Does sleep ever return?

I’m 10 months off and still only sleeping 3-5 hours per night. Losing hope that restorative sleep is going to return

RKO,

 

I know this is scary and feels like it will never end. That's a very long time to go with minimal sleep but there are a bunch of us who went through it for long periods and sleep returned. I couldn't sleep that long at 10 months without taking amitriptyline. I was at 2 years before I could but I complicated that by taking amit. every other night until then. I've read other accounts with people living on 1-4 hours for well over a year or so and then it starts to shift. Try to hang in there. Your brain and body are doing the absolute best they can to recover. It's just taking a long time.

 

MT

I hate to even write this, as I wonder what this insomnia has done to my brain.

I tapered off of clonazepam in November of 2017. I began my taper that Feb/March. I had not been sleeping much the previous few years, but did sleep some. Perhaps 4/6 hours. After I started my taper it went down to zero and now and then an hour or two. I am now almost 17 months off of clonazepam and except for a few weeks of sleeping up to seven hours late last summer , I went back down to just a few hours a night. I wonder if this is the new normal. Some days I have so many memory issues, while other days are better. Tinnitus gets considerably louder when sleep goes down to a couple or three hours a night. I mostly ignore other issues.

Anyone have this many years of so very little sleep? Did it eventually get better?

 

 

nightengale

 

I sleep just like you , I am still tapering but have not slept a night thru in 10 months... The most consecutive hours i get are 3 in a row.

I dont sleep past 2am and can never nap durning the day ... just cant fall asleep...

Also my ringing in ears is horrible... I get really anxious when 3 nights have gone by and I have not slept more than 3 hours.

Even if its broken sleep a few more hours at least i feel somewhat normal.

 

I feel so bad , I hope you will get sleep soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa

Hi tech21, it's a rough road to not be able to sleep for so long. I am tired of being tired and all of the other bad side effects from not sleeping.

The first week I was on this site, I found a post from someone who had this routine of self relaxation and deep breathing that sounded good to me. I have been doing that since the first week along with pressure points. This puts me to sleep within a short amount (a minute to perhaps five) of time after I go to bed. I sleep anywhere from 30 minutes to one, two, to three hours. Once or twice i slept four hours over the last two plus years. It does not work after I have been to sleep and awaken in the night.  :'(

Even if I wake up, I am happy to have been able to initially fall asleep. Now and then..maybe every few months, I do not go to sleep after I finish my routines and I feel awful. It makes the night seem more unbearable.

I sometimes can nap during the day. Not always, but I just lie there and read for a bit and then rest.

Some years ago when I kindled on clonazepam , we had gone on a cruise. I tried adding 0.25 mgs to the 0.5 mgs of K that I was taking, but I still didn't sleep. It was awful to have so many fun things to do, but not feel like doing anything, except drag myself through the day.

 

I apologize for rambling.

 

I recognize all this,

But the last three or four months I do 6 to 8 hours again.

 

Less and less waking up at night.

 

Less need of sleeping music too.

 

Sleep will return.

I hardly slept for the first year off but didn’t fight it or worry about it, I just stayed up all night listening to talks that felt good to me and played 100,000 games of Freecell. Suddenly I began sleeping for 12 hour stints for quite some time and then gradually evened out to a more normal 6-8 hour sleep pattern.  I believe the key is to not stress about it no matter how long it goes on.  Acceptance provides peace of mind, relaxation and letting go.

Oh how i wish i could learn acceptance and to be less terrified about sleep. I can feel it rev up after i wake when i only had slept for 3 hours.

only to not sleep again all night while everyone in the house is sleeping. Its awful , I can only hope the same happens for all of us suffering. That sleep will come back and I will cherish every time I do sleep.

Warm wishes to all.

Lisa

Yes I'm living proof that it DOES get better. On a good night, I've slept 8 hours! I still have bad nights when I get stressed or when a wave comes along... there are still ups and downs and I'm not healed yet but it's SO much better than it used to be... oh btw I'm almost 2.5 years out... so yeah it's taken me a while to get here

I wish you the best, I am 2 years off and I can only mange 2-3 hrs sleep/ night. My whole body has broken down.