Can’t sleep past certain time

I wake up after around 6 hours of sleep like clockwork. My eyes open and I’m fully awake no matter what. There’s no groggy stretching and relaxed feeling. During my couple of windows I slept past this amount and felt amazing. Why can’t I sleep past this point? Is cortisol waking me up? I know some might think I’m lucky to get 6 hours, but it’s false sleep that’s filled with nightmares. I have severe fatigue and exhaustion upon waking despite being fully awake. Anybody else have this?

Yes I just posted about it on other site

And idk why. Have to assume gaba

so messed up. But you said ibuprofen

helped ?

Yes, ibuprofen helps me when taken occasionally. It’ll help me relax and sleep better. I try to only take it when I’m desperate.

I wake up after around 6 hours of sleep like clockwork. My eyes open and I’m fully awake no matter what. There’s no groggy stretching and relaxed feeling. During my couple of windows I slept past this amount and felt amazing. Why can’t I sleep past this point? Is cortisol waking me up? I know some might think I’m lucky to get 6 hours, but it’s false sleep that’s filled with nightmares. I have severe fatigue and exhaustion upon waking despite being fully awake. Anybody else have this?

 

first thing that came to mind when I read this was "wow - I would really like 6 hours of sleep" ... that would be a very good night for a lot of people but I understand the endless fatigue no matter how much you sleep. As I enter the post benzo stage, I am getting more sleep (hoping for that 6 hours real soon) but still feel very tired.

Following

DBM, do you sleep any better on weekends as opposed to weekdays? I've noticed I'm only able to sleep until like four on weekdays unless I take an antihistamine.

DBM, do you sleep any better on weekends as opposed to weekdays? I've noticed I'm only able to sleep until like four on weekdays unless I take an antihistamine.

 

No, not really. But along those lines I’ve noticed that at times of very, very low stress I will get a better night. Vacation with all bills paid and nothing to worry about is an example. I don’t have a stressful job or anything, so I don’t think weekly stress is the culprit. Although we’re so sensitive, maybe the weekly stress is enough to do it. Who knows anymore.....

DBM, sleep is such a gift.  6 hours is something.  I know you’re tired, though.  Do you practice sleep hygiene?  Tech free at night, no caffeine at all, routines that encourage sleep, same time to bed and same time up no matter what, supplements for sleep etc.  I drink tart cherry juice with . 5  ml melatonin added.  I drink 8 ozs of the juice about half hour before bed.  Not sweet juice, has to be tart and not other fruit juices added in.  No sugar added.  Pure.  It has melatonin and tryptophan in it.  Research shows this works.  I’m a tough case, and just melatonin alone never works.  But the tart cherry does.  Look up parasympathetic system and ways to activate that.  You’ll get through this. 

Thanks, Healing. I do all the sleep hygiene stuff: nice sheets, blackout curtains, cold room, noise machine, etc. Melatonin hasn’t worked at all for me. I’ll try the tart cherry. I’d also like to try a weighted blanket if I can find one at a reasonable price.

This is super duper normal and common. Most of us have been through it who are on the other side. It passes. When you wake up early, instead of stressing about it, try doing something somewhat enjoyable. I used to roll over, put on a dim light, and read some easy to follow fiction. After a while I'd feel a bit more ready to face the day. Lying there and trying to force my brain to sleep, and feeling despair and frustration about it, inevitably led to me facing the day bitter, depleted, and tight as a tick.

I had mind bending insomnia for the first three months after last dose then slept like a rock until eight months out . I am almost 14 months now and till struggle . 6 hours is average for me if I dont take any melatonin , I have tried everything . I will not sleep if the sun is up no matter what .

I do nightly sleep hygiene , I take 1.75 mgs melatonin , I listen to asmr , in a black dark room , I have tried the weighted blanket - hit or miss .

Right now my electric and a heating pad do ok . Pillows under my shoulders and under my legs . I try everything . I cannot do magnesium but I will try the tart cherry .

