Hi, folks—and hi, [...], and sorry I didn’t respond sooner to your question! A little while ago I wrote a long reply, not realizing that my session had expired while I was writing, so I lost the whole thing when I tried to post it. Maybe that’s a sign that the shorter answer is better, so here it is.
From when I “jumped” (in late August, I think, of 2012), it took about a year for me to gain back most of the fifteen pounds clonazepam had caused me to lose needlessly and for no obvious reason, and to return to what felt like full normalcy; but it took only a few weeks, or maybe a month, to reach the point of “bearable,” when I was sleeping two or three hours a night—at that point, even two or three hours felt luxurious!—and was more stable emotionally. Now I usually sleep between seven and nine hours a night, which still strikes me as nothing short of miraculous, since I remember only too well the hell of no-sleep or fake sleep.
The thing that, hands-down, helped me the most in getting unhooked from clonazepam (besides the devoted support of my husband, sister, and my then ninety-year-old father, who lovingly called me every single night to see how I was) was mindfulness meditation. I can’t emphasize this enough. The medical-industrial complex had totally betrayed me, leaving me in a state of the most furious rage I have ever felt. Mindfulness meditation was entirely gentle, non-invasive, non-addictive, and effective.
The things that best helped me learn to sleep again were what I called “the three M’s”: milk (warmed), melatonin (3mg at most, and not every night), and a sleep mask.
There were minor setbacks, like when I had a glass of champagne New Year’s Eve, which I paid for in aching joints and a wobbly emotional state for a couple of days afterward. For the most part, for a full year, I avoided “substances,” everything from caffeine and alcohol to most supplements (excluding calcium with vitamin-D and, as mentioned, melatonin). Then I was gradually able to reintroduce things I liked or felt I needed.
There it is, the short answer, which I should also qualify with the observation that others on these boards are up against challenges tougher than what I faced, with regard either to chronic pain or to dependence on these medications, or both. So I submit this with humble acknowledgment of how easy I had it, in comparison to some.
Please do feel free to use this in any way you see fit. And, as ever, my hopes for comfort and recovery to everyone still struggling. Wishing you all courage!
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