The Connection Between Benzos, Sleep Apnea, & Insomnia

Hey Buddies, I have mixed sleep apnea, a combination of obstructive, central, RERA, and hypopnea. I’d had it for decades without knowing it because I thought I was sleeping.    Since being successfully treated with CPAP, my anxiety, energy level (I also have ME/CFS), mood, mental clarity, parathesia,  and blood pressure significantly improved.  Chronic hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) can cause all those things, and more (including hallucinations!).  I had the SA 10 years prior to taking benzos, but can’t help thinking being on benzos for 20 years made it worse.

 

After reading so many stories here I wonder if some of us might  have undiagnosed Sleep Apnea.  I believe anyone with chronic insomnia should inquire about doing a sleep study.  They can be done at home now and are a breeze to do.

 

Here’s a couple of great articles explaining how benzos can cause sleep apnea and sleep apnea can cause chronic insomnia. And we all know that insomnia causes anxiety,  so it’s a vicious cycle.  I feel very fortunate that I’m going into benzo wd with CPAP because  had I tried to wd before my apnea dx and treatment, I’m sure it would be much harder.

 

https://www.sleepresolutions.com/blog/could-my-insomnia-be-caused-by-sleep-apnea

 

 

“80 percent and 90 percent of hypnotic-dependent insomniac patients who had used sedating agents for at least four years and suffered from insomnia for more than 10 years had sleep-disordered breathing.”

 

https://uspharmacist.com/article/central-sleep-apnea-potential-impact-of-benzodiazepines-opioids-and-cyp3a4-inhibitors

 

 

 

I jumped Clonazepam mid March, but even before then I realized I needed to start using my CPAP machine. They work but what a pain. It did help my sleep, some! I use a Fitbit to monitor my sleep and heart rate. Its not perfectly accurate but I can see patterns. I can see when I dont sleep well and even tell when I have taken my nasal mask off during the night.

 

With that said, my heart rate seems to go up and I will wake up after 4 or 5 hours, early morning anywhere from 3:30 to 5:00 am. My sleep doc only know one thing - sleep apnea. I gave her shit since she calls her practice "sleep disorders"...In consultation with a Functional Medicine (FM) doctor, we both thinks its my adrenal glads producing cortisol too early in the circadian rhythm...the National Institute of Health has done studies...

 

More later...

I realized I needed to start using my CPAP machine. They work but what a pain. It did help my sleep, some! I use a Fitbit to monitor my sleep and heart rate. Its not perfectly accurate but I can see patterns. I can see when I dont sleep well and even tell when I have taken my nasal mask off during the night.

 

In consultation with a Functional Medicine (FM) doctor, we both thinks its my adrenal glads producing cortisol too early in the circadian rhythm.

 

J Stone - You're right they are a pain.  It took me almost a year of constant use to get use to.  But wouldn't live w/o it now. 

Glad you've found a good doc to help sort it out for you.  Good luck!

I believe that benzos and z-drugs can actually make apnea worse since they sedate you, causing the muscles around your airway to relax more.

I’ve been considering doing a sleep study, but I don’t want to waste the money. I KNOW it’s benzos. But the sleep is so horrible and fake that I’m at the end of my rope and will probably do it to rule apnea out. I can’t take much more of this.

More than likely a sleep study right now will just show what you already know...light broken sleep that is overly heavy on REM. That is of course if you are actually able to fall asleep enough to get any usable data without having to heavily sedate yourself (which will just mess up the readings).

 

Taking several years to regain normal sleep following a benzo withdrawal is not at all unheard and apnea will still be there to find in the future, if it was ever there to start with. Also, having to get used to using a CPAP is hard enough without having to also deal with withdrawal insomnia. I tried and found it to be just about impossible.