Chronic Insomnia Before Taper

[[al...]]

East,

 

We're just destined to never sleep again. 

 

[[be...]]

Right, thanks. But what I'm trying to refer to exclusively is chronic insomnia prior to a taper. As in, little to no sleep before even beginning a taper, and having this relate to or be the effect of tolerance.

 

Hi:

 

I suffered from sever insomnia before my taper ever began. That was one major reason I was put on benzos. I would go countless of nights of little or no sleep. It was very painful. In fact, it got so bad that I had to take a leave of absence from work. A pdoc tried me on almost every drug out there ~~ mostly SSRis ~~ but they had a paradoxical effect on me and my anxiety was sky high. She finally gave up on putting me on a non addictive drug so she put me on benzos, so here I am. I soon became tolerant to them so she added Clozaril to the mix. I do not recommend that anyone take that drug under any circumstances. It is a very dangerous antipsychotic and many psychs refuse to script it. But boy, did it make me sleep. Too much. 15 hours a day. The rest of the day I was a walking zombie.

 

So I could not function and went on disability. I then found a new pdoc who immediately took me off the Clozaril. I felt oh so much better. Then my insomnia returned, before I began my taper. My new doc  basically tried me on the same sleep aid meds to help me sleep. But nothing worked. The OTC stuff was a joke. So I went 1 year sleeping 2-3 per hours night. And that's all. During that time, I was doing my taper and the taper didn't seem to effect my sleep. Then he told me I had to get some sleep or I would not properly heal. So he put me on both Trazodone and Seroquel. He put me on both because Seroquel makes you fall asleep, but doesn't allow you to sleep thru the night. The Trazodone doesn't make you fall asleep, but keeps you from waking up. So now I am getting about 7-8 hours of sleep each night. But I give you fair warning: Seroquel is a very difficult drug to taper from. Hope that helps and good luck to you. I know how bad the insomnia  can get. ~~ Bets

 

Hi,

 

I've taken Seroquel alone once when I was hospitalized. My issue is mostly sleep maintenance. I can't stay asleep but can fall asleep. How far up have you gone on Trazadone? Remeron gives me 2-3 hours. I wonder if I could mix the two?

Also, I have been meaning to ask you about your taper since we're both on K. How has it been for you and how have you approached it?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

My K taper is as smooth as silk. I am symptom free. I kindled twice before so I wanted to drop it ever so slowly. 5% very two weeks. Religiously. I am now down to 1.5 mg of K, from the 10 mg I was on. I am also healing as I taper, which is a big plus for me. I tried 50, 100, 150 of Trazodone and it did nothing. Now I am on 200 mg and it works like a charm! Along with the 150 mg of Seroquel of course. I've been tapering for a year or so. But I was a smart cookie and made a partial C/O to Valium. If I didn't do the C/O, I think I would be a mess right now. And no need for thanks, buddy! Take care. Hugs, ~~ Bets

[[al...]]

Don't really have established trust with shrink to ask for V so I'm stuck with the K. Tried to sleep with Traz but it made my BP drop hard, almost as hard as I dropped. I joke about it, but the fall was scary. All in the name of sleep.

I know you've mentioned you use the Traz for sleep maintenance, that's why I tried it. I don't have trouble falling asleep, but as soon as those minutes of sleep are up and I'm awake, there's no turning back.

Lastly, the docs are now playing merry go rounds where they keep sending me back and forth to each other from shrink to sleep specialist. No one knows what to do.

 

 

 

Right, thanks. But what I'm trying to refer to exclusively is chronic insomnia prior to a taper. As in, little to no sleep before even beginning a taper, and having this relate to or be the effect of tolerance.

 

Hi:

 

I suffered from sever insomnia before my taper ever began. That was one major reason I was put on benzos. I would go countless of nights of little or no sleep. It was very painful. In fact, it got so bad that I had to take a leave of absence from work. A pdoc tried me on almost every drug out there ~~ mostly SSRis ~~ but they had a paradoxical effect on me and my anxiety was sky high. She finally gave up on putting me on a non addictive drug so she put me on benzos, so here I am. I soon became tolerant to them so she added Clozaril to the mix. I do not recommend that anyone take that drug under any circumstances. It is a very dangerous antipsychotic and many psychs refuse to script it. But boy, did it make me sleep. Too much. 15 hours a day. The rest of the day I was a walking zombie.

 

So I could not function and went on disability. I then found a new pdoc who immediately took me off the Clozaril. I felt oh so much better. Then my insomnia returned, before I began my taper. My new doc  basically tried me on the same sleep aid meds to help me sleep. But nothing worked. The OTC stuff was a joke. So I went 1 year sleeping 2-3 per hours night. And that's all. During that time, I was doing my taper and the taper didn't seem to effect my sleep. Then he told me I had to get some sleep or I would not properly heal. So he put me on both Trazodone and Seroquel. He put me on both because Seroquel makes you fall asleep, but doesn't allow you to sleep thru the night. The Trazodone doesn't make you fall asleep, but keeps you from waking up. So now I am getting about 7-8 hours of sleep each night. But I give you fair warning: Seroquel is a very difficult drug to taper from. Hope that helps and good luck to you. I know how bad the insomnia  can get. ~~ Bets

 

Hi,

 

I've taken Seroquel alone once when I was hospitalized. My issue is mostly sleep maintenance. I can't stay asleep but can fall asleep. How far up have you gone on Trazadone? Remeron gives me 2-3 hours. I wonder if I could mix the two?

Also, I have been meaning to ask you about your taper since we're both on K. How has it been for you and how have you approached it?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

My K taper is as smooth as silk. I am symptom free. I kindled twice before so I wanted to drop it ever so slowly. 5% very two weeks. Religiously. I am now down to 1.5 mg of K, from the 10 mg I was on. I am also healing as I taper, which is a big plus for me. I tried 50, 100, 150 of Trazodone and it did nothing. Now I am on 200 mg and it works like a charm! Along with the 150 mg of Seroquel of course. I've been tapering for a year or so. But I was a smart cookie and made a partial C/O to Valium. If I didn't do the C/O, I think I would be a mess right now. And no need for thanks, buddy! Take care. Hugs, ~~ Bets