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Would love some encouragement -- 2.5 years of this insomnia


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Is there anyone on this forum that has been going thru this insomnia long term? Would love to hear from people who have been thru insomnia for this long and healed.

 

I started tapering in sept 2018 and finished it all up last august -- and to say that this is getting me down in an understatement.

 

I have had hundreds of zero nights and now over 2 years in my insomnia is just as bad as it was before with another zero sleep night. It seems the waves stretch on and on and the windows very rarely come. 

 

Has anyone had insomnia that never went away?

 

thanks

 

 

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ocean34, I so understand what you are going through, but I am still in it, so should not even be responding.  I just know that many on here have healed after finishing their tapers.

My taper began in the spring of 2017 and finished that November.  I was naïve enough to think I would heal in a few months, but oh well.

I had a total left knee replacement on April 2, which has sent me into a fairly bad wave.

What works for a couple of nights for sleep goes away. I really don't understand that at all.

I'm drug/medication free, drink no alcohol and am careful what I eat. I live a pretty boring life. ha

Anyway, hang in there, as eventually we will get through this.

NG

 

 

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ocean34, I so understand what you are going through, but I am still in it, so should not even be responding.  I just know that many on here have healed after finishing their tapers.

My taper began in the spring of 2017 and finished that November.  I was naïve enough to think I would heal in a few months, but oh well.

I had a total left knee replacement on April 2, which has sent me into a fairly bad wave.

What works for a couple of nights for sleep goes away. I really don't understand that at all.

I'm drug/medication free, drink no alcohol and am careful what I eat. I live a pretty boring life. ha

Anyway, hang in there, as eventually we will get through this.

NG

 

I appreciate your reply -- sorry that you are going thru this as well. Yeah I really watch my diet as well. I exercise daily -i lift weights walk adn ride bikes, I juice, I fast, I dont smoke, drink, or drink coffee and yet im still going thru this. Its pretty discouraging.

 

I hate not being able to get out and get stuff done because i have to take it easy on the days where i dont sleep all night.

 

Im hoping this will end soon for both of us as well

 

Have a good day

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Hi, I want to give you hope :)

 

I am currently sleeping well with the aids of taking chinese medicine, chinese supplement and accupucture which help me to calm down and feel better .

 

 

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Hi, I want to give you hope :)

 

I am currently sleeping well with the aids of taking chinese medicine, chinese supplement and accupucture which help me to calm down and feel better .

 

what chinese supplements are you using? I am glad they are working for you. How does the acupuncture work for insomnia?

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ocean34, I am so sorry about this for you.  The sleepless nights are sooo long.  Dreadful.  I assume you've had a sleep study?  My sleep is improving and yoga near bedtime has been very helpful for me.

 

Kate    :smitten:

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ocean34, I am so sorry about this for you.  The sleepless nights are sooo long.  Dreadful.  I assume you've had a sleep study?  My sleep is improving and yoga near bedtime has been very helpful for me.

 

Kate    :smitten:

 

No, i havnt done a sleep study. I just dont trust doctors at all now since they were the ones that got me into this mess. Even if i had one and there was something wrong all they would do is prescribe some type of pill and I am not getting on another medicine.  Every doctor I have talked to about this withdrawal or getting off this medicine has basically been wrong.

 

 

 

I have been thinking about do some yoga --i read that it can help your brain. can it help sleep? It seems like it would wake you up with doing exercises before bed.

 

I will def look into that.

 

I was on this medicine for a very long time so i am hoping that i didnt do damage that is permanent

 

I hope your sleep gets better as well.

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I also thought yoga near bedtime would wake me up.  However, being desperate, I tried gentle chair yoga for 15-20 minutes at bedtime and to my astonishment, I was yawning halfway through. 
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Hi Ocean, yes, me too. I had two years of zero sleep. I ended up taking medical marijuana edibles to get sleep but in the morning they made me very groggy and worsened my already-horrific cognitive impairment and eventually I stopped. I am nearing 4 years off clonazepam and now I can vary from 3 hours sleep to 5 hours sleep (if I'm lucky) taking nothing. Even on nights I sleep, I wake up often and for long stretches. I occasionally have days where I am not really functional due to poor sleep and the headaches, fatigue and general malaise it causes.

