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2 month insomnia , how to cope ?


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I have this insomnia now for like 2 months , its very bad my sleep is super fragmented and I sleep max 2 hours a night with 20 minutes episodes very often .

Is it normal to have this long insomnia ? Its driving me crazy .  Today is especially a bad day , I sleept max 1 hour last night . 

It is rly hard to focus on anything right now , as these extra bad days gave me a horrible nerve pain .

 

How do you cope with this ?

- Do you take naps during the day if you can ? I feel if I could get an 1 hour nap would be good , but obviously I cant fall asleep when I try .

- Do you exercise ?  It feels so unnatural to exercise , as I feel a zombie but would it help ?

 

 

What other techniques would you recommend that helped for you ?

Maybe some breathing techniques or other things to relax .

 

This makes me fear that something bad is going to happen if my sleep wont get fixed .

How was the longest you had insomnia for , with very minimal sleep ?

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Unfortunately there isn't much you can do for Benzo-induced insomnia. 

 

Benzos temporarily break your "sleep switch."

 

It's more about coping, than what you can do to get extra sleep. 

 

I say that because there really isn't anything you can do (short of another Rx drug) to get some sleep.

 

And since you are still on Benzos, your sleep will not even out until you are completely off.

 

Many on this forum (myself included) had severe insomnia.  I had around 70 zero nights over a 9-10 month period of time.  I averaged 5-10 hours of sleep per week for months.

Sleep will return (slowly, and it will be very UP and down until it evens out) after you are completely off of the K-pin

 

Read this post, it has answers to all of your questions:  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=235100.0

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Hey way !

Ahh sorry my signature is not updated .

I am 8-9 months off .

 

Had no sypmtons at all when I stopped.

And now this insomnia is killing me , not even had it during wd . It cousing me all kind of daily issues bad concentration and lethargy . Also fear , 2 months feels crazy to me .

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Potzz,

 

Ashton says insomnia usually resolves in 6-12 months from the onset of it.  Some people take less time some people take more time.

 

That doesn't mean your sleep is terrible for the entire time and then one day it gets better.  It's a very non linear process.  You could get some decent sleep for a day, a few days or even weeks, but then get hit with insomnia again for days or weeks. 

 

There is no rhyme or reason to this process and to how insomnia plays out

 

My worst sleep started about 3 months after my CT

 

Lack of sleep truly is the worst symptom IMO, but you can get through this, I did, and so did many others.

 

I never thought I'd make it out of the insomnia nightmare I was in.

 

Try to focus on and be grateful for any amount of sleep you get. 

Try not to talk about sleep (or lack of) with anyone

Accept the fact that the insomnia might last for some time

Don't reach for any more Benzos for sleep

 

If you have to take something, some people have has success with low dose Mirtazapine, Seroquel or Trazodone?

I am not advocating drugs, but just putting that out there as non-Benzo alternatives, but they could have their own WD?

 

What to expect:

 

1) Lots of very little or no sleep for an extended period of time. Not sure how long that will be, but Ashton says at least 6-12 months for most.  Some 12-24, and a small percentage 24 months or longer.

2) Drugs are a dead end road.  Drugs = artificial sleep.  Tolerance is reached in X amount of time (different for everyone) then the dose must be increased for the drug to have the same effect.  That is why you should try to avoid all Rx drugs, not just Benzos.  All of them have side effects and possible withdrawal?

3) Natural supplements are also not advised either.  Why?  You emotionally and physically convince your already weakened brain that it must take something in order to sleep.  I know...easy for me to say now that I sleep pretty well most nights.  I tried them all too and they didn't help much early on or later during my withdrawal.  There is also new research regarding melatonin, it is actually a hormone that the body produces and daily supplementation could lead to the body not producing it any longer.  It is meant to reset your internal clock and is designed for short-term use only.

3) Benzos are short-term use only drugs (2 - 3 weeks max) that doctors love to prescribe for whatever length of time as most don't know about withdrawal or even acknowledge it exists.  Benzos shut down or suppress your Gabba receptors in your brain; what helps you remain calm and relaxed.  When those stop working, Glutamate takes over and it is what makes you active and alert.  That is why you can't sleep.  Your sleep switch is broken.  It takes time for your sleep switch to fix itself.  Unfortunately it is not like breaking a leg or arm where healing times are pretty consistent.  See #1 above for time.

