May Need to Reinstate For Short While - Need Advice

I'm an old member here and, have been healed for 4+ years.

In October I got a cold so I took Benadryl for it. I've used it on and off for several years with no problems. 4 days after I stopped it I woke in the middle of the night and desperately had to pee. I was able to, with some difficulty, but was constantly having to go again, maybe 10 times. After this I went back to sleep and woke 2 hours later with an even worse urge but, this time I was blocked. I went back to sleep for a while but the urges made me get up. I was totally blocked at this point and very worried. I've had an enlarged prostate for some time so I just hope it would start correcting. Eventually I ended up in the ER and got a catheter which resolved the emergency.

That was on Nov. 11th. After that I saw the urologist on the 13th and he said he would pull it and I could try on my own. I was still blocked. The strange thing is that since the night of the 11th, for 6 nights in a row, I would fall asleep normally but wake every couple of hours with strong heart palps and nausea. Something that I haven't seen in years. On the 7th night I couldn't get to sleep and had inner tremors and hypnic jerks. On the next two nights I got a total of 1 hour of sleep. The doc recommended I try Benadryl again because I had problems in the past with it. It gave me a few hours of sleep over the next 2 nights but, gave me tachycardia. Since I took it my symptoms have gone insane. This morning my standing heart rate is 106. Normally it’s 56-58.

There is some thinking that it is the catheter that my body may be trying to reject that is causing all of this. The problem I have is that I’m having it operated on in 2 weeks and I don’t know if I can survive like this. I wondered if I was to take a low dose benzo, maybe every second day at bedtime. If I do this, does anyone recommend which one. I was thinking of either Valium or Klonopin. I saw that Klonopin is recommended for hypnic jerks, and they are what are preventing me from sleeping.

Alternately can anyone give me some advice on what I should expect over time if I just ride it out with no sleep.

I would avoid Benzos the same way you avoid rat poison.  Please do not consider taking them again.  The Benadryl is most likely causing your problems?  You can build a tolerance to and a dependence on Benadryl too.  It can also have it's own withdrawal for some.

I would just tough it out or find another OTC sleep aid.  I would not use a Benzo under any circumstance.  We are so quick to fix what ails us with drugs that are nothing more than a band-aid. Benzos don't fix anything. All they do is smash out your body's "check engine light."  Maybe these issues will resolve on their own in a few weeks?  Drugs are never the answer in my opinion.

Almost all doctors are clueless when it comes to Benzos and the massive problems they can create in a short amount of time.

Lack of sleep will not kill you.  I had about 70 zero nights over 8 months and lots of 1 or 2 hour nights.  Your body will get all the sleep it needs prior to anything bad happening to you.

Toughing it out is best in my opinion...no Benzos or other Rx drugs for sleep.  They can all have side effects and possible withdrawal even after very short term use.

Thanks ThEwAy2...I had insomnia issues back when I was in acute, but it would be one or 2 days bad and then a good day.

This feels like it will never stop, and I wasn't sure how many consecutive days of zero sleep a person could take.