bed. How to deal with stress and anxiety that may be causing you not to sleep. They were very caring. They took a simple approach. They were there for you day and night if you needed to talk to somebody about issues that you were having. They also have workshops. And Dr. Glidewell was great with listening and giving me exercises to do, not physical exercises, but things I could do to help get myself to have a better night's sleep.
Take us to the moment you realized our program was working for you.
Sherry B.: After a couple of months or so of doing what The Insomnia Clinic wanted me to do to start sleeping, I realized that I was getting to sleep within 20 minutes every night and I was not tossing and turning as much. I still felt tired in the morning, but the big deal was the insomnia portion of this to where I could get to sleep right away without any medication and staying asleep. The next thing I realized was that doing some of the therapy that they give you to do really helped with the anxiety and the stress. So therefore I could be calm and relaxed before I went to sleep at night.
Tell us what life looks like now that you're sleeping and feeling better.
Sherry B.: So I want to tell you what life looks like now with me sleeping and feeling better, but I want to back up just a tad. Upon working with The Insomnia Clinic, I did an in home sleep study and discovered that I had severe sleep apnea. This was kind of like a you know, a disappointment. But Dr. Glidewell was able to give me several options that I could do in order to correct that problem. I have taken on one of the suggestions and now I actually feel way more rested in the morning when I get up. I still go to sleep within 15-20 minutes and it's kind of like, kind of shocking, that I am able to wake up in the morning and not feel ran over. It's just a wonderful feeling.
