HELP! INSOMNIA!

i started taking klonopin on february 10th, 2022, 0.5 to 1 mg because of a stressful situation in my life.

Early April, it stopped working and i started taking up to 2mg. When klonopin stopped working again,  i went to a facility, on April 20, 2022, where they detoxed me from klonopin in 4 days (basically c/t). After detox, i started not sleeping well. i re-started klonopin (max 1.5mg) on May 2nd, 2022, for 1 week,  and then decided to taper. i tapered in 3 weeks. i was insecure about my tapering, so after 4 days of stopping  i went to another detox facility (stupid of me) where they gave me another benzo for 5 days.

In the meantime, in March and April the psychiatrist had prescribed for my depression (which i believe klonopin caused) a lot of medication that made me have horrible side effects (zoloft, ability, trazedone, lamictal, prozac). i took them for a few days and was stopping due to side effects.

 

After the second detox, i stopped sleeping. i slept yesterday for about an hour, after 5 days of zero sleep, but i drank alcohol because i was desperate.

i am terrified that i will never sleep again! i cannot yawn, i cannot feel anything, i feel so awful!

I believe i caused permanent brain damage and i dont know what to do! now i have been reading the posts and i cannot believe that it might take months for my sleep to get back? how will I survive? please help me!

Hello benzo 119429553, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

 

Can you tell us, did you taper the last time you stopped Klonopin, were your previous detoxes in a medical setting?  Can you tell us what your last dose was, what you started from and how long it took you to benzo free?  Are you being medically supervised now?  Sorry for all of the questions, I'm just trying to get an idea of your situation.

 

We can help support you through this, being benzo free doesn't mean free from symptoms, recovery can take quite awhile so the more you learn, the less fear you'll have.

 

Please let us know a little more about your situation, in the meantime here are some resources.

 

Pamster

 

Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidelines

 

Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper)

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

The Ashton Manual

 

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support

 

detoxes were in a medical setting. i should have never started klonopin again after the first detox.

then i tapered by myself and went again to the medical detox.

i came out detox June 7th. they used serax.

my psychiatrist laughs when i tell her that my insomnia is from the withdrawal and says i do it to myself by being anxious!

so to make things clearer, i started klonopin february 22, and stopped june 7 2022. in these 4 months, 2 detoxes and 1 taper before last detox. i hope i did not confuse you.

last dose of klonopin was on May 29, 2022.

last dose of serax was on June 7, 2022.

Thank you for giving us more information, and your insomnia is definitely a withdrawal symptom, I find it cruel your doctor laughed at your misery. 

 

Detoxes can get you safely off the drug but they can't speed up your recovery, the brain has to take the time it needs to repair the damage done by the drug.  You mention they used Serax in the detox to get you off of the Klonopin, this is also a benzodiazepine!  They used a benzo to taper you from a benzo which is ridiculous, did they taper you off of the Serax or have you stop it cold turkey?

 

I'm glad you're not planning to take the drug again, there is something called kindling which has been studied extensively with alcohol but not as much for benzo's but since alcohol and benzo's work on the same receptors in the brain, we believe it fits our situation.  Here are two definitions just so you can be fully informed so as not to find yourself here again.

 

Kindling - The Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices

https://benzoreform.org/kindling/

 

Kindling - Benzodiazepine Information Coalition

https://www.benzoinfo.com/kindling/

 

they gave me serax for 4 days, 90 mg, 60mg, 30 mg , 30 mg and then stopped.

i read about kindling and i am so scared now!

There is no reason to be scared, kindling won't prevent you from recovering but I hope being informed about it will help you make an educated decision about taking benzo's in the future.

 

Thanks for letting us know about the protocol being used in the detox you went to, interesting approach.

Hi benzo 119429553 and welcome....

 

You can expect to feel bad for a while. Your CNS is still raw.

 

Is sleeping the main thing you are having issues with? Are you having other bothersome sxs? I know how desperate and hopeless this process can make you feel, but try to stay away from using alcohol to cope. It will only make things worse.

 

What you need now is some time off the drug. I know this is easier said than done when you are in this acute phase.

 

 

Thank you!

Insomnia started a while ago, while i became tolerant, but i could sleep a few hours.. now its no sleep..

i also get anxiety and headaches.. pressure in my head.. i also feel wired up all the time, and have no feelings at all..

i am afraid that i damaged my brain permanently..

Thank you for the support..

Exhausted but wired, feeling dead inside is miserable I know but totally normal and you're not permanently damaged, recovery is possible, it just takes too long. 

 

This is a post about insomnia and there are some great tips but bottom line is acceptance.  The more we chase sleep the more elusive it become so letting go and accepting it is key. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=235100.0

I know the feeling friend and how horrible you feel ATM, but please try to hang on and keep using this online forum as a therapeutic tool. We all get how you are currently feeling here. The good news is that you were not a long-termer.

 

You said>>>

i started taking klonopin on february 10th, 2022, 0.5 to 1 mg because of a stressful situation in my life.

 

Has this stressful situation completely resolved itself? How were you feeling during this stressful period that made you seek medical help before you were even prescribed the klonopin?

the situation resolved and now i am stuck with all the withdrawal symptoms. i cut down all sugar meats, etc and started a diet with just salads for 5 days, apples for 3 and then 1-3 days no food or water. the holistic doctor said that this will help the withdrawal symptoms and the brain to heal faster. hopefully!

Have you been on this type of diet before, do you know how well you do with it?  I ask because I would hate to see you reacting negatively when you've got so much going on.  Members have come up with all sorts of diets to help in the withdrawal and recovery process and I haven't really seen a consensus as to what is the best so my suggestion is to eat healthy to keep up your strength, get light exercise if you can and even if you can't sleep, try to rest.

holistic doctor said it will help to get rid of my body of the heavy metals from the benzo and the toxicity. that is why i am doing it. i am 3 days in so far and i can handle it. hopefully it works. he also told me to drink baking soda because my urine was acidic (from the benzo as well). and he gave me some herbs, completely natural, to help with that too.