Please help me

The moment my mind drifts to sleep my brain zaps and I feel a vibration in my upper part of body. Trying to sleep takes hours and when I am drifting into the sleep mode the brain deliberately breaks it which is followed by mild vibration in the body .Yes there have been a few lucky days when I have slept normally but most of my nights have been suffering from this defect

 

It is now more than 2 months of quitting benzo Used benzo for just 3 months Quit cold turkey

 

Some benzo buddies on this forum advised me that these are hypnic jerks and will fade away with time. Do hypnic jerk actually look like these or is it something else ?

 

Is there anybody on this forum who suffered from something like this ?I do not want to go to a neurologist or psychiatrist for this .

 

Please throw some light on this. I am happy to bear the insomnia part of withdrawal but brain zaps makes withdrawal unbearable

 

I am crying while writing this post. There were hardships in my life which I faced bravely and eventually overcome them . But first time in my life I feel defeated and helpless

 

 

 

Your mind drifting off into inattentiveness actually acts as a trigger for the hyper-vigilance that snaps you back awake again. This is true for non-benzo insomniacs too.

 

Hypnic jerk is exactly right as a description and, yes, it does fade in time.

 

Curiously, the more attention you put on it - even with a view to "fixing it" - the more you up the ante; it is paradoxical that way.

 

I've had every manner of brain sensation in those circumstances from a loud crackling "zhwiiinnnnng" sound zapping through my head - almost physical - to instant jump-alert-awake things.

 

It all goes. Treat it like an annoying busybody getting in your face, and push it away. The less you care about it, the sooner it will reduce and fade

I have this going on also. Did you start taking benzos for this or is this a result of taking benzos?

No I was alright before .My acid reflux was making it difficult to sleep so the doctor prescribed me Alepam 5 mg nightly. I took them for three months  In between I also took a medicine for IBS which had librium in its composition . Tapering was not an option as I had developed tolerance . After cold turkey my nightmare began Insomnia along with brain zaps. The GP was unable to understand why was suffering and started doing my psycho analysis I requested him to prescribe me melatonin which he did But that also was ineffective

 

I was becoming a zombie at one stage when I stumbled upon this website and that was the turning point that helped my situation. I found out the even short term users can go through hell. It is from benzo buddies forum I came to know about over the counter sleep aids like phynargan and restavit The GPs here were clueless about them .The OTC aid helped me break my insomnia cycle .

 

I am much better than what I was 2 months ago There are days when I get decent sleep and I feel that maybe I have recovered and then these brain zapp re emerge and break my confidence .

 

I am no longer taking help from OTC aids and trying to allow my sleep to return naturally .Sometimes I wonder why my GP did not advise me to try phynargan in the first place for my temporary sleep disturbance ? May be it could have saved me from this mess .

 

No I was alright before .My acid reflux was making it difficult to sleep so the doctor prescribed me Alepam 5 mg nightly. I took them for three months  In between I also took a medicine for IBS which had librium in its composition . Tapering was not an option as I had developed tolerance . After cold turkey my nightmare began Insomnia along with brain zaps. The GP was unable to understand why was suffering and started doing my psycho analysis I requested him to prescribe me melatonin which he did But that also was ineffective

 

I was becoming a zombie at one stage when I stumbled upon this website and that was the turning point that helped my situation. I found out the even short term users can go through hell. It is from benzo buddies forum I came to know about over the counter sleep aids like phynargan and restavit The GPs here were clueless about them .The OTC aid helped me break my insomnia cycle .

 

I am much better than what I was 2 months ago There are days when I get decent sleep and I feel that maybe I have recovered and then these brain zapp re emerge and break my confidence .

 

I am no longer taking help from OTC aids and trying to allow my sleep to return naturally .Sometimes I wonder why my GP did not advise me to try phynargan in the first place for my temporary sleep disturbance ? May be it could have saved me from this mess .

 

White Swan,

 

Sorry you have to endure this.  Doctors are the main reason that 99% of the people are on this site!  As you already said, doctors are CLUELESS when it comes to drugs and possible side effects.  I saw about 5 different MDs including 2 sleep doctors over a 2 month period and all of them denied that I was in Benzo WD and I was finally referred to a psychiatrist because there was NO WAY in their western medicine educated minds that it could be Benzo WD, it HAD to be some other MENTAL illness or issue.  However, the psychiatrist that I saw was very familiar with Benzo WD.  After I saw one of these doctors and he received the report from the psychiatrist, he then mumbled something about having a "genetic" issue with how my body processes Benzos.  What a dolt!  The person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument! 

