Is insomnia killing me?

[[Fr...]]

I'm about 5 weeks out from taking my last dose of Xanax. I'm having terrible insomnia and Im afraid it's killing me. The dark circles under my eyes are becoming much more pronounced and my hair is slowly turning gray. I also lost about 30 pounds, a lot of it being muscle mass. I'm afraid to work out because, not only am I exhausted and have a constant headache, but I'm afraid that I will over exert myself and my heart will just give out. At the same time, exercise is the only thing that keeps me sane.

 

Is it safe to exercise with such little sleep and can insomnia be deadly?

 

I'm also taking Kirkland sleep aid (Unisom) on occasion to help catch up a little bit. Is this safe to take without having to worry about side effects?

 

Thank you everyone for all your help.

[[Ch...]]

I tapered Xanax too and still had bad insomnia at five weeks out.  I wasn't working so I could live through it, but it was really hard.  I didn't take anything to help me sleep but I finally started sleeping at about six to eight weeks out... listening to an ocean waves tape in a dark cool room by myself.  It gradually got better from there.

 

I've always heard that insomnia won't kill you, but if you're worried about your heart I'd get a check up and clear exercise with your doctor.  I worked out twice a week for an hour during withdrawal and for about five or six months afterwards and could do 30 minutes on the treadmill and then lay on the couch for days afterwards, feeling awful.  Still don't understand all the reasons I could isolate that time and get through the workout.  This process is very unusual. 

 

I don't know anything about Unisom.  I was so burned by the Xanax I've been afraid to take anything since then. 

[Guest [ba...]]

If the sleep aid you're referring to is doxyamine succinate (found in Unisom), it's fine to take.  I used to use it to help me sleep.  It didn't work great during my first couple of months after jumping, but eventually started giving me 4-5 hours a night.  Eventually, I didn't need it any longer, and simply stopped taking it.  No withdrawal at all.

 

I exercised pretty much daily after I jumped (mostly moderate bicycling or walking 18 holes).  I did slow my cycling speed down a little, but not out of concern for my heart.  Hard exercise kind of revved me up, so I tried to do my exercise early in the day, and slowed down 10-20% (but the same distance).

 

Challis' mention of finding sleep in a cool room is also true for me.  I definitely sleep better when my bedroom and I are cool.  Another reason not to do exercise late at night.

 

I know that insomnia feels really lousy, but I also don't think that acute insomnia (such as what you are experiencing) can kill you. 

[[Fr...]]

If the sleep aid you're referring to is doxyamine succinate (found in Unisom), it's fine to take.  I used to use it to help me sleep.  It didn't work great during my first couple of months after jumping, but eventually started giving me 4-5 hours a night.  Eventually, I didn't need it any longer, and simply stopped taking it.  No withdrawal at all.

 

I exercised pretty much daily after I jumped (mostly moderate bicycling or walking 18 holes).  I did slow my cycling speed down a little, but not out of concern for my heart.  Hard exercise kind of revved me up, so I tried to do my exercise early in the day, and slowed down 10-20% (but the same distance).

 

Challis' mention of finding sleep in a cool room is also true for me.  I definitely sleep better when my bedroom and I are cool.  Another reason not to do exercise late at night.

 

I know that insomnia feels really lousy, but I also don't think that acute insomnia (such as what you are experiencing) can kill you.

 

Thank you for the response. I guess I'm just worried about the residual stress caused by insomnia. I just don't want to over-stress my body by continuing to exercise. I seem to find a new gray hair every day and I'm only 27. Maybe it's genetic and it's coincidentally starting to effect me at the same time. Anyway, it makes me feel better to know that there are people who exercise on a regular basis, because working out is the only thing that keeps me feeling like a normal person nowadays.

[[be...]]

I just use mild walking first thing in the am. My pdoc told me not to do cardio exercise because that would just give me symptoms. Also, if I walk late a night I'm wide awake. No grey hairs to speak of. Maybe that's because I dye my hair!