Sleep will come back again.

I just wanted to write here in the insomnia section today because it's my 2 year benzo free anniversary and insomnia was one of the worst symptoms I had to recover from. 

 

While I was in withdrawal, my doctor prescribed me Ambien.  HUGE mistake!  I honestly wish I'd never taken one single pill. I ended up having to taper off of it too. At the time I was desperate for sleep, but the withdrawal I had from Ambien was maybe even more terrifying that the benzo's.  The night terrors and nightmares were the worst of my life. The physical problems were evil too.  I had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes whether I drank anything or not which by itself will keep anyone awake at night.

 

Anyhow, here are some really helpful tips to get your sleep back. All of this worked for me. It takes some work, but it's better than taking some pill.

 

1. 1 hour before bed is quiet time. No TV, no computer, no fighting with your spouse or kids. Lay down, relax, focus on breathing, pray, listen to relaxing music, meditate, read a little, but only read something non-stressful and not too stimulating.

2. When you're finally ready to go to sleep, turn ALL lights off in your room. Lights from the tv, computer, cell phones, MP3 players, etc can disrupt good and natural sleep.

3. Take a hot bath or shower an hour or two before going to bed.

4. No alcohol before bed as it can actually keep you awake, not to mention it will interfere with withdrawal.  Drink some nice chamomile tea with honey.  It's sweet and relaxing.

5. Cold icepack or compress for your eyes. It will keep light out and can soothe a headache too. 

6. Earplugs are great if there is outside noise or people are still awake in the house.

7. Have a set time for bed every night, including weekends. If you go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday you'll sleep better.  Our bodies are happier when they are on a regular schedule.

8. No naps during the day.  This one is easy. If you sleep in the day, you won't sleep at night. 

9. Exercise in the day. A good cardio workout, where you breathe hard and sweat will make you sleep better.  Have you ever had a really hard day working outside. Yardwork, building something, etc?  Do you remember how good you slept the night after hard physical labor?  Like a baby.  If you haven't done hard physical labor or exercise, try it. You will sleep the best sleep of your life.

10. Don't eat anything big and heavy before bed. Try not to eat or drink anything right before you go to sleep.

 

Great sleep doesn't happen overnight unfortunately. But, if you begin to practice these things religiously I promise you will notice improvement. When you're really benzo sick things like exercise is hard to do, but any exercise is better than no exercise if you can force it.  Maybe a walk to the mailbox and back for starters.

 

I never thought my sleep would come back, but it has. I hope you all will sleep well again soon.

Cedar

Thank-you so much for taking the time to post this. Sleep issues make everything worse. All your ideas are good ones. Some I have tried and others I will. Thanks again.

Thank you, Cedar - my doc wants me to take ambien/lunesta.  Now I know I will refuse.

Thanks Spunky and Ellen. 

 

I'm so happy you'll refuse the Ambien/Lunesta Ellen.  My sister suffered from Lunesta. In the long run they don't help get real sleep back and wind up causing more problems than they're worth.

 

Hope you get some good sleep again soon!

Thank you Cedar,

I'm 16 months off and insomnia was one of my worst sxs. I would go days and days with no sleep, weeks and months with 1-3 hrs per night.

At 9 months off it got a little better, but I still have not gone more than 8 days in a row sleeping. I am doing much much better, have gone back to work part time after 2 years etc. I am getting better and better every day in every way. I long for that sleepy feeling, the dozing on the couch, that head hitting the pillow and crashing feeling. I used to sleep anywhere, anytime, piece of cake. I pray it will come back. Your post gives me hope. Dec 10 will be two years and I keep saying how lovely it would be if that was the real true end of this long benzo nightmare!

Sending you and your sister lots of love, I pray that you continue to feel better and better too!

Much love

Melo x

Congrats Melo and getting back to work and being 16 months free!  I know that your sleep will keep improving.  It did for me and I also went months, and years with little to no sleep.  I remember those 1-2 hours a night and how miserable it is. When you get that first full 8 hours it's heaven.

