Insomnia

Hello All,

 

It’s 5:14 am here. This is the third time I’ve woken from my rest tonight. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been experiencing very vivid dreams and several occurrences of broken sleep nightly. I’ve been switching from .5-1mg but have held steady now at .5 for the past 5 nights. I’m going to continue to hold at .5 for the next two weeks or possibly longer. How will I know when it’s time to taper? My tolerance symptoms are very prevalent and possibly getting worse with the insomnia development.

 

I know it’s not recommended, but would a CBN gummy be alright to use during this time? Has anyone tried CBN or Melatonin to help with insomnia during tapering? Any ideas, suggestions welcome.

 

Serene <3

Hi Serene

 

I assume your past usage fluctuated between 0.5 and 1mg right? If so then stabilizing should take a minimum of 2 weeks.  If you're in tolerance it will be difficult to rely on your symptoms to determine whether you're stable.

 

I suspect I was also hitting tolerance at the start of my taper. I was on 2mg K but had insomnia as well and at that dose I should've been sleeping like a baby.

 

I usually get 3hrs sleep a night. I use 1mg melatonin. Initially it didn't feel like it was doing anything but after a couple of months I do believe it started working. It helps me fall asleep faster where before I would lay awake for a long time.

Hi Jelly,

 

Thank you for your response. Yes, I’m definitely in tolerance. Geez, who would’ve know had it not been for the Ashton manual and this forum. No wonder I’ve been feeling really ill, like my health was beginning to fail me since around 2017. The tolerance monster really reared its ugly head around 2018 when neuropathy, tingling, sharp muscle pains, twitching, heart palpitations and high anxiety set in plus more if I think hard about it.  It’s a miracle that I didn’t up my dose over 1mg on a regular basis. I would take a little extra thought, here and there, thinking it would help me.  I know now it just made things worse.

 

I’m not really sure when I started to alternate doses except when I broke my foot, I went up to 2mg, no more. Always had a healthy fear of becoming “dependent” on it if I went up not really knowing I already was dependent. I’m grateful now that I stayed at a low dose. I’m hoping I can get to the end faster.

 

I’m sorry you are having a difficult time sleeping and thank you for sharing your experience with me. I do have melatonin in the house but I’m reluctant to try it. It’s probably expired by now, will see.  Fear is motivating me not to take it but if I need to I will. I think I will try the CBN gummy first and see if it helps tonight. It really took that long for the melatonin to work? I always thought it was immediate, but then again it’s not a Benzo and even with the 2mg that you were taking, still hard to sleep? I can totally understand as I am at .5 now and showing signs of insomnia.

 

I’m wondering if a consult with my doctor is in order. I’m not anywhere near being finished with this tapering, but I kinda hope I can get off it sooner than later.

 

Warm regards,

Serene

For some people the melatonin works immediately. I wasn't sure if it was helping in the beginning or if it was a placebo effect. It was only a couple months later when I felt it was really working. I don't think you have anything to lose by trying it. It's just adding to your natural melatonin. My doctor said they give low doses melatonin to kids who are sick (I can't remember what illness the kids have).

Thank you Jelly