 

Some nights I join a meditation group through Meet-up and I notice it helps. Something about calming the brainwaves gets me prepared for sleep, I guess.

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I also thought yoga near bedtime would wake me up.  However, being desperate, I tried gentle chair yoga for 15-20 minutes at bedtime and to my astonishment, I was yawning halfway through.

 

Well ill certainly look into it then -- Ill try anything that might help me get my sleep back!

 

 

Thanks for the info  :)

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Hi Ocean, yes, me too. I had two years of zero sleep. I ended up taking medical marijuana edibles to get sleep but in the morning they made me very groggy and worsened my already-horrific cognitive impairment and eventually I stopped. I am nearing 4 years off clonazepam and now I can vary from 3 hours sleep to 5 hours sleep (if I'm lucky) taking nothing. Even on nights I sleep, I wake up often and for long stretches. I occasionally have days where I am not really functional due to poor sleep and the headaches, fatigue and general malaise it causes.

 

Some nights I join a meditation group through Meet-up and I notice it helps. Something about calming the brainwaves gets me prepared for sleep, I guess.

 

 

You sound exactly like me. I still get the zero nights but they are not as often as i had in the first 2 years.  The last month or two I have been lucky to get 3 hours. Like you, when i do sleep i wake up all night long. I usually do breathing exercises to get myself back to sleep. This stuff just seems to go on and on.

 

Thank you for the reply I hope you heal soon!

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I took my last dose of Ambien on May 15, 2015 and experienced sleep problems until as recently as last Christmas. The first few years where pretty rough and last couple were up and down, but now I fall asleep very fast every night and seldom experience the multiple wakeups that I grew so used to. I assume that I am now pretty much healed from my very long protracted withdrawal insomnia.
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I also want to add that true zero nights are much more rare than we all believe. It is a question of sleep perception. You can repeatedly nod off for short duration sleeps and be completely unaware of it, but these short sleeps can actually sustain you. Last November I decided to get a sleep study done just in case apnea was playing a role in my sleep problems. I was dead certain that I did not sleep a wink and finally gave up after 5 hours and went home. The study results indicated a total of 76 minutes of sleep did take place (but no apnea). Also, my wife used to tell me that I was snoring when I thought that I was wide awake. Hopefully knowing this will make some of you feel a little better about your perceived lack of sleep.
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I also want to add that true zero nights are much more rare than we all believe. It is a question of sleep perception. You can repeatedly nod off for short duration sleeps and be completely unaware of it, but these short sleeps can actually sustain you. Last November I decided to get a sleep study done just in case apnea was playing a role in my sleep problems. I was dead certain that I did not sleep a wink and finally gave up after 5 hours and went home. The study results indicated a total of 76 minutes of sleep did take place (but no apnea). Also, my wife used to tell me that I was snoring when I thought that I was wide awake. Hopefully knowing this will make some of you feel a little better about your perceived lack of sleep.

 

Thank you for sharing this, AlohafromHawaii. I love hearing about data on this topic. I have heard it called micro sleep and I agree, our perception is off a bit when it comes to "Zero" sleep except for perhaps during the acute phase, where I really was staring at the ceiling in full terror for weeks. But later, as I slightly calmed down but still felt like I was getting no sleep, I am open to the idea that part of my brain went to sleep while other parts were on hyper-alert. I know my perception is still off, and some nights while I feel like I only slept a mere three hours, perhaps I really slept more, but it is hard to keep track of without a sleep tracker.

 

And then, Last night I probably slept 4 hours but my head hurts so much it feels like I slept 2!

 

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I am glad for these comments beings insomnia has been with me since 2017. I thought of trying CBD and with some THC, but am also worried about the cognitive impairment, so for now, I won't give that a try.

 

The gentle chair yoga sounds worth trying at bedtime.

 

The sleep study done by alohafromhawaii, was interesting. I've noticed lately that what seems like a dream occurs when I am still awake, lying in bed. It is just a snippet, but still there.  Perhaps I am getting more sleep than the hour or two that I am aware of.

 

Since I had total knee replacement surgery, my sleep has gone away and not yet come back. I had a couple of night's sleep when I first stated taking oxycodone, but that went away on the 3rd night. I tapered off of the oxy as quickly as I could.  Since then, I've had another maybe two nights of 4-5 hours. 

 

If aloha healed after long term benzos, hopefully I will, too.

