One year off after 20 plus years on Ativan 1mg for sleep

One year off today and a full year tapering off before that. Yes it does get better. More slowly than we want but looking back

improvements happened . I wasn't always aware when side effects diminished or stopped but they are gone now. Insomnia was and is  the hardest to deal with...like most on here. I tried Trazodone once, it caused stuffed up nose and I felt I couldn't breath. Melatonin and combos with it didn't help. A big help was turning off screens a couple of hours before bedtime. Reading a good book before sleep helped too. It was months before I could concentrate enough to read a book. I gave up caffeine and cut back on added sugar.

I used occasional thc/cbd oil (legal here) but the thc either gave me anxiety or a hangover even on low dose. Right now I use  cbd oil alone a few times a week. Again a small amount. It seems to stop the thoughts being on a merry-go-round. Occasionally I sleep without anything. Its funny I can almost sense when I might sleep without anything or when I need help.

Apparently 50% of seniors have sleep problems so not sure if its just me or Benzo withdrawal. My initial problem that led me to Ativan was insomnia. Gratitude thoughts and deep breathing has helped too. We can all find things to be grateful for, a roof over our head, a warm bed, food to eat, family and friends, nature. Walking in nature calms the spirit. It has helped me.

      Like others have said "it takes time" to heal.  It will happen.   

Hi Friday

Congrats on being benzo free and celebrating 1 year now!  That is so awesome.

Gratitude is huge in recovery.  Acceptance is, too.  Time passes and healing happens.

Congratulations fridaygirl!!

PG

Congratulations!  I hit 10 months off Ativan today.  I notice the same thing regarding sleep:  I can predict when I will have trouble falling asleep.

My work-around for that is to just stay up and read or do a jigsaw puzzle.  I do use Benadryl and Tylenol PM for this sometimes, but I do first try to just do something to relax my mind. 

I have been under a wave for a bit (probably due to work stress) and so I also eliminate all screen time.  No watching YouTube videos, no online news, etc...  It helps.

Thank you All and very best wishes for total recovery

fridaygirl