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Why are mornings so difficult?


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I'm nearing the end of my taper and through this whole process I have found mornings to be the most difficult. I wake with so many symptoms, feel extremely tired/fatigued, and stay foggy for several hours. This is the time of day when dizziness/balance/feeing like I'm walking on a boat, headaches, muscle aches, fogginess, and DR bothers me most. Toward the middle of the afternoon these things seem to ease up a bit.  I've noticed a few of you mentioning mornings as being difficult, too. Someone mentioned "cortisol mornings" and I'm wondering this is a thing? Are there rhythms or hormones that are altered in the  mornings? I've been just letting myself take it easy while this is going on, or at least until the worst of it passes, but should I be pushing myself instead? Is there anything that helps with functioning during those hours? Are there things I can do to ease this?
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Sorry you are both having difficult mornings, too. It feels terrible to say it, but it is nice to know it's not just me. I used to be a morning person, so this is odd.

I hope someone with some experience can offer suggestions.

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Hi everyone! Just to let you know that bad mornings are very common. I had terrible anxiety upon awakening and I found that continuing on as normal as possible helpful, drinking plenty of water and and good fast walk around lunchtime to ease the anxiety. I also would feel better towards evening only to wake up and do it all again. I don’t have it anymore the lower I go. It’s the pits. Hang in there!
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Mornings are the worst for me by far - evenings are so much better. I wake up with chemical anxiety so many mornings (sometimes with very little sleep) - it's like a body anxiety that comes in spikes. I can't even stay in bed. My best strategy is to get out of bed and do things right away...the anxiety and bad mornings usually ease up in a few hours but man, they are the worst part of tapering.
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Soberhope - Yes, I couldn't stay in bed either. I would get up and immediately take a shower and stay as busy as possible. I wouldn't even lounge around on Saturday mornings and watch tv. It was like I didn't want to stay still. Absolutely no focus for watching tv. I hope it settles down for ya'll soon.
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SoberHope,

What do you mean by "chemical anxiety?" When I wake up I have a lot of anxiety and it feels like my body is just buzzing with it. It almost burns. So I stay in bed trying to relax myself, but I can't and it just feels miserable.  I wonder if I forced myself to start my day in spite of all the anxiety and other symptoms instead of trying to let them settle so I could get up and about, maybe getting up and about would be what could help them disperse?

 

Is that buzzing, burning energy what you are calling "chemical anxiety?" I hate that feeling.

 

It has really been helpful to learn about other's experiences during this process. It makes me feel much less isolated and gives me hope. Thanks, everyone.

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GonnaGetBetter

 

The "chemical" anxiety I feel is more physical than mental (even though this feeling leads me to ruminate too much on bad things that have happened in the past or could happen in the future). It's like an awful buzzing in my body from my toes to my chest and head. I try to stay in bed, watch TV or read (this is usually very early in the morning) but I never really fall back asleep. Even when I took 1mg of Valium, I didn't fall back asleep. So my best strategy is to get up and start moving, as hard as that can be. Doing stuff settle the anxiety which lessens during the day.

 

If my hear is really pounding in a scary way, I take a beta-blocker, but I try only to take one if I really need it.

 

This is my worst time of the day while tapering...things usually get better as the day goes on.

 

Sleep is a big issue for me (I woke up last night at 2:30am, argh). I am now turning off electronics at least an hour before bed and trying hard to read and fall asleep at the same time every night. If I am lucky enough to get 5 hours of sleep (rare), the morning anxiety isn't as bad.

 

Hope that helps. Sadly this morning anxiety and dread has become more often as I get lower in Valium. The beginning of my taper was "easy" compared to where I am now.

 

 

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Sober,

 

I assumed the beginning would be harder, but it definitely hasn't been the case.

 

It sounds like your "chemical" anxiety is what I experience, too.

 

I got up this morning and tried to push through. I think it's a good idea. When I got hit with fatigue (happens every day) I just took a break. I had more anxiety throughout the day than usual. It's probably better not to overthink this. There is always going to be something until it's over with.  :)

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True GonnaGetBetter  - there is always something it seems...but we are tapering and on the road to freedom so that is something to not be anxious about. We have to look at the light, the big window, at the end of the tunnel - it's there for all of us!

 

Tomorrow I will wake up, shower and get right outside and start the day! Let's all do that.

 

Sweet dreams!

 

Pete

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I'm glad this thread was started. This is what I have trouble with the most. Recent MRI brain scan blood work all came back normal.

 

I usually end up feeling a little decent around 9pm to 4 or 5 am when I pass out from being so tired. But I wake up dizzy hard to walk and extremely shaky.

 

I still just cant wrap my head around how dropping such a small amount in our dosage can wreak so much havoc on our bodies.

 

Although it's much better than CT. So. It could ALWAYS be worse. Mist here are lucky to be able to taper.

 

Best wishes to everyone.

 

 

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I wonder if the problem with mornings is because our sleep is messed up.  Our bodies must have worked out something to get or try to get decent quality sleep while on benzos.  I read somewhere that while on benzos, you don't get a certain kind of level of sleep.  So I imagine our brain has some workaround.  And now that we are tapering or off the benzos, everything is just haywire. 

 

When I wake up, I often feel like I am having broken thoughts that when combined, are not logical or correct, but insist on hanging around anyway.

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Mornings are hardest for me too. I am sleeping ok, gratefully, but when I wake I feel anxiety and dread. I feel so overwhelmed with the day I don’t want to get out of bed. But somehow I do. Eventually. I look forward to waking up with positive thoughts. Hope this gets better for everyone.
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I'm lucky so far as to the worst part of my symptoms be in the morning upon first awakening. I feel I guess what we call tremors. My mind is usually racing around the extremely vivid dreams (not always nightmares... a lot of dreams of the past) colorful dreams and I swear sometimes when drifting off to sleep  I hear a cannon or loud gun exploding through my head. Also, my husband has to have a white noise going as he served in the Iraq war and suffers PTSD. In this case it's the sound of loud static. When I first wake up it's as if I can hear people talking through the static, like radio jockeys. Now that is scary but after a few minutes it stops and I just shake it off. This is my second time tapering off this poison clonazepam and all of this happened the first time as well. Yes mornings just suck for me too. 
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Thought I’d drop by with an encouraging post for those who are suffering with morning anxiety or other sxs related to benzo WD or tolerance. Like most others, I suffered for years with absolutely horrific morning anxiety sxs. This was mostly before I understood what was happening or why it was happening. I’m not going to go in to the details because you all know what it feels like.

 

I did a 1-1/2 year taper once I figured out what was going on and I am about 9 months benzo free. I have no morning anxiety anymore...... zero. I do not see any reason why it will not be any different for any of you. It takes time for your body to normalize, but it will.

 

Keep up the good work. Keep going forward. Persistence, determination and time will see you through.

 

And Never, Ever, Give up.

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Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Serenitee. I wonder why we feel this way in the morning, biologically speaking. Does anyone know? It always helps me to know what is happening in my body to cause the particular symptom.
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