NG

 

 

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I am glad for these comments beings insomnia has been with me since 2017. I thought of trying CBD and with some THC, but am also worried about the cognitive impairment, so for now, I won't give that a try.

 

The gentle chair yoga sounds worth trying at bedtime.

 

The sleep study done by alohafromhawaii, was interesting. I've noticed lately that what seems like a dream occurs when I am still awake, lying in bed. It is just a snippet, but still there.  Perhaps I am getting more sleep than the hour or two that I am aware of.

 

Since I had total knee replacement surgery, my sleep has gone away and not yet come back. I had a couple of night's sleep when I first stated taking oxycodone, but that went away on the 3rd night. I tapered off of the oxy as quickly as I could.  Since then, I've had another maybe two nights of 4-5 hours. 

 

If aloha healed after long term benzos, hopefully I will, too.

NG

 

NG, there is no reason to think that you won't heal, in fact I believe that when this is all over you will be a better sleeper than back before you were prescribed these meds for sleep. BTW, whenever I took any opioid pain meds during my withdrawal it was followed by an extra bad period of sleep.

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I took my last dose of Ambien on May 15, 2015 and experienced sleep problems until as recently as last Christmas. The first few years where pretty rough and last couple were up and down, but now I fall asleep very fast every night and seldom experience the multiple wakeups that I grew so used to. I assume that I am now pretty much healed from my very long protracted withdrawal insomnia.

 

Thats great to hear you made it thru! Im going on three years from my bout with ambien. Did you take any supplements at all during your post acute phase?

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I took my last dose of Ambien on May 15, 2015 and experienced sleep problems until as recently as last Christmas. The first few years where pretty rough and last couple were up and down, but now I fall asleep very fast every night and seldom experience the multiple wakeups that I grew so used to. I assume that I am now pretty much healed from my very long protracted withdrawal insomnia.

 

Thats great to hear you made it thru! Im going on three years from my bout with ambien. Did you take any supplements at all during your post acute phase?

 

I did, and still do, take L-Tryptophan before bed and will sometimes take 10 mg. of time-released melatonin.

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alohafromhawaii, I appreciate the words of encouragement. This does give me hope. The sleep study was so interesting in that it showed you were sleeping, even though you felt you had not. That is probably what is going on with many of us, who think we do not sleep much throughout the night. I can only hope.

The knee surgeon did comment on how did I keep going on so little sleep. I wonder the same thing. Hopefully I am getting an hour or more sleep than I actually realize.

On another note, I may try taking L-Tryptophan before bed, as well as the time-released melatonin. Any particular brand?

Thanks!

NG

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alohafromhawaii, I appreciate the words of encouragement. This does give me hope. The sleep study was so interesting in that it showed you were sleeping, even though you felt you had not. That is probably what is going on with many of us, who think we do not sleep much throughout the night. I can only hope.

The knee surgeon did comment on how did I keep going on so little sleep. I wonder the same thing. Hopefully I am getting an hour or more sleep than I actually realize.

On another note, I may try taking L-Tryptophan before bed, as well as the time-released melatonin. Any particular brand?

Thanks!

NG

 

I don't pay attention to a particular brand. To be honest, I am not sure how much these supplements helped me beyond a placebo effect when I was deeper in withdrawal, but now that I seem to be healed they knock me right out. Once healed, they are probably good at addressing any lingering sleep issues that may have led to using the benzos and z-drugs to start with.

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Me , I started taper of a really huge amount 2/2014 and finished 12/18 and  was still EXTREMELY bad for 6 months after , I have had very bad insomnia ever since . Last month I finally went back to a cannabis edible and sleep much better. My therapist and my family pretty much intervened , this was bad . I just could not go on like that . I was 3-4 hour nights . I dont take any other meds . I walk 6 miles daily and practice with my horses and still .... I am 2.5 years totally off
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I took my last dose of Ambien on May 15, 2015 and experienced sleep problems until as recently as last Christmas. The first few years where pretty rough and last couple were up and down, but now I fall asleep very fast every night and seldom experience the multiple wakeups that I grew so used to. I assume that I am now pretty much healed from my very long protracted withdrawal insomnia.

