Anyone know why it took a month post taper to develop sleep problems?

So, I know that this withdrawal process is unpredictable and symptoms can surface at any time but just curious if anyone else had a delay in developing their insomnia and why this may happen? Logically speaking if the klonopin was helping me to sleep and I reduced it I should have seen a difference in my sleep right away? But instead after my last taper it took a month for me to start having issues. The theme for this process is "expect the unexpected" so I'm not surprised by anything but just wanting to understand what may be happening physiologically and maybe it will help me or someone else down the road.

 

Also I've been going on some pretty intense runs after not a lot of working out for some time but always earlier in the day. I wonder if maybe my metabolism getting revved up is causing sleep disturbance but I doubt that's it. I'm doing yoga today instead to see how I sleep. I am confident in the long run the intense exercise will help even if it's causing wakefulness now. Just mostly curious about the delay in onset of insomnia.

Benzos down regulate Gaba.  In fact, they take over for your body's normal/natural calming action.  Gaba and Glutamate are both working at the same time to achieve homeostasis or a balance between the two so one doesn't dominate over the other.  Gaba makes you calm and relaxed so you don't have anxiety, can sleep, etc.  Glutamate is what makes you active and alert and also controls fight or flight.

 

Over time, the Benzo you are taking, acts in place of your body's normal Gaba function.  Your body now needs the Benzo to perform the action Gaba once did.  As you lower the Benzo, the Benzo stops doing what Gaba once did and Gaba isn't doing what it normally does as it was expecting the Benzo to do that.    Insomnia/symptoms occur when you taper the Benzo to "that specific amount" where it won't do what is was doing...keeping you calm and relaxed and keeping Glutamate balanced.  That's why you didn't notice any change in your sleep right away as the Benzo was still doing its job of filling in for your normal Gaba function after your first and subsequent cuts.

 

At the dose you are currently on, Glutamate is taking over...making you active and alert and causing you not to sleep or not sleep well.  Holding at the same amount almost always will not restore sleep as Glutamate will always rule the day and night as your Gaba doesn't work on its own anymore and you are not taking enough Benzo to fill in for your non-working Gaba.  The only thing that might work is updosing, which is not recommended.

 

Withdrawal is not logical.  Expect the unexpected.  It is a very nonlinear process that has little or no rhyme or reason.

 

Intense exercise can also ramp up and exacerbate symptoms for some.  I would be careful with intense exercise during your taper and after you jump.  Most avoid it until they start to feel a lot better.  All I did was walk until my symptoms faded and my sleep started to return.

 

Remember that withdrawal is unique to each person going through it in terms of how long it will last, what type of symptoms you will have and how intense they will be.  It is all TEMPORARY as Gaba will repair itself and regrow new receptors over time. 

 

 

Could be the exercise, -as a general stimulant type thing...??

There seems to be far more in play than just the Gabba and Glute for many if us.. Secondary chemistry "ripples" of inballance perhaps...

 

Holding long enough to allow your body to catch up with the reduced medicine intake could be a good option... Bearing in mind that SX can often increase at low dose, so this might have to be either accepted to some degree, or compensated for with additional hold time... -Possibly a combination of both...

We are all different, so often we just have to see in the end...

-Maybe there are some indicators in your earlier tapering history to help you decide on current choices..??

 

Best wishes..

 

 

Actually cantfly, everything seemed to change once I went to .125. New symptoms and they came later, about 2 weeks after I tapered. Hit me like a wall. So I feel like I'm in new territory now. I am pretty sure it had to do with different conditions the last taper- the Percocet I took after surgery, and not exercising as I was when I tapered previously. The sad thing is the last 5 reductions went surprisingly well. So now to feel the way that I do now and the sleep added on is disheartening. But, I did kind of brace myself for some sleep challenges since I only take it at night. I figured there would be an adjustment period. I think I'll go ahead with the taper and see how things go. I can always updose if things get unbearable and hopefully that will help. Ive never had to updose before so I'll keep that in my back pocket. I want this stuff out of my system as soon as possible. I think illdo the slow taper lading 120 days with very small reductions each day.

Actually cantfly, everything seemed to change once I went to .125. New symptoms and they came later, about 2 weeks after I tapered. Hit me like a wall. So I feel like I'm in new territory now. I am pretty sure it had to do with different conditions the last taper- the Percocet I took after surgery, and not exercising as I was when I tapered previously. The sad thing is the last 5 reductions went surprisingly well. So now to feel the way that I do now and the sleep added on is disheartening. But, I did kind of brace myself for some sleep challenges since I only take it at night. I figured there would be an adjustment period. I think I'll go ahead with the taper and see how things go. I can always updose if things get unbearable and hopefully that will help. Ive never had to updose before so I'll keep that in my back pocket. I want this stuff out of my system as soon as possible. I think illdo the slow taper lading 120 days with very small reductions each day.

 

The Benzos were still working and doing what they do until you cut to a dose that started causing problems.  The first 5 reductions went well because you were actually on way more Benzo than you needed to get the effect Benzos provide.  Once you drop below that amount, symptoms creep in and sleep goes south.  That's why your first 5 or so cuts didn't produce much if any symptoms or sleep issues.

Delayed withdrawal can happen after you end the taper. I had that experience with AD withdrawal and got hit 6 weeks later. I'm pretty sure it works the same with benzo w/d. I've read lots of personal accounts of this happening.

 

Becky