 

At any rate, I never had brain zaps, but I ready that many others here did and they messed with their sleep.  They will fade over time and the insomnia will get better.  You'll get through this.  Doctors are too quick to prescribe a drug rather than just see if it will resolve on its own or an OTC option would be better. 

I did this for months after surgery. That is why I was put on benzo's..

I found I would sleep through the night after  I got so tired I slept through them. But after so much sleep deprivation I was prescribed benzo for sleep.

Now I am not sleeping because of coming off benzo.

Hi White swan, i also have vibrations mainly when I wake up. Earlier I had them when I fall a sleep, then it stopped and now I have them when I wake-up. They are not in my upper body but in my head. Earlier on they hit upper body as well. About 95% of the vibration is gone. It started lessening at Month 3 and as said it is almost gone so I can not feel vibration anymore but I have feeling that it is somewhere in the backround as a strange feeling makes me feel sick. It stops when I wake up on go away from bed. I think the is hope it goes totally away as it has lessened. There are some buddies here in BB have had it so most probably it is wd driven symptom.

I first had his in 1996 when I got ill with ME/CFS. It started after I had to give up work and looking ack I thk it was due to intense anxiety.

 

It went away eventually but itis back now due to withdrawal.

 

I get a sort iinernal 'thunk' - not an actual jerk that pulls me back to wakefullness.

 

I get a rigid vibrating sensation in my neck that sounds likea fast fluttering in my ears.

 

I think it is the body being terrified of letting go because it is constantly on high alert.

 

I know it's a very bad comfort, but over time it's over and you're sleeping very well.

When I had done a CT I was awake for 4 days, thinking I was in hell. As soon as I almost fell asleep it broke into my head so it hurt my neck. Sometimes I thought I had a stroke because it sounded like a gun shot by the ear. Then read that this is "explosion head syndrome", and it's absolutely harmless. It can also happen if you have no withdrawal. It sounds much worse than it is.

Nightmares are also included in tolerance or abstinence, and it may also happen to the body and the head.

I also wondered why the dog barked, but there was nobody there! Could also experience a roller blind that was pulled very hard down in front of me while it clashed.

 

After 4-5 months I was allowed to sleep 5-6 hours/day, and then sleep became normal. I thought I would never sleep anymore, but at last you're getting tired of pure fatigue. Even if the rest of the day doesn`t replace sleep it is still very good.

 

There are times when sleep is quite normal, the brain and nervous system are completely unbelievable to come again!

The moment my mind drifts to sleep my brain zaps and I feel a vibration in my upper part of body. Trying to sleep takes hours and when I am drifting into the sleep mode the brain deliberately breaks it which is followed by mild vibration in the body .Yes there have been a few lucky days when I have slept normally but most of my nights have been suffering from this defect

 

It is now more than 2 months of quitting benzo Used benzo for just 3 months Quit cold turkey

 

Some benzo buddies on this forum advised me that these are hypnic jerks and will fade away with time. Do hypnic jerk actually look like these or is it something else ?

 

Is there anybody on this forum who suffered from something like this ?I do not want to go to a neurologist or psychiatrist for this .

 

Please throw some light on this. I am happy to bear the insomnia part of withdrawal but brain zaps makes withdrawal unbearable

 

I am crying while writing this post. There were hardships in my life which I faced bravely and eventually overcome them . But first time in my life I feel defeated and helpless

 

Hi white swan

I have had faced the same problem of brain zaps. I had done cold turkey because i was not aware of the withdrawal symptoms and had never heard about antidepressants and benzodiazapines in my life. I can totally relate with you. I think brain zaps mostly come to those who do cold turkey. These brain zaps never let us sleep. Whenever we try to sleep these brain zaps come. After my cold turkey i had taken antidepressants for 6 months by going to another psychiatrist as i never thought these are withdrawals and my doctor said that you need more treatment. So during my second treatment these brain zaps were gone and i have other withdrawal symptoms as that time i was doing slow tapering. So these are withdrawal symptoms. Dont worry. With time when you will start getting your good night sleep properly they will fade away like other withdrawal symptoms.

SORRY FOR MY POOR ENGLISH AS I AM FROM INDIA

Love