 

well i hope at some point i start falling asleep easily and I am glad that you are healed. Maybe this will start coming to an end for me at some point

 

Tonight I am up again having panic attacks and not sleeping at all its like 5 am and I havnt slept any. Wish me luck

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I am glad for these comments beings insomnia has been with me since 2017. I thought of trying CBD and with some THC, but am also worried about the cognitive impairment, so for now, I won't give that a try.

 

The gentle chair yoga sounds worth trying at bedtime.

 

The sleep study done by alohafromhawaii, was interesting. I've noticed lately that what seems like a dream occurs when I am still awake, lying in bed. It is just a snippet, but still there.  Perhaps I am getting more sleep than the hour or two that I am aware of.

 

Since I had total knee replacement surgery, my sleep has gone away and not yet come back. I had a couple of night's sleep when I first stated taking oxycodone, but that went away on the 3rd night. I tapered off of the oxy as quickly as I could.  Since then, I've had another maybe two nights of 4-5 hours. 

 

If aloha healed after long term benzos, hopefully I will, too.

NG

 

 

I hope you do as well, and i will say a prayer for you. Getting thru this stuff is very hard. I wish you luck in healing

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Me , I started taper of a really huge amount 2/2014 and finished 12/18 and  was still EXTREMELY bad for 6 months after , I have had very bad insomnia ever since . Last month I finally went back to a cannabis edible and sleep much better. My therapist and my family pretty much intervened , this was bad . I just could not go on like that . I was 3-4 hour nights . I dont take any other meds . I walk 6 miles daily and practice with my horses and still .... I am 2.5 years totally off

 

You didnt have any problems with cannabis edibles? Doesnt this affect the gaba receptors like benzos do? I know that a year ago I had 1/4 of a glass of wine and it really messed with my head -- you dont having any prblems like this with cannabis?

 

I know what you are talking about with not being able to go on like this -- I am not getting sleep but i have to get up and get things done and deal with real life problems. My brain never gets a chance to rest and its just wearing me down.

 

I hope you get better and start healing soon.  :)

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Me , I started taper of a really huge amount 2/2014 and finished 12/18 and  was still EXTREMELY bad for 6 months after , I have had very bad insomnia ever since . Last month I finally went back to a cannabis edible and sleep much better. My therapist and my family pretty much intervened , this was bad . I just could not go on like that . I was 3-4 hour nights . I dont take any other meds . I walk 6 miles daily and practice with my horses and still .... I am 2.5 years totally off

 

You didnt have any problems with cannabis edibles? Doesnt this affect the gaba receptors like benzos do? I know that a year ago I had 1/4 of a glass of wine and it really messed with my head -- you dont having any prblems like this with cannabis?

 

I know what you are talking about with not being able to go on like this -- I am not getting sleep but i have to get up and get things done and deal with real life problems. My brain never gets a chance to rest and its just wearing me down.

 

I hope you get better and start healing soon.  :)

 

Hi ,

Actally reading about that here ( affecting the gaba receptors) is what made me stay away for so long but then we were talking about this in the Cannabis support thread here also because it was a terrible fear of mine  and that there is little to no effect on them actually and its different from the benzos .  That many many things including excersize  and breathing certain kinds of airborne pollution is GABAgernic ( sp) .

 

  I smoked 6 TONS of Indica to get down off this mess and in acute had to slam on the brakes and go without anything , my body  just broke in acute . But now I am mircrodosing , you can google that and also go to you tube to learn about microdosing , there is alot of educational stuff out there to learn about it. People are doing that now instead of just getting blitzed .

 

    I am using an edible thats 2.5 mgs of THC and 1mg CBN NOT CBD,, CBD had never done anything for me . Anyway I only use it at night to relax , I cannot even feel it , I just fall asleep , I dont really even feel sleepy and I wake up fine . I do wake up in the night  still , so I am not dead asleep but I am able to put myself back to sleep again and many nights now I dont need anything .

I have had moderate cognitive issues  since really the last months of taper  with pretty severe amnesia.  Still I really struggle to remember alot still and this has had no effect on that  , I have motor skill issues also and that also stays the same .

 

Since I am able to sleep better my days are not just filled with fear about the coming night and I seem to feel just a whole lot better overall . I am not just out of it in the morning at all but I had started to get very VERY black thoughts ( you know ) for some reason with the insomnia and that needed to come to an end .

Go check out the cannabis thread in the More Support section of the forum it has alot of very useful information .

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