 

Cedar

I will be just be happy to be able to take a nap again on the couch.  When I was in my 20's I could that!  I miss being able to nap on the weekends.  I have always had insomnia but I don't recall it being so bad that I only slept 2-4 hours a night.  Thanks ambien!

Cedartree:  I am 11 weeks off Ambien this Friday.  I can totally relate to the using the bathroom all night long (like every hour).  My sleep goes up and down.  I am no longer in the days of NO sleep thankfully.  I am getting about 5-6 hours a few nights a week with another few nights of 2-4 hours.  It is different sleep than in the past.  It used to be that it took me hours to fall asleep but once asleep I stayed asleep.  Now it takes me 1-2 hours to fall asleep and I sleep for 2-3 hours wake up (to use the bathroom of course) sleep 1-2 (use the bathroom) and basically that's how it goes.  Has your sleep improved to where the 8 hours yet get is altogether?  Was your sleep intermittent like mine at any point?  When did it get better?

Thanks cedartree...........

 

You are such a good person with all this advices and so many of it for us............. thanks

I will be just be happy to be able to take a nap again on the couch.  When I was in my 20's I could that!  I miss being able to nap on the weekends.  I have always had insomnia but I don't recall it being so bad that I only slept 2-4 hours a night.  Thanks ambien!

Oh yes, naps!  Ambien is a beast.  I also missed naps so much and dreamed of the day I'd be able to curl up on the couch and fall asleep reading a good book on a rainy day. It finally happened!  I was pretty scared it wouldn't though.

Turtlegirl,  My sleep was off and on for a long time with lots of waking in the night. Routine waking just like you're describing.  I pretty much sleep all through the night now for 7-8 hours. Occasionally I wake in the night to use the bathroom, but not every night. The nights I sleep the best is when I've exercised the most.  Sleep finally got really good at about 10-12 months off. I did notice that it just kept improving little by little and that gave me hope.  I took benadryl for quite a few months and that set me back even further, so maybe it won't take as long. 

Cedar

Thanks cedartree...........

 

You are such a good person with all this advices and so many of it for us............. thanks

 

Thanks Sergio.

at what point did you see major improvements?  I've been waiting and suffering for 7 months with no improvements from the first week I quit

Hi Glyn. I hate to tell you this, but to me 7 mos seems early for sleep to return. I am at 15mos and am just now finally getting some decent sleep. It is still not every nite and sometimes only 4-5 hrs with a couple awakenings. But I am seeing improvement FINALLY. At your stage, I used a combination of unisom, melatonin, tryptophan, benadryl, and then some herbs in tea...oat straw, nightly night tea etc. I would just rotate them after trying for at least an hour to sleep naturally.

I know you feel awful, but for me, it just took quite a bit more time. I have heard tho, that men are better sleepers in general so maybe your sleep will get better sooner than mine. Also think about sleep restriction. It sure worked for Jittery. Notice she is no longer here.

at what point did you see major improvements?  I've been waiting and suffering for 7 months with no improvements from the first week I quit

It's clearly different for everyone. I was about 10 months off when I was sleeping pretty well again. I know some who sleep well at only a few months off and others who take over a year or more to get good sleep.  I've read some of your posts and feel for what you're going through with missing days and days of sleep.  Been there and it was brutal. 

 

I hope things improve for you soon Glyn.

 

Cedar

Glyn I am at 16 months and it's getting better and better. Stress, change of routine, diet/exercise and cycle do affect my sleep. The last one you don't have to worry about. My sleep is the last sx, is 10x better than it was a year ago or even 6 months ago.

I pray that at 2 years I am back to normal!!!

Thanks Cedar, I am feeling inspired by your sleep coming back entirely! I was a professional sleeper before drugs!

Melo x

I've just had 2 nights of sleep,(only slightly interrupted). The big thing for me was that I slept at night, not early or late morning. This was a huge breakthrough for me. I

 

I had tried just about every supplement recommended, but it always made sx worse, I almost had a psychotic break after taking an "all natural, Night Time Sleep Repair" capsule from a reputable source.