4) Most people won't understand what you are going through, even your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, family, etc.  Outward you look normal, inward you are messed up, but they can't see that.  They might have a hard time understanding, accepting or even having sympathy for you.

5) It gets better over time.  Time allows your brain to "learn" how to sleep again on its own, without any type of drug or supplement.  All brains heal...just as drugs affect all of us differently, all brains heal at different speeds.  That is why some people can be on a Benzo for 10 years or longer before they reach tolerance and some people never go through withdrawal; however, almost everyone experiences some form of insomnia.

6) The amount of time you were on Benzos does not = how fast you will recover.  In some cases it does, but for others it does not.  I was on Benzos for 6 months and recovered fairly quickly, but others that were on only a few weeks took longer to recover.

7) Recovery will be up and down, like the stock market (well maybe that's not a good example as it has been doing well this past year) but you can expect to have some good days and bad days with the good days eventually becoming more frequent than the bad days and finally becoming almost or all goods days over time.

8) Immediately after going Benzo free, either through a proper taper or cold turkey, you will most likely experience "acute withdrawal" a period of usually 30 - 90 days of intense withdrawal symptoms and lack of any real sleep.  I went 4 days without any sleep after I went cold turkey on a doctor's advice.

9) Things slowly get better, usually you will notice a difference by month 6.  But it is slow.  Sort of like how we transition from summer to winter and back again...the days get longer and shorter very gradually.

10) Windows and Waves. Windows are good periods where your symptoms reduce or go away and you feel better.  Waves are crummy periods where your symptoms are at their worst and you feel like crap and sleep sucks.  Most people alternate between Windows and Waves until eventually the Windows last longer than the Waves and the Waves mostly or completely disappear over time.

11) When sleep starts to return, it will be light and broken (you will wake up a lot) and most people experience REM REBOUND or lots of dreams.  Later on your sleep will slowly turn to deeper sleep with less dreams and longer periods of sleep before waking up.

 

What you can do:

 

1) Be as POSITIVE as you can be given the crappy circumstances.  Try to laugh if you can.

2) DISTRACT yourself as much as possible.  Focus on anything that gives you enjoyment.  Don't focus on NEGATIVE things or hang around NEGATIVE people

3) Do not try to FORCE yourself to sleep.  It is not possible.  You cannot make yourself sleep no matter how hard you try.  It happens naturally when you are relaxed and NOT thinking about it.

4) ACCEPT (very hard to do for most) your situation and know that there is an end to it, it won't last forever.  It is only TEMPORARY!

5) Try not to CARE if you Sleep or Not.  When you stop caring if you sleep or not, it will slowly start to return.  Again, difficult to do, but others that have regular insomnia not caused by drug withdrawal cured their insomnia by not giving a rat's butt if they slept or not.  Takes time, is difficult to do, but works for most.

6) Eat Healthy, Drink lots of water, Exercise even if you don't feel like it or think that you can do it because you are too tired.  Also, be careful with caffeine.  Caffeine is a stimulant.  Some folks have no issues drinking coffee or soda during withdrawal; others are affected by it.

7) Be careful with supplements.  Some may excite your already sensitive nervous system. Some worked for me.  Mostly Green powders for a shake.  Again, try some experimentation to see how you are affected.

8) Pray.  Some of you may not be a "believer" in God, but prayer works.

9) Maybe take a break from this site for awhile, when you can, and it works for you.  This site is a tremendous help for many, but I found myself making other people's recovery process and experience my own.  I took about a 5 month break and did an amazing amount of recovery during that time.  I came back as I promised to help others get through withdrawal and because I don't think people should go through this ordeal alone.

10) ACCEPT the RECOVERY PROCESS and don't put a time frame on it for getting better.  For example, don't expect to get better by month 8 because someone else did.  In the same light, don't expect it to take 5 years or longer either, as it may have for a very small percentage of people on this site.