 

I am going to grief counseling currently and they want me to take remeron but I am not going to do that , I cannot stand any more w/d

 

I am so sick of this . 

BlueDutchess,

 

Sorry you are still suffering.  From your signature and what you posted, you are 14 months off.  That might not be long enough off to be completely out of the woods?

 

I had severe insomnia for about 9 months, had a lot better sleep for 8 months, then got hit with insomnia again for almost 1 month at 18 months off and then again at 32 months off

 

That dose of melatonin seems much too high.  0.3mg is the recommended amount.  If you take too much, it can keep you awake and work like caffeine.

 

It's always best to start with a low dose of melatonin 0.3mg and work your way up to 1mg if need be.  Melatonin works with light and dark, not day and night.

 

Maybe you are "trying" to hard to sleep?  I would have been super happy with 6 hours the first year off.

 

6 hours is very good.  I typically get 6-9 hours now at 3.5 years off.

 

Good choice to avoid Rx drugs.  Remeron can have it's own WD and side effects?

 

If you stop worrying about sleep, it could return to where you would like it to be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont know what happened , I think it ws probably like you that it comes and goes .  I could not stay awake until month 8 then it got like this . I tried 0.50 then 0.75  for awhile but just did not work , I need to be satisfied with 6 hours really , I just feel so gross.  1.5 seems to be what works really well for me . Any more and i get a headache  but with this nothing bad happens .

 

I have to take it after dark or it wont work either . i knew it worked with light and dark though 

Like I said my Dr keeps pushing me to take 5mgs at night and AGAIN if I wake up in the night  NO way will I do that .  I go to sleep its STAYING asleep thats the issue . it helps to write it down here and like I said I do all the sleep hygiene but  I think you are right , I am just not there yet .

I do worry alot .

Plus I am just NOW having to deal emotionally with my fiances shocking death 2 years ago during the last year of my taper . I had to struggle to make it through acute and now that I am this far his death is hitting me like a second time . I am really grieving .

Sorry to learn about your fiancee's death.  That alone is enough to mess up your sleep.  I hope you can get the support your need from family, friends and professionally--if possible.

 

If 1.5mg works for you then stick with it.  It might not always work though as you found out.

 

MIT scientists claim that too large a dose of melatonin over an extended period of time can stop working because when melatonin receptors in your brain are exposed to too much, they become unresponsive (tolerance)

 

Benzos have the same type of effect on GABA receptors, after being exposed to a Benzo over an extended period of time, they stop working and become unresponsive to the current dose (tolerance).

 

Please hang in there and do the best you can do.  You are very strong and can get past this in time.

I was sleeping pretty well the last 3 weeks and felt great, because of quality sleep...…..but now this week....poof.....back to crappy sleep.....sometimes cannot fall asleep or stay asleep.... still not getting sleepy or can take a nap...… feel wired when I wake up at 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m.  .I did a cortisol test and it showed high cortisol at night......so......what causes that...is it the BENZO AND SSRI post withdrawal still?    My doctor wanted me to take a product called Cortisol Manager..... I think it has Ashwaghanda in it and phospatidylserine……?spelling??      I don't know what to do.... I have not been taking anything, no vitamins, no supplements,,,just melatonin every now and then.....my bloodwork showed everything is normal.....  Is this pattern of sleep normal in withdrawal  ....up and down...…..

 

 

Yeah, unfortunately for some (based on what I have read) it takes some time to not get thrown back into waves of poor sleep.  At just over 2 years off you might do OK with some type of cortisol management supplement?  I guess the only way to find out is to try some and see how you respond.  Most people avoid any type of supplement for the first year or 2 off.  You need to decide what is best for you.

 

Please hold onto the fact that if you had a 3 week stretch of good sleep, you have that and more down the road. 

 

Also, if you are taking melatonin, maybe try a low dose 0.3mg and see how you do.

 

Sleep returns very up and down.  I went through a similar pattern as you, but it didn't last quite as long.  I still get an "off" night every month or so.