Chronic insomnia

I've had this for quite some time and tried every medication you could think of so I don't need recommendations.
What I am wondering is how early I should go to bed after a few nights of very little sleep? Would a nap be beneficial in this type of situation?

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I too have insomnia. I go to bed at the same time every night regardless of how little sleep I get. Don’t do naps.

What's your average no-insomnia length of sleep?

The key to being rested isn't the hours, it's the minutes. Because it's where you come out of sleep in regards to your brain cycle. The goal is to go into waking from as close to REM sleep as possible.

So, for example, since typical sleep patterns run on a 20-40 minute cycle (that's REM to deep sleep and back to REM), if a person is complaining they aren't waking up feeling rested I'll recommend adjusting their sleep by ten minutes, so that regardless of what direction they shift their pattern it puts them closer to REM.

I would recommend the same here. Maybe add an extra hour to your normal number if you can. And make a point to keep what your average sleeping time would be. (So if you work nights and are normally sleeping during the daylight hours, maintain that.) When your body switches its sleeping/waking rhythm it can feel worse than just having insomnia. This may mean you'll need to force yourself to stay awake the first day so you go to bed at the right time.

Also, I know you said no recommendations for medications, but in the regard of ensuring you're going to sleep post-insomnia, take some melatonin just to coax the body into wanting to go into "sleep mode".

This too! Naps will risk throwing off your sleep/waking pattern.

So I can get a solid 5-6 hours. I usually wake up with a racing heart. It may be menopause (Dr won't let me do hrt and black cohosh upsets my stomach)
I also have a mild apnea ( c-pap makes it way worse)

So maybe 5-6 hours is okay? Healthy?

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Could be menopause. Could also be the apnea.

While not technically "ideal", 5-6 hrs is certainly manageable; especially if it's if you're being self aware of your sleep cycles. I'd be more concerned with addressing the apnea, as lack of oxygen can definitely effect the quality of sleep you're getting regardless of how many hours of sleep you actually have.

Thank you for responding

There's not much to be done for the apnea. I can't afford a dental device and c-pap is too much of a struggle. I do use nose strips with help a little and sleep on my right side

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Unfortunately i also have one, because....i don't know reasons, i mostly concerned about my future and sometimes these thoughts prevent me from sleeping unfortunately