 

I yawned for the first time in about a year on Sunday, that may have been a clue to sleep that was about to come.

 

My ability to sleep was lost to me around November, 2010 when I think (?) I really started to have severe sx from tolerance withdrawal. I was pretty much a zombie anyway when I accidentally slipped into c/t around May 1, 2011.

 

At that point, I just didn't sleep at all - I would pass out for 15 minute or so, and "wake up" to screaming chemicals rushing through me. The most terrifying thing I will ever hope to be put through (and I been through 2 cancer scares!)

 

I have been "stable" at sleeping 1 - 3 hours (mostly) since 2 nights ago. For the last 2 months, I never slept at night, I started early in the morning, then progressed later and later in the day and got "stuck" at around 4:00 p.m.  I forced myself to not pass out early last week so I could reset this pattern.

 

Looks like maybe now I'm on the right track.

 

This is the most profound ordeal a human being not directly involve in war could endure IMHO.

 

M.

Melo, it's so amazing that our bodies do heal and that our sleep does return.  Yeah, it takes a lot of time and effort, but the benzo insomnia is not forever.  I was terrified I'd never sleep normally again, but fortunately I was wrong.  Those nights of only 1-2 hours or less are so excruciating that you feel brain damaged during the day. Can't concentrate, focus or function.  That's why I posted the things that worked for me here in the insomnia section. It really does work.

 

M, yawning is a great sign that sleep is coming back.  I remember going without yawning for months on end (maybe even a year, I can't remember now) but I do remember the yawning and it felt so great!  Any improvement is good improvement and should encourage you that things will continue that way.  Sleep may not be perfect for several months to a year, but it will get better.  I've heard that supplements rev symptoms for a lot of people.  So sorry that happened to you too. I really hope that 2 hours in a row increases soon! 

 

 

Breakthrough!  I had a full 8 hours of sleep last night! No interuptions either. I am either having a fantastic window, or I am on my way out of Hell! I am so excited and so very grateful to G_ d and all the lovely folks here on BB like you, cedartree (thank you for your kind words of inspiration  ) 

 

To everyone within the sight of my post:  IT WORKS, HANG ON, IT WORKS!

 

M.

My sleep has been getting better and better too!

Last night I crashed a little before midnight and slept straight thru until 8:30am. Oh man, it was nice. No wake ups, that was perfect. I know that my sleep will return now that I'm having nights like this... "-) whoo hoo.

My setbacks now seem to be due to stress, period or disruption in life.

My insomnia was so unbelievably awful. I don't think I even started my blog here, I was on BW first, until I was 7 months out. I had terrible insomnia for a year on the drugs and hellish deadly insomnia in cold turkey acute. I seriously went days and days without sleep, I would puke and dry heave from lack of sleep!

I had a serious case of insomnia and it's so so so much better.

Have faith your sleep will return. Stay clean on diet, supps etc as much as you can.

Walk walk walk as much as you can too.

I swear in withdrawal I would walk the streets of manhattan miles and miles and miles to nowhere.

I couldn't work, I had no friends and no life. I couldn't handle actual conversations or interactions so I would just walk and walk, rain, snow, wind, cold .... It was the only I could think of to break the major agoraphobia that was exascerbated by lack of sleep.

 

What a nutter I was!

 

Hang in there, don't giv up. I'd say at 9 months I thought I'd live and it's slowly lowly gotten better from then on!

Try to stay drug free if you can

much love

Melo x

Melo, yah baby! 

 

M.

Such happy news Melo and M!  Love your posts and hope it encourages others in the insomnia boat.

 

There's no reason to think that insomnia is permanent. 

 

8 hours is amazing!  So happy for you M!!!

:D :D

 

M.

How's everyone's sleep these days? 

I'm sleeping a lot better..I slept for 3 nights in a row and 10 hours both last night and the night before.  I feel way better.