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Nearly 8 months off and still can’t sleep normally


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Am I ever going to regain my natural sleep again? Nearing 8 months off and still battling with insomnia. I really need some encouragement that things are going to get better. I just want 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for goodness sake.
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I'm 17 months out and I still have loads of broken sleep with rem rebounds (lots of this still). I'm off all meds ( no hidden other drugs) and I'm not completely healed but I'm thankful to Jesus that I'm getting some sleep. I remember i didn't get some deep sleep till 8 months off. Healing takes lots of time unfortunately.
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It will get better, but probably not all at once. I experienced sleep problems off and on for a long time and still do once in awhile. You can actually learn to live with the insomnia, especially once you start to have better nights.
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I never had sleep issues prior to this outside of the one week I had insomnia from the ear infection (and the reason I took the K). Was always a solid 7-8 hour sleeper before this. I seriously can't believe this happened to me.
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Hey. Sorry to hear you are still struggling. I am 9.5 months and sleep comes and goes. What's weird about all this for me is that when I sleep well, it still doesn't seem to help with the depression much. I slept much better last night, did not feel as tired this morning, and still feel horrible at work. Honestly, I'm at the point where I feel like I need to go to a psych ward again. I know it wouldn't help though.
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I feel MUCH better when I get sleep because it lessens the depression knowing my sleep is coming back. I had one of my best days on New Years Day after I slept 7 hours - I was instantly happier.
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Well, wouldn't we all like 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! That is ideal, but probably not realisitic for many of us. It's not even realistic for a lot of folks that have never taken a benzo.

 

One of the tough things about insomnia is that it can become a conditioned behavior, which is a tough cycle to get out of. I also think it's hard to decipher how much insomnia is caused purely by physical withdrawal and how much by other things, like the conditioning I mentioned or other underlying issues.

 

For me, one of the things that has helped is I just stopped dreaming (pun intended) about those blissful nights of uninterrupted sleep and began accepting whatever sleep I could get. That doesn't mean you stop doing things that might help the insomnia, but half the battle is managing expectations and acceptance. The more we "fight" with insomina, the harder it is to heal.

 

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I am over 2 years off and my sleep is still not back to normal. It has improved greatly, however, and it is much easier to wait for 100% now.
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I agree with Lilac. Part of this journey is letting go of expectations of how sleep "should" go and how much sleep we thinking we "must" have. Sure, 7/8 hours of unbroken sleep would be wonderful but there comes a point where the attachment to that, believing not getting it is unmanageable, that makes sleep ever more elusive. Try an approach of gratitude for every bit of sleep you *do* get rather than focusing on what you don't get.

 

I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and since falling ill I believed I had to have 9-10 hours to function at all. That led to my escalating dependence on klonopin for which I paid dearly. I never would have believed I would  be able to manage, and actually do better than when I was medicated, on 6-7 hours (with 4-6 wake ups). More sleep would be nice but every morning I give thanks for the sleep I was able to get. I had countless nights of zero perceived sleep or just 2-4 hours so I know to cherish every minute and catch it when I'm telling myself the story of, "I can't get through this day on that little sleep." I learned to travel, drive, attend classes, work, and exercise on little or no sleep so now I know it's possible. It's soooo much better than it was.

 

You will make progress but give your hard working-healing brain the time it needs. This can take a ridiculously long time but it's not permanent so take heart!

 

MT  :smitten:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I agree with Lilac. Part of this journey is letting go of expectations of how sleep "should" go and how much sleep we thinking we "must" have. Sure, 7/8 hours of unbroken sleep would be wonderful but there comes a point where the attachment to that, believing not getting it is unmanageable, that makes sleep ever more elusive. Try an approach of gratitude for every bit of sleep you *do* get rather than focusing on what you don't get.

 

I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and since falling ill I believed I had to have 9-10 hours to function at all. That led to my escalating dependence on klonopin for which I paid dearly. I never would have believed I would  be able to manage, and actually do better than when I was medicated, on 6-7 hours (with 4-6 wake ups). More sleep would be nice but every morning I give thanks for the sleep I was able to get. I had countless nights of zero perceived sleep or just 2-4 hours so I know to cherish every minute and catch it when I'm telling myself the story of, "I can't get through this day on that little sleep." I learned to travel, drive, attend classes, work, and exercise on little or no sleep so now I know it's possible. It's soooo much better than it was.

 

You will make progress but give your hard working-healing brain the time it needs. This can take a ridiculously long time but it's not permanent so take heart!

 

MT  :smitten:

 

I'm also a long time CFS sufferer, and man what a terrible number they did to us with all these drugs. I'm sure you experienced it yourself, but when I first became ill with CFS 15 years ago, it was considered psychosomatic where I was from. They drugged me to hell, and of course it didn't help. Benzos have made everything so much worse than just CFS alone.

 

I'm personally still new to this not sleeping thing. Like you, I thought I needed a ton of sleep to even remotely function due to my illness. I'm struggling still when I'm having my 4 hour or less nights, spend most of the time in bed obsessed with how amazingly exhausted I feel.  I wish there was a way to break out of that and just live through it. I assume it will come with time.

 

Still tapering on my end. The closer I get to the finish line, the harder it seems to get. Hope you're doing well over there.

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I never had sleep issues prior to this outside of the one week I had insomnia from the ear infection (and the reason I took the K). Was always a solid 7-8 hour sleeper before this. I seriously can't believe this happened to me.

 

I am the same as you..I slept all the time before I got a surgery at the end of 2016. I over slept for work a lot of times and took a nap any time.

Now I’m 8 months off and can’t nap, sleep at night or anything. I lay down, it takes about 3 or 4 hours to get a glimpse of sleep and then I dream and wake back up. Then I’m like here we go again and try to go back to sleep but can’t sometimes. Sometimes I’ll dream again and wake back up. My head hurts and my vision is blurry in stores. I can’t believe this crap happened to me either. I

Am devastated.

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Please be positive and stop thinking or saying "I can't believe that I will sleep again."

Cynicism and skepticism have filled our lives.  We need to get out of the habit of questioning and doubting the possibility of things

It's not whether God will help, but whether we believe it will happen

Focus on those that recovered and got their sleep back

No one can keep you in your current situation, except you!

Understand the root word of responsibility is response.  You may not be able to control anything happening to you from withdrawal, but you can control your RESPONSE to it.

In your response, lies true healing and recovery!

No one can keep you down, but you!

You are not a victim, you CAN get past this by dealing with your thoughts, actions and reactions.

You WILL overcome and get your sleep back!

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