New- Breaking down - no sleep

I hope to find some kind of help today. I am freaking out. I have had an impossible time sleeping and had extreme anxiety for months. Have been recently hospitalized. I was sleeping very little on 2 mg of klonopin, got into a spiral of sleeping only a few hours a night. They got worried about addiction, took me off klonopin in the hospital cold turkey and sent me home.

Now I am really losing it. I have tried Remeron, melatonin, GABA, tart cherry. These used to work, but now nothing is putting a dent in anxiety and sleeplessness. I'm getting weird and non-functioning. I live near Boston. What to do? Thanks.

Rackham

Hi Rackham,

I wish I could tell you when your ability to sleep would return, but it various so much with each person.  The fact that you were forced to do a cold turkey, certainly does not help your situation.

I also went cold turkey from a benzo, and it it definitely messed up my sleep pattern for over six months.  I also went cold turkey from Ambien at the same time, which I am sure, added to my ability not to sleep, and prolonged the healing of whatever it is that makes us sleep.

The only thing that worked for me was to not obsess about it, and to ride it out, because, in my opinion, time is the only remedy that can repair the damage caused by benzos. 

Instead of lying in bed, and becoming consumed by anxiety hour after hour, because I could not fall asleep, I would go, and lie in my recliner, in a darkened, quiet room, and try to think pleasant thoughts.

I hope others come along, and can offer you some positive solutions, or suggestions. I am sorry that I don't have any definite answers for you.

Having traveled down this road, I totally understand, and sympathize with you.  When we cannot sleep we are like a zombie, existing in an anxiety ridden, gloom, and doom world.  But, then again, this was just my experience, perhaps you will heal much faster than I did. 

On a more positive note, I want to add that I am healed now, and sleeping seven hours a night.

I sincerely wish you the best.  No one should should have to go through this agony.

pj 

Hi

did you try benadryl ? that  helped me when I quited clonazepam last year, some days help and some not. After that I was put on Quetiapine but now I am struggling with this drug to cut it.

Hope you are ok

P.J. what month did your sleep return?

Hi,

The first month after the c/t I had no sleep.  It began to slowly improve month, by month.  The fourth month is when I really started to notice a big difference, and could sleep, some nights up to five hours.  By the seventh month I was sleeping seven hours, sometimes longer.

Like I mentioned before, If I had not done a cold turkey from the Ativan, and the Ambien, I am almost certain that It would not have taken as long as it did to restore my sleep.

Good luck to you

pj

Hi there

Sorry if you have had this suggestion somewhere else before. But have you thought of backtracking and doing a slower taper?

All the best

Viking

I hope to find some kind of help today. I am freaking out. I have had an impossible time sleeping and had extreme anxiety for months. Have been recently hospitalized. I was sleeping very little on 2 mg of klonopin, got into a spiral of sleeping only a few hours a night. They got worried about addiction, took me off klonopin in the hospital cold turkey and sent me home.

Now I am really losing it. I have tried Remeron, melatonin, GABA, tart cherry. These used to work, but now nothing is putting a dent in anxiety and sleeplessness. I'm getting weird and non-functioning. I live near Boston. What to do? Thanks.

Rackham

How long have you been on Klonopin ?

It is irresponsible to abruptly withdraw that drug if you were on it for months or years.

2 mg may seem a small dose, however it is a very potent drug. 'equivalent' to about 40 mg Valium/diazepam. I don't know why you were prescribed Klonopin, but it is a poor hypnotic and as a rule it should not be prescribed for sleep. It's an anticonvulsant !

Did they put you on an anticonvulsant or something like that ?

Referring to bold, it seems they confused tolerance with addiction.

I don't think there is anything 'natural' that could work. I wouldn't expect an antidepressant or antipsychotic to be effective either.

It seems that some docs believe that Klonopin/clonazepam is a mild sedative. But it's not !

I'm a third party, don't have all the facts and I don't visit this board often.

But you may want to seek medical help quickly ! You may need something like an anticonvulsant or benzodiazepine. If it is an emergency, maybe you could go to the ER ? Show them your past Klonopin prescriptions ? I don't have all the facts, and I don't know the local situation.