I used to believe my hair would never get past a little longer than SL before I met LHCF. It's possible.
Stay consistent with your BT, it'll help. Make sure you DC every week w/heat. Avoid direct heat at all costs, rollerset and maybe flat iron roots only and wrap it up every night. I didn't do any bunning at all when I went from SL to APL. When I got my BT, I got my hair braided in human hair extentions, not micros but medium to small sized and left them in for about two months. During that time, I BT'd and I made my own braid and scalp spray with S-Curl a few drops of Lavender oil and a bit of conditioner. I think it was Tressemme Remoisturize conditioner. I applied BT every other night, every other day I'd rinse my scalp in the shower and after getting out the shower I'd spray my hair and scalp with my mixture to keep it moist. When I took them out I got a touch up my hair had grown so much and I had about an inch to go to reach APL. From that point on I did the above, weekly DC's (got into Dominican products which kept my hair in great condition), rollerset only, wrapped every night and still used my BT sparingly. I wore my hair out all the time too, I was afraid to put things like holders or clips, very paranoid of any stress or breakage I'd be putting on my hair. 2 months later I was APL. So just stay consistent for a while and maybe do something to stop 'watching the pot' like braids. Some ladies are successful with the constant bunning too. Good luck!