How do I access the Sleepio app?

[koalaha]

I have downloaded it and cannot work out how to access it. I have also googled it and can’t find info on how to access it. Apparently it requires a subscription, which some people can get for free from their employer. I don’t have an employer as I’m off work ill.

Can I get access via the NHS?

I can’t even see an option for paying for access myself.

When I click on “Extend my programme” (not that I have a programme, but it’s the only relevant thing to click on), this screen comes up but doesn’t work.

I saw something about this on the TV recently and I thought it could only be ‘prescribed’ by a GP or health professional at the moment.

Oh I have now got a payment option but it’s insanely expensive! (There are no options for shorter subscriptions.)

If anyone knows whether I can access it via the NHS, that would be great!

@MagpiePi Ah, that’s interesting. I’ll ask my GP about it. Thanks.

I've tried to join. I work for the NHS but it says my Trust isn't part of it. Can't work out how to pay either. I've tweeted them but not response.
My GP recommended it.

Just been back on it. Apparently my postcode area is not supported in the NHS but no option to sign up privately.
How much is it ?

It’s £399.99 per year, with no option for a shorter subscription.

Don't waste £400 on it.
I've done this & it's brutal, you have to stick to it to the letter. If you stop after the 6 weeks you just revert to old habits, because you can't continue like that forever. The clinical trials had no long term follow up, just an assessment after the period of use of the programme.
It's worth a try (for free through your GP) in that it does improve your sleep efficiency while you are using it & gives you some useful techniques, but not for £400, and don't bother if you aren't prepared to follow it to the letter - no phone, TV etc in the bedroom, absolutely sticking to a routine & restricting the number of hours you are in bed. I was allowed to be in bed for 5 hours at a time which meant staying up until 1 & getting out of bed at 6, so probably best to do it in the summer, which I did. And don't do it when you are going on holiday or going outside your normal routine in any way.

I got a year’s subscription to Sleepio for free. I tucked a box on the subscription page that said “notify me if there are any trials I can join” (not those exact words, but that was the gist) and I got offered a free subscription a few weeks later.

It is a tough programme! It worked for me, my sleep is much better but it’s not easy and I did need to stick to the programme exactly.

There’s another similar programme called Sleepstation, also available through the NHS in some areas.

Are you in the Thames Valley or London? That’s where it seems to be available on the NHS. www.sleepio.com/clinic/info-for-professionals/

I did it about five years ago and found it really effective. I got on via applying for a trial and not being suitable, but my sleep was so poor they gave me access. I competed the whole course which is the important bit and stuck to about 90% of it.

I still use aspects of it now. I’ve also done Sleepstation via the NHS and that was fairly helpful.

Thanks for the replies - interesting! I also ticked that box about free trials, but so far they’ve not been in touch.

My situation is that I get woken up every night by aeroplanes - usually at 4 or 4.30am and sometimes also at 2am. I’m hoping for something that either:

• Makes me sleep more deeply so I’m not woken up


• Or: Enables me to get back to sleep after being woken up. I currently don’t.


• Or: Enables me to fall asleep at 9pm so I’ve had a decent amount of sleep before being woken at 4. I have tried going to bed at 9pm but I just don’t fall asleep until midnight or later.

Do you think Sleepio would help with any of this? If it relies on an extremely regular routine, I wonder whether it would not work in a situation where a person is being woken up at slightly variable times?

Unfortunately I’m not in the Thames Valley or London.

Good to know that Sleepstation was helpful! I’ll look into that.

Those who’ve done Sleepio, what type of advice did it give, if it’s not a hassle to write?!

Basically no phones etc in the bedroom, bedrooms are for sleeping & sex and nothing else, not even reading. If you wake in the night don't just lie there, get up. It works on sleep restriction, so you are so tired that you sleep.
I think it would help you learn how to get back to sleep.

It gives lots of different things to try, depending on the sleep problem you have. I found the progressive muscle relaxation really helped me - I still use it now. The visualisation of putting worries in a box and pushing them away didn’t work for me.

Sleep hygiene (no screens before bed, don’t read in bed, only outside the bedroom, suitable temperature in the room) all made a difference to me.

The hardest part was getting up at 2am if I woke up, going into a different room and reading a magazine until I felt sleepy again. I hated it but it was important to reinforce the bed-sleep connection.

Lifelong insomniac here, OP.

No experience of the app but if you're woken by planes have you tried ear plugs? I'm a super light sleeper and if I didn't wear them I would get even a wink!

I have tried every type of earplug, including custom made! They’re not sufficient to block out the planes, unfortunately!

@Cookerhood @Pushkinia Thank you!! I will try those things!

I hear you, I have some custom made by a sound engineer and they still don't block everything out but they do make a huge difference.

I heard the sleepio man on the radio the other day and I'm pretty sure that he said at the moment it's only available in Scotand but was hoping England would follow soon

@koalaha Sleepio is the app version of the method Dr Colin Espie pioneered. You can also follow it by buying the book and dedicating a notebook to take notes and work out the schedules. My DH was under a sleep medicine department in one of the London hospitals and this is what they recommended. He started with the book then got access to the app. As others have said, the programme is brutal but it works.

This is the book:

www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Insomnia-Sleep-Problems-Behavioral/dp/1845290704

Much sympathy on the being woken by planes. I have the same issue and the only thing that has worked has been getting uo and going out in a sunny room for a few days when woken at 4 am. I was then shattered and able to go to sleep at 9.30, so I get a decent amount of rest before being woken up.

I've had an e mail back from them. Not in UK currently. I can send my GP details and they'll put them on the list. Bit annoyed my GP recommended it and she doesn't know I can't access it.

@SuiGeneris Thanks so much! I’ll get the book, and try getting up at 4.30! (Eek!!)

@soberfabulous That’s interesting - I wonder whether the ones made by a sound engineer would be better than the ones I’ve got. Does the sound engineer have a website, please?!

@newbiename Do they mean that they’ll give patients at your GP surgery free access to Sleepio?! Or that they’ll put them on a waiting list for participating in a trial? Thanks!

@koalaha put my surgery on the list for a trial. Apparently you can't access it privately.