Fall asleep fast but wake up multiple times a night with anxiety

This has been the most persistent symptom. Early after CT I would wake up with adrenalin/cortisol rushes jolting me awake. Now, almost 2 months later, I fall asleep ok, but then wake up several times a night and then fall into a very light sleep with occasional dreams. Every time I wake up, I feel physical anxiety — chest pressure, weird hand sensations, fear. It’s not as bad as a cortisol jolt but it’s still very annoying. Every episode of waking it just gets worse until I can’t fall asleep anymore. Luckily that happens at a relatively normal time. I just miss normal sleep and waking up with an alarm for once. Anyone experienced this? Any advice on how to help?

I am now in month four post CT from very short usage.  I experience exactly the same of frequent awakenings after falling asleep quickly.  However, I am able to fall back to light sleep with dreams that I remember in the morning.  I don’t have the anxiety part as perhaps my acceptance of all of this has helped me not fear broken sleep.  Little by little my REM and Deep Sleep is returning where I am averaging 3 hours total of REM and deep combined.  The one symptom that has increased is the severity of my headaches.  Tinnitus is still somewhat mild.  I am not looking for 100% healing until a couple more months based on others that have gone on this journey before me with a similar profile.

My sleep stats according to Oura Ring:

 

REM daily average:

September: 1h 23m

October: 1h 31m

 

Deep daily average:

September: 2h 31m

October: 2h 31m

 

Although week by week, my deep sleep is trending down.

 

Technically speaking, things are looking good, but still kinda shitty at the same time. Oh well.

The most deep sleep that I have had is 1.40 a night  and my REM is all over the place.  I fall sleep quickly and the first time I wake up is one hour later.  Than pretty much every hour after that.  At 3 am, I feel the most awake but am able to get some more REM in before waking up at 6 am.  I always feel rested - even during the first two weeks when I was getting zero sleep.  Now if only these headaches would go away.  They started out mild for about four hours a day, and now I get stabs of much pronounced headaches that come and go quickly.

This has been the most persistent symptom. Early after CT I would wake up with adrenalin/cortisol rushes jolting me awake. Now, almost 2 months later, I fall asleep ok, but then wake up several times a night and then fall into a very light sleep with occasional dreams. Every time I wake up, I feel physical anxiety — chest pressure, weird hand sensations, fear. It’s not as bad as a cortisol jolt but it’s still very annoying. Every episode of waking it just gets worse until I can’t fall asleep anymore. Luckily that happens at a relatively normal time. I just miss normal sleep and waking up with an alarm for once. Anyone experienced this? Any advice on how to help?

 

You're only 3 months off.  Acute WD can last 30 - 90 days for most.

Everything you are experiencing is "normal" at 2 months out

It takes time and more time to get your sleep back

The only problem is that it plays out on it's own timeline.  No one knows how long that will be as it's unique to each person

I hardly got any sleep the first 9 - 10 months after my CT

Compared to me, you are doing great

Just be thankful and grateful for any and all sleep

I'm five years off and still get nights where I wake up several times but can fall back to sleep again

You'll get there.

I'm wondering if flumazenil could help.

 

Unfortunately there is just one hospital in my country for benzo detox with flumazenil. And they admit people who takes at least 5 times a day the therapeutic dosage / 50mg daily of diazepam equivalent.

Maybe, but I doubt it.  I went to Dr.  Coleman, the Coleman Institute for his Flumazenil treatment in Sept. 2016 and still had a ton of symptoms and terrible sleep afterwards.  If it did shorten my WD, I'd have no way to know.  I heard one person saying it worked for them?  The issue now is finding a place to will do this?  Insurance wouldn't pay for mine so I spent $6,500 out of pocket.

 

I didn't get admitted 5 times per day or even one time.  It was done in a clinic.  I had a larger sized needed (IV) connected to a pump inserted into the fatty area of my abdomen and that slowly administered the flumazenil day and night.  I had to wear the pump or carrying it around.  It was battery operated.  I had to go back one time per day to have it checked or have more flumazenil added.  It was 6 days of slowly getting injected.  Then I was given flumazenil cream from a compounding pharmacy to rub into my skin for the next 2 months.

 

I had to fly from Wisconsin to Virginia for the treatment.  They no longer provide that treatment at the Virginia location (Richmond).

 

Good luck

I meant to say that you should be on high dosage to be admitted for detoxification: 5 times the prescribed one.

They treat using flumazenil people which take 50-100mg of diazepam daily, 5 zolpidem or more, etc. Patients should stay inside the hospital on average for a week or a little bit more. Flumazenil is administered subcutaneously.

 

It seems the treatment reactivate a little bit GABA receptors, expecially in (very) high dosage patients.

 

 

 

In my case, considering the tiny dose and duration, I’m hoping to just push through this with sleep hygiene alone for now and maybe some melatonin there and there.

 

The other weird thing is that I get anxiety/fear/numbness when I attempt to sleep on the side now. I’m a lifelong side sleeper. And I just switched to sleeping on my back because of this!