11) Seek counseling when beneficial and affordable.  It helped me cope when I was at my worst.

12) Be THANKFUL for any sleep you do get.  Some light sleep is better than no sleep.  Practice GRATITUDE for whatever you can in your life.

 

Final parting words:

 

You don't have FATAL Insomnia.  I thought I did, many others did/do too.  You don't have that, it's all withdrawal.  Lack of sleep will NOT kill you.  A drive by shooting could, but sleep deprivation will not!

You often get more sleep than you think, even microsleep (that most are unaware of) helps keep you going when insomnia is at its worst.

If you can't sleep, just lay in bed and do your best to relax.  Laying still can still help your body recover a little versus getting up and doing something or freaking out over the fact that you are not sleeping.

Even after you recover, expect some "off" or "bad" nights of sleep from time to time.

Never take another Benzo, ever, don't keep any in your house and don't see a doctor that will write you another prescription.

Don't Google sleep related diseases or "possible" things that could happen to you from lack of sleep.  It only adds fuel to the already out of control fire in your mind.

Acupuncture did not work for me, neither did CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), sleep restriction, or other methods of "alternative" ways to help with sleep.  These might work for some people after their nervous system settles down?

There are not "magic" cures or special supplements you can take from some exotic land to get past recovery quicker.  I paid $7,000 to go to the Coleman Institute in Virginia to try his Flumazenil treatment for 1 week and that may have helped speed up my recovery but I have no way to know that and if it did work it certainly was not immediate.  Unfortunately the only way out is through the recovery process.  It is difficult and no fun at all, but you will get through it, eventually.

Read the Success Stories on this site for hope and encouragement.

Be mentally as STRONG as you can be and consider this a FIGHT.  FIGHT to get your "old" life back.  I was mentally SUPER WEAK after jumping CT.  I got a lot stronger mentally over time.

Be careful with ALCOHOL or anything containing alcohol as it acts on Gabba just like Benzos.  My advice would be to completely avoid all forms of alcohol including those in OTC remedies.

Most of the time, whatever you were experiencing or caused you to go on Benzos in the first place, is much easier to deal with.  If you started taking Benzos for sleep, then after recovery, you will typically have the tools and coping mechanisms to deal with a poor night of sleep much better than you did before you started taking Benzos and especially after you are healed.

Almost all of the people that suffered the most and had the worst insomnia on this site eventually healed to some degree.  Not always to 100%, but enough to lead an acceptable life.

This process will make you incredibly strong and make you grateful for each day.  You will have a newfound appreciation for life in general after you are healed.

 

Work to inform your doctors and health care providers that Benzo withdrawal is real.

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

3) Natural supplements are also not advised either.  Why?  You emotionally and physically convince your already weakened brain that it must take something in order to sleep.  I know...easy for me to say now that I sleep pretty well most nights.  I tried them all too and they didn't help much early on or later during my withdrawal.  There is also new research regarding melatonin, it is actually a hormone that the body produces and daily supplementation could lead to the body not producing it any longer.  It is meant to reset your internal clock and is designed for short-term use only.

 

Thank you for your excellent post which covers so much ground and is incredibly helpful! I have copied it all to keep in the folder I'm preparing for my friend and his parents in anticipation of him starting his taper.

 

On the topic of supplements has there been any noticeable success with taking magnesium to help sleep? A Functional Medicine practitioner friend recommended this to me, though not specifically for benzo tapering.

 

And is exercise (for those able to do it) a good idea? I'm, perhaps naively, imagining someone exercising so much they fall asleep simply out of exhaustion.

 

Many thanks again!

 

 

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Magnesium seems to work for some..I've never had much luck with it.  I trust functional and Natural Medicine doctors more than "traditional" doctors but my insurance won't pay for most of them. The only way to find out is to try it, but as I said, nothing short of another Rx drug will touch Benzo-induced insomnia for most?  It can't because nothing can heal or regrow damaged GABA receptors and that is what is causing the insomnia.

