Clonazepam Taper Zero Sleep

I'm coming to the end of a short taper of Clonazapem.  I'm down from 0.25mg to 0.085mg, which I've done at 2% drops for 28 days and 1% drops for 9 days.  Withdrawal symptoms have been manageable so far.  Total usage incl the taper is about 12 weeks up to now.

 

BUT I've got to the point where I am getting zero hours sleep, and insomnia is rearing its ugly head, and I am getting myoclonus jerks back that are stopping me from sleeping.  Anxiety levels are very high because of this.

 

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do please?  Is it worth taking any supplements?  (I cannot get Melatonin in the UK unfortunately). 

 

Or do I just grit my teeth and ride this out, and hope that sleep improves and the jerks calm down?

 

 

You might ask badsocref. He's had insomnia, and he often posts. He's a moderator here. I think the body just finally gives way to sleep by itself. I really feel for you. I rarely get insomnia, but it's awful when it happens. And over weeks, it's very, very rough.

I was given clonazepam and Ambien for insomnia. Over the years I slept less and less and felt worse and worse. When I started my taper a year ago this February, I immediately stopped sleeping. I may have gotten more than an hour or two or three times a month. It was horrible. My other symptoms were what I consider tolerable, but not sleeping was the worst. I also believe I would be mostly healed if I could only sleep. I tried melatonin and over the counter sleeping pills. They never helped. I just gave up and tried to ride the storm out. I recently read a post about vitamin B12, so gave that a try. Big mistake. It shot my anxiety level through the roof. I've been sick mentally and physically since last weekend. The ones who have conquered the insomnia beast do give me hope as long as I survive this. Hang in there.

Mine did not go that bad but sleep amount went down to 2-3 hrs broken sleep when I jumped. Took Elavil first but quit it as well in order to allow natural sleep return. Last night I slept roughly 6 hrs so this is the situation 4.5 months off. I gave up so did not care if I slept or not. For me helped looking dull TV programs during the night and typically I fell a sleep to the couch. It is worth of reading insominia section in the Ashton manual if you haven't done it yet. It well describes the issue.

 

 

Good luck! T.

I'm coming to the end of a short taper of Clonazapem.  I'm down from 0.25mg to 0.085mg, which I've done at 2% drops for 28 days and 1% drops for 9 days.  Withdrawal symptoms have been manageable so far.  Total usage incl the taper is about 12 weeks up to now.

 

BUT I've got to the point where I am getting zero hours sleep, and insomnia is rearing its ugly head, and I am getting myoclonus jerks back that are stopping me from sleeping.  Anxiety levels are very high because of this.

 

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do please?  Is it worth taking any supplements?  (I cannot get Melatonin in the UK unfortunately). 

 

Or do I just grit my teeth and ride this out, and hope that sleep improves and the jerks calm down?

 

I suffer with hypnic jerks really bad also. I never did pre-benzo.

 

Why can't you get melatonin in the UK? I take just 1mg of melatonin sometimes and it seems to help.

I've tried 1 mg melatonin and it didn't do much of anything.  Hydroxyzine helps a bit.  I don't think there is an answer...we just have to tough it out.  Some people report help with a low dose of Remeron.  I tried it once, but it gave me restless let syndrome, so I couldn't take it.  That's the only thing that I've heard that really helps.

I think insomnia is probably the most universal issue in withdrawal / recovery. Some people have it worse than others though. I’d regulary go 2 - 3 days with no sleep at a time. Now I can barely stay awake most nights, You can and will get through this. It no fun at all, but you will survive. 

My psychiatrist gave me trileptal an anticonvulsant and a benadryl like drug. They saved me for a year. Trileptal calms the nerves so the spasms mostly stopped and eventually stopped altogether. I still had symptoms and some insomnia but it gave me 5 hours then 6 then 7. It was slow but otherwise I'd only sleep 2-3 hours.

I just posted my recovery story in the Success thread and it has a lot about insomnia.

 

What works for me: Stress reduction, sound-proofing windows, less caffeine and none after noon, a hot beverage 2 hrs. before bed, tart cherry juice 3 hrs before bed (has melatonin), 3 mg melatonin supplements (only make me go to sleep not stay asleep though) and when all else fails Zyrtec (US brand) or 24-hour Benadryl (UK brand) (both are 10 mg extended release cetirizine, an antihistamine). I can get by with cutting the Zyrtec in half.

Hi: I have developed the hynic jerks also after two months of my jump. I was doing so much better until then, I thought I was going to beat this sooner; and then I was hit by so much stressful events again that set me back and the 'jerks' are now constant when I am trying to fall asleep which makes it tougher.

The anticonvulsant was the only thing that stopped those for me.