Insomniac support group

[[me...]]

Hi Corsair, sorry to hear that you are not doing well, seems like things have been very up and down for you. Personally if a drug was making me feel awful, I would try and get off of it as quickly as possible, but I know pretty much nothing about Seroquel.

 

I was bad over the fourth of July--took 1 Valium, 1 Ambien on the third, and 2 Ambien on the fourth (couldn't deal with the fireworks). Fortunately those are my last Ambiens, and I will never try to get that awful drug again! Next year I will make arrangements to be in a quiet place, even if I have to pay for a motel. I just can't take it anymore.

 

I was totally prepared to have an awful night last night, as the rebound insomnia from Ambien has always been pretty bad for me. I finally fell asleep around midnight and got about 4 hours in 2 chunks, much better than I expected and I don't feel terrible today. Tonight I hopefully will do at least as well. There is always a heavy price to pay for Ambien sleep.

[[Lo...]]

How did your night go? I had lots of trouble last night and the night before too. No fireworks however. three nights ago I slept very well....ie 7.5 hours!!! So, what is the difference? I am tapering by an even 1% of current dose.

 

Last night I went to bed early...didn't use screens past 10 and was calm enough I thought. then woke at 3 with heart racing. Urrrggghhh. Since I only had 5 hours the night before I was feeling desperate and after awhile took a tiny crumb of extra Zopiclone. I also ate a banana and 3 cookies as carbs help me settle. I did get back to sleep but feel bad that I did take that extra smidge of Zopiclone. I am thinking I should probably hold for a few days and let my body "catch up".

 

I am also getting out today to find some blackout drapes - there are cracks of light around the blackout blinds.  That was not the problem last night as I woke at 3. LL

[[Lo...]]

I've just been reading the thread on Long Holds and finding it interesting and likely what I should do...Hold until body adjusts and symptoms greatly improve.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=153201.2360

 

I highly recommend you click on the link and read.  LL

[[me...]]

How did your night go? I had lots of trouble last night and the night before too. No fireworks however. three nights ago I slept very well....ie 7.5 hours!!! So, what is the difference? I am tapering by an even 1% of current dose.

 

Last night was frustrating, as I was very tired (had couch coma syndrome), but did not fall asleep until 1 AM and had a nightmare. I did manage to get 5 hours of sleep though, so a bit of an improvement. I continue to pay for my Ambien indiscretion, and feel really stupid for taking it.

 

Loveslife--as I continually point out, I do not believe it is possible to taper Ambien past a certain point (which can vary from person to person, and from what other meds you are on). It is much different than a traditional benzo, though it does have some similar attributes.I have tried on several occasions to cut down and form a taper, and every time, it is very unlikely that I will get much sleep. The sleep I do get is not high quality, and I get "jerked" out way too early, and lack of sleep builds up quickly. I think it is much more productive and less painful to take full doses, get rested up, then simply drop the drug completely. There will be rebound insomnia, that is pretty much a given, but it will pass.

 

I'm watching carefully as you and others attempt to taper, though, and I will be the first to congratulate anyone and re-evaluate my thinking should they succeed. I just hate to see people basically torturing themselves with poor sleep for really no good purpose, when they could be off the awful drug and healing from it.

[[ca...]]

I have been sleeping really well in the last two nights. More then 8 hours. This hasn’t happened in ages! I do believe that the key for this change has to do with what I eat. I have done some research and found that food that is high in GI is good for sleep. For me its mainly bread and rice – but do look it up.  I hope this miracle continues

 

http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/10-sleep-aids-high-glycemic-foods-to-help-you-snooze

Here is one link. Just goodle Gi foods sleep- lots out there on this

 

Carem

 

 

[[Lo...]]

 

Last night was frustrating, as I was very tired (had couch coma syndrome), but did not fall asleep until 1 AM and had a nightmare. I did manage to get 5 hours of sleep though, so a bit of an improvement. I continue to pay for my Ambien indiscretion, and feel really stupid for taking it.

 

Loveslife--as I continually point out, I do not believe it is possible to taper Ambien past a certain point (which can vary from person to person, and from what other meds you are on). It is much different than a traditional benzo, though it does have some similar attributes.I have tried on several occasions to cut down and form a taper, and every time, it is very unlikely that I will get much sleep. The sleep I do get is not high quality, and I get "jerked" out way too early, and lack of sleep builds up quickly. