70yr Old man with sleep issues needs advice!

Hello,

Like many of us I was originally prescribed Clonazepam for anxiety and sleep.

Earlier this year it stopped working for sleep. Over the next several months my doctor prescribed different meds for sleep including Lunesta, Trazodone and Belsomra ($$). I also use CBD/THC (8:1) and otc meds. All of these meds eventually stopped working for me when I used them on a continuous basis.

I am currently at the halfway point in my withdrawal from diazepam and my sleep issues have worsened with each mg of taper. I am currently alternating the use of some of these drugs on an as needed basis with so so results.

From what I have read on this forum and the Ashton Manual the recommended approach to sleep issues during and after withdrawal is to avoid taking any of these meds and just tough it out for as long as it takes. The thought of this approach itself gives me anxiety. I have not tried any of the therapies like CBT, soothing music etc.

I am 70 years old and concerned about what toughing it out is going to do to my health and my ability to recover from this approach compared to a younger person.

I would appreciate any thoughts. advice or help you can offer.

Thank you.

Spokeman, I'm sorry you are not getting replies to you posts.

Here are my thoughts. I am 71 and post-taper have had to deal with insomnia. I can tell you the things I did that helped. I understand your anxiety.

First thought . . . why on earth are you on temazepam? As you note, it has a very short half-life. If it were me, I would lobby strenuously with your doctor to get switched to valium. Its long half life will help you. Make sure you read the Ashton Manual to determine the correct equivalency if you cross over. Valium is very sedating and should give you relief at night.

The truth is ANYTHING you take for insomnia will stop "working". But that's not to say that you shouldn't try various things. After all, we need to sleep. There is a school of thought on here that says just tough it out . . . sleep will return. Maybe. And maybe that applies to younger folk. I don't know. All I know is that I had to go after sleep, not wait for it to come to me. Here are the things I tried:

-Unisom Sleep Tabs -- half a 25 mg tab -- works well but you feel groggy in the a.m.

- a tincture made from an indica marijuana. Not CBD. (I make my own and will send you the recipe if you PM me). Very effective. It will lose effectiveness after a while and then you need to take a break.

- low-dose of hydroxyzine -- another antihistamine -- works well for a while. Like Benadryl.

- double dose of camomille tea -- a natural sleep aid. Works VERY well.

- small dose of melatonin -- I think it helped -- we lose our melatonin as we age, so supplementing it makes sense

- calming music from youtube

- sleep CDs that I ordered from amazon -- very, very good. Self-hypnosis.

- some exercise in the middle of the day

- no caffeine after 1 p.m.

- no phones, tablets, or other blue-light-producing devices for 3 hours before sleep. And for heaven's sake, no news.

For me, the trick is to try to shut off my thoughts and worries as I prepare for sleep. Reading an engrossing book is helpful (the kindle does not produce blue light). Listening to an audiobook is also helpful. Getting lost in stories works well.

Nowadays I just drink camomille tea and read a book. I listen to one of my self-hypnosis sleep CDs if I don't immediately drift off.  If you want the titles of 3 CDs I found helpful (I still listen to one often . . . it's excellent) I'll send them to you.

Bottom line . . . try some OTC remedies, but don't expect them to keep working. Pamper yourself with them on your taper, but have as your long-term goal to taper off the need for them, too. You can do it.

PM me if you want to. I might recall some other things that were helpful.

Katz

Spokesman.

I am 71 and can relate.

The reason we got hooked on benzo's/Z-drugs was primarily due to the inability to sleep. It seems to me, insomnia coming off these drugs will be even greater than individuals who were prescribed benzo's for other reasons. Just my opinion. I have been off these GABAa drugs for about 3 years and sleep continues to be a huge issue for me. I have tried everything  on the marked both Rx, OTC and device. This includes, brain music, acupuncture, EBB, Wisher Wallace and CBTI. Nothing helped me. That is not to say your results would be the same though.

These days, I am getting some success from Belsomra and mirtazapine. I tried and failed Belsomra several times prior to the "break through" I am now enjoying. I believe,it will work once you have totally washed out the effects of the benzo's or Z-drugs from your system. It did nothing for me when I merely switched from a Z-drug to Belsomra. It also has only marginal results when one is agitated or stressed out. I find if I read for an hour or two prior to taking the Belsomra at night I usually can get 5-6 hours of sleep. I do wake up but find I can return to sleep, something I am never able to do on my own. Yes, it is pricey. Merck does have a patient assistance program and you may qualify for help through that. Also, only the 20mg strength does anything for me. Anything less is useless. Sometimes I even need to bump it up to 30mg total. Of course as advised by my doctor. The nights when I take a break from Belsomra I take 15mg of mirtazapine.

What has helped me the most has been the total absence of benzo's and Z-drugs from my body. I ma more calm and relaxed since the elimination of these brain altering drugs. No more brain zaps and overall a much better feeling. I have even added my daily glass or two of wine back into my diet. I had totally eliminated all alcohol for over 2 years while in recovery.

Good luck.

PS:

During my withdrawal, I used Seroquil 25-50mg and mirtazapine 7.5-15mg as advised by my doctor. Neither will work for the long term but maybe help during the acute phase you are going through now. I am not in a state where I can legally buy any MJ products but did try it out when in Amsterdam without much success. That may have been a fluke though as I really didn't know what to ask for in the pot shop. If you have access to Indica where your located that may be something to try.

Thank you Rupert,

I appreciate you taking the time to help me out. 

Hi spokesman, I too am in your age bracket with the same insomnia issues.  Looking back before I was put on clonazepam and Ambien, my insomnia was quite mild, but I didn't realize it. The doctor who put me on it never warned me about what she prescribed and I was stupid and naive. But the past is the past so I am moving on.

oregonkatz has offered some great advice.

As for me, I tried some of what she mentioned early on in my taper. I was such a mess with no sleep along with a large list of withdrawal symptoms, but I wanted off of benzos more than anything, so just hung in there.  I gave up alcohol/wine and still rarely have any, hoping it will help my brain to heal. I used to say, heal faster, but at this point, I just want it to heal.

My sleep is in the pits, still, except for a reprieve when I had a colonoscopy on Tuesday and enjoyed the lingering effects from the propofol, I'm slowly going back to the way it was before.  Certainly I care, but I will never go back to being dependent on any drugs/otc meds for sleep. One day, my brain will figure this all out and I'm going to sleep.