Almost 3 years off and it still takes me 4 hours to fall asleep

How long do you sleep for after you fall asleep?

In order to fall asleep, your sleep drive and circadian rhythm need to be in sync.

Maybe try going to bed later?

As a side note, and not trying to "school" people, but according to sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus, your Circadian Rhythm and Sleep Drive (a lot like hunger) need to be in sync in order for sleep to occur.

When a cell in your body "eats" a piece of glucose something comes out the back end and that's adenosine.  As adenosine works its way through your blood stream, it goes into one particular spot in your brain with particular receptor sites.  As these receptor sites receive or fill up with more and more adenosine, you usually get more and more sleepy.  This is your Sleep Drive.  When adenosine binds to its receptors, neural activity slows down, and you feel sleepy

The molecular structure of adenosine and caffeine are only off by one molecule!  So caffeine fits perfectly into that same receptor site in your brain and blocks adenosine from attaching and making you sleepy.  That's why caffeine keeps you awake.  And that's why many get a "caffeine crash" or feel tired and sleepy after the caffeine they consumed leaves the receptor sites and adenosine comes rushing back in.

Sleep Drive isn't the only system for sleep.  You also have your Circadian Rhythm.  Just like most people tend to get hungry around breakfast, lunch and dinner time, most people start to get sleepy around 10:00 - 11:00 pm at night.  Some earlier, some later, but regardless this is your Rhythm.

When your Sleep Drive is high and your Rhythm is locked, sleep occurs fairly easy.

However, if either one of these (Drive or Rhythm) is off, you can have a sleep disorder.

You can have a high sleep drive but an "out of sync" Rhythm or vice versa.  Then sleep is hard to come by.

You can get in bed and feel exhausted (high sleep drive) but your Rhythm is off so it's hard to fall asleep!

Adenosine binds to G protein-coupled receptors in your brain. There are four known types of adenosine receptors in humans: A1, A2A, A2B and A3

Adenosine binds best to A1 receptors.

Benzodiazepine treatment may diminish A1- receptor binding in-vivo by inhibiting adenosine uptake or by direct occupancy of the A1 adenosine receptor recognition site. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1359103/)

This could explain how Benzos induce insomnia along with down regulated GABA receptors!

How long do you sleep for after you fall asleep?

 

In order to fall asleep, your sleep drive and circadian rhythm need to be in sync.

 

Maybe try going to bed later?

Once I fall asleep I can sleep as long as I want.

So you have sleep onset insomnia...

CBT-I should help that?

Many on this insomnia board wish they had your "problem falling asleep" instead of getting very little or no sleep!  Just sayin!

Good luck!

How long do you sleep for after you fall asleep?

 

In order to fall asleep, your sleep drive and circadian rhythm need to be in sync.

 

Maybe try going to bed later?

 

Once I fall asleep I can sleep as long as I want.

Search all my posts. I think they will help you.

So you have sleep onset insomnia...

 

CBT-I should help that?

 

Many on this insomnia board wish the had your "problem falling asleep" instead of getting very little or no sleep!  Just sayin!

 

Good luck!

Yeah I get that, but I went a couple years where I couldn't sleep also, so it does get better. good luck and thanks

So you have sleep onset insomnia...

 

CBT-I should help that?

 

Many on this insomnia board wish the had your "problem falling asleep" instead of getting very little or no sleep!  Just sayin!

 

Good luck!

True!

It is so good to see that it does get better over time. I took 6 months to go from 4mg Xanax to zero and I have been off for 2 weeks. My sleep got better a couple months ago and I was able to sleep several 7 and 8 hour nights but now I am back to 3 hours. I can't wait until I consistently get 6+ hours like some of you who have gotten your sleep back.

Like I said, I really appreciate hearing that it does get better. I have had several other symptoms resolve over the months. What a ROUGH ride it was! I am still anxious too. I can't wait for the anxiety to go away, if it is ever going to.

HM

Yes, sleep evens out over time for almost everyone! 

For the few that still have insomnia after getting off of Benzos, it's almost always because they had insomnia prior to Benzos and insomnia is why they went on Benzos in the first place.

And they usually just have bouts of insomnia, not insomnia all the time.  They get periods of time (weeks and months) of good sleep and then maybe a stretch of poor sleep for a day or even a week or two.

Remember that healing and recovering from Benzos doesn't heal preexisting conditions!  Although most of the time you're in a better position to deal with them as you learned coping techniques and skills to deal with them better during your WD?

Theway,

  I was taking benzo's to help me sleep but before I needed benzo's to help me sleep, I was getting 8 hours a night. 15 years ago, before my divorce, I could sleep 8+ hours without even taking melatonin. I take melatonin every night and I have for 15 years, even through my taper. I also take diphenhydramine, even though I know it stops working for people. A big part of my stress is financial. If I get this new job and start making good money, I will probably sleep better.  I still can't believe I am OFF Xanax! Geeez! What a miserable ride that was and I still have the insomnia! So, my natural sleep is 8+ hours but I was not sleeping well when I started on Xanax, so i don't know what I will end up with.

Speaking of sleep, it's time for me to go to bed. Wish me luck!

HM

HM