 

Exercise, while normally a good thing to do, can amp up symptoms and make sleep worse?  That's how it affected me.  I found that walking was much better than any type of strenuous exercise, including jogging, biking, swimming and weight lifting.  Today, after being fully healed, I am a gym rat and lift weights 6 days per week along with doing cardio 6 days per week.  The exercise I do now that I am healed, actually helps me sleep better.

 

Some people have no issue with light to moderate exercise during their taper and/or WD.  Again, the only way to find out is to try it.  Benzo induced insomnia produces an exhaustion sleep after days of getting very little sleep.  I know that sounds scary, but it's nice when those nights come after not sleeping for some time.

 

Also, regardless of what doctors or other medical professionals say, temporary lack of sleep will not kill you and it probably won't even make you sick.  Your brain and body will get all the sleep it needs until sleep evens out and "micro sleeps" will sustain you.  Even "sleep" doctors place unnecessary fear and anxiety on those going through Benzo WD by saying you need sleep or else...and that is simply not true.  Yes, it would be great to get better sleep, but until sleep returns, lack of it will most likely have no effect other than making you feel like crap?  Several times when colds and flu went through my house (late 2016 to early 2017) I never got sick, not even one time, even though I was probably averaging 15-20 hours of sleep per week over that entire time.

 

Good luck!

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3) Natural supplements are also not advised either.  Why?  You emotionally and physically convince your already weakened brain that it must take something in order to sleep.  I know...easy for me to say now that I sleep pretty well most nights.  I tried them all too and they didn't help much early on or later during my withdrawal.  There is also new research regarding melatonin, it is actually a hormone that the body produces and daily supplementation could lead to the body not producing it any longer.  It is meant to reset your internal clock and is designed for short-term use only.

 

Thank you for your excellent post which covers so much ground and is incredibly helpful! I have copied it all to keep in the folder I'm preparing for my friend and his parents in anticipation of him starting his taper.

 

On the topic of supplements has there been any noticeable success with taking magnesium to help sleep? A Functional Medicine practitioner friend recommended this to me, though not specifically for benzo tapering.

 

And is exercise (for those able to do it) a good idea? I'm, perhaps naively, imagining someone exercising so much they fall asleep simply out of exhaustion.

 

Many thanks again!

 

I think it's important to take magnesium if you can tolerate it.  But don't view it as a "sleep supplement".  Just take it for your health, preferable well before bedtime so you don't develop a sleep association. 

 

And nope, exercise does not work like that in withdrawal.  It increases stress hormones, so it can actually rev up symptoms.  Some people say it helps them, but I would be cautious.  Something like gentle yoga might be good, though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Potzz,

How is your insomnia? Is it getting any better? to answer your question about how long anyone has dealt with your level of insomnia, I started my taper May 1st, 2021 and immediately started having issues. From May1st to August 10th (3.5 months), I never slept more than 3 hours, except one night where I slept 4 hours. Most nights were around 2 hours, like you, and I was very grateful for the sleep that I got as I am sure you are.

It is interesting to me that you have been off for 9 months and are just now starting to deal with insomnia. I am not healed yet but there are several people on here who are and can testify to the fact that sleep will stabilize at 6+ hours a night, eventually. I read where one person actually sleeps 10 hours a night after battling with insomnia. I would love that! Let's hope we get there.

 

Happy New Year!

 

HM

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Hi HeartMost !

 

Thanks for the reply . Happy new year to you also .

I am still having issues with sleep.

Interestingly I had a super good rest on new year and a day after . Still the sleep was broken but it was easy to fall back .I was feeling super good afterwards during the day , Plenty of energy . And got some worse days now .

Started taking some fish oil which contains D vitamin . I think i am low on D . Also taking melatonin at night , but cant say its helping much .

Trying to bump my calcium levels also as i am allaregic to milk protein . Some people wrote both calcium and D vit def xan cause insomnia .

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Hi Potzz,

 

I am glad you got some good rest on New Years and the night after. That's awesome! My Christmas present was 8 hours of sleep that night. It was very nice. Hang in there. It will get better. Just the fact that you occasionally have some good nights is a good sign!

 

HM

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