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For five years, Anna experienced short episodes of insomnia that would last for a week or two before disappearing. However, when her mother fell ill and required surgery, Anna found it very difficult to fall asleep and this time, even though her mother recovered, Anna's sleep did not.

For two years, Anna struggled to fall asleep at night and this led to experimentation with sleeping pills, supplements, relaxation techniques, light-blocking glasses, sound machines, weighted blankets, and a lot of ongoing sleep-related research (and worry).

Anna got to the point where she just didn't feel sleepy when she went to bed and this made her think that her sleep system was broken. Luckily, she began to implement evidence-based cognitive and behavioral techniques to help build sleep drive, rebuild sleep confidence, and create a strong association between her bed and sleep rather than unpleasant wakefulness.

Today, Anna doesn't really think about sleep and she gets somewhere around seven-and-a-half to eight hours of sleep each night. In this episode, Anna shares everything she did to improve her sleep and also reveals how she coped with the typical setbacks most of us experience on the road to recovery.

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Martin Reed:
Welcome to the Insomnia Coach Podcast. My name is Martin Reed. I believe that nobody needs to live with chronic insomnia and that evidence-based cognitive and behavioral techniques can help you enjoy better sleep for the rest of your life.

Martin Reed:
The content of this podcast is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. The statements and opinions expressed by guests are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by Insomnia Coach LLC. All content is provided "as is" and without warranties, either express or implied.

Martin Reed:
So, Anna, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to come onto the podcast.

Anna Wojcicka:
Thank you for having me.

Martin Reed:
So can you get us started right at the beginning? When did your problems with sleep begin and what do you think caused you initial issues with sleep?

Anna Wojcicka:
Sure. So in general, I have never been a very sound sleeper. I was never a person that took naps. I never really enjoyed sleeping in. So I think in general I always needed less sleep than an average person, but it was never really a big problem and I was actually quite happy with it. I started having short episodes of insomnia I would say maybe around five years ago. They would be triggered by something like a work-related stressful event and then I would have trouble falling asleep for maybe a week at a time or two weeks and then it would generally resolve itself on its own.

Anna Wojcicka:
Two years ago I had a stressful event that was health-related. So my mom was having some heart issues and we didn't know exactly what was wrong with her. It lasted for quite a while and then doctors were running some tests, she needed to have a surgery. So the whole situation I would say lasted for maybe six week or so, and during that time period I was having a hard time sleeping. I think this is when my real sleep problems actually started. So before, like I said, within a week or two insomnia would resolve in its own but this time,