How does your insomnia look like?

Do you just lay in bed, relaxed but can't drift

..or anxiety takes over as soon as you touch the sheets..

..or you fall asleep and wake up shortly after..

..waking in panic.. just plain waking.. constantly going to bathroom.. what else?

I think I have all of it ..and sleeping lately just broken couple of hours

I have everything you have described, but without the anxiety and panic.

Mine was very hard and painful. You close your eyes you are sleepy, you keep thinking you will fall asleep but your mind never shuts down. Its running, you pray that some one turns off that computer switch and you can't.  You hardly sleep for 5 mins with your mind running. Than You take a benzo a rush of nurons in your brain as they were unable to cross a bridge suddenly they pass easily. You feel so much relief. Thats what insomnia and benzos made me feel.

I have everything you have described, but without the anxiety and panic.

 

I wish I don't panic, panic make everything worse. I'm working on staying cool at night when can't sleep, but often I just panic and cry.

Mine was very hard and painful. You close your eyes you are sleepy, you keep thinking you will fall asleep but your mind never shuts down. Its running, you pray that some one turns off that computer switch and you can't.  You hardly sleep for 5 mins with your mind running. Than You take a benzo a rush of nurons in your brain as they were unable to cross a bridge suddenly they pass easily. You feel so much relief. Thats what insomnia and benzos made me feel.

 

You are short time user like me. I started 3mg Valium to reduce damage caused by c/t Ativan, but all my symptoms started after c/t. Great your insomnia is lesser. I also have all sorts of jolts when trying to sleep.

Mine was very hard and painful. You close your eyes you are sleepy, you keep thinking you will fall asleep but your mind never shuts down. Its running, you pray that some one turns off that computer switch and you can't.  You hardly sleep for 5 mins with your mind running. Than You take a benzo a rush of nurons in your brain as they were unable to cross a bridge suddenly they pass easily. You feel so much relief. Thats what insomnia and benzos made me feel.

 

You are short time user like me. I started 3mg Valium to reduce damage caused by c/t Ativan, but all my symptoms started after c/t. Great your insomnia is lesser. I also have all sorts of jolts when trying to sleep.

 

The terror I feel all day, I can distract from during the daytime. At night you can't be doing time, you need rest, so the terror is so hard to bear. I turn on TV gossip shows. It's the only thing that makes me a bit less scared as they're so shallow. But still, my nights are awful. Hope they improve, sigh.

Do you just lay in bed, relaxed but can't drift

..or anxiety takes over as soon as you touch the sheets..

..or you fall asleep and wake up shortly after..

..waking in panic.. just plain waking.. constantly going to bathroom.. what else?

I think I have all of it ..and sleeping lately just broken couple of hours

 

all of the above

I have everything you have described, but without the anxiety and panic.

 

I wish I don't panic, panic make everything worse. I'm working on staying cool at night when can't sleep, but often I just panic and cry.

 

Mira42 I have exactly the same problem. Constant panic.

I have everything you have described, but without the anxiety and panic.

 

Hi jrm,

I got you PM but I am not able to reply that way. My ability to Pm was taken away for some infraction I committed. But I do want to help you!

Insomnia plagued me for over a year once I went CT off benzos and SSRIs. Did not sleep for a whole year, no lie. My case may be a bit extreme, but so was my use of benzos for thirty years.

That it got worse after you drank some beer does not surprise me because alcohol works on your brain very much like benzos do. Now you know, and hopefully you wont make that mistake again.

I tried various safe OTC things and supplements like magnesium but NONE of them helped me.

What ultimately DID help me was sleep hypnosis videos I found on YouTube. I started listening to them in, I think, year 2 for me. Took maybe two months for the hypnotic suggestions to sink in, but after that, they sure worked well for me. Most are similar, the "voice" gives you certain instructions, and the entire experience helps you get your over-busy mind OFF your worries, and lets you relax a bit easier. Think of them as a distraction which might help you drift off to sleep easier. The hypnotic suggestions are simple and easy for one to figure out, and that doesn't make a bit of difference, if they do help you sleep! My favorite "voice" was Jodi Whitely's. She's a recovering alcoholic. I noticed she always said the words "right now" several times in her videos. "Right now" was just ONE hypnotic suggestion she used and to this day, if I feel uptight, I say "right now" and I relax a bit. You do not watch those videos as the light from a screen will disrupt sleep. You just listen. If you prefer a male voice, I would suggest Paul Ogilivie's stuff. Really nice man, very caring and dedicated to helping others.

 

Your having certain thoughts that you don't normally have is also quite normal for bwd. Don't let that worry you. Who wouldn't consider doing certain things when you feel this awful, and still don't know if everything you read on BB is true? I had the same exact thoughts as you are having.

Not feeling much is called anhedonia and unfortunately it is a common withdrawal symptom. This will go away when its ready to. Once your brain starts to really heal, that feeling will vanish.

I started this journey at 62. I am now 69. It took me three full years to heal. But MY history of benzo use and abuse IS fairly extreme, so do not compare yourself to me! Nightly benzos for thirty years truly can do damage to anyone. I am living proof of that. I will always walk with a limp, thanks to benzos, and      I also have to live with other limitations due to benzos. But you know what? It does not matter at all now, because I DID heal and I DO feel so wonderful now! I am able to work again, play again, love again. I am alive, and benzos came real close to killing Little Me.

Never give up!

east (Annie)

Thanks so much for replying, east. It seriously means the world to me, as I’m not in a good place right now. I’ll definitely check out the sleep hypnosis videos.

Does anyone one have this kind of insomnia  --You are exhausted all day from not sleeping the night before only to try and go to sleep that night and when you go to bed it feels like you wake up and you are more awake than anytime in the day?

 

 

I dont know if its something to do with my dosing...maybe im at a lower dose and it messing with my CNS or this is a normal wave on insomnia.

 

I take my medicine twice during the day once at 7am and at 7pm. I try to go to bed between 9-10:30.  I can feel worn out all day but I go to bed and I feel like someone turns the "no sleep" switch on with me.

 

Last night was the worst I was tired when  I went to bed and in an hour i was all wired up. Its crazy.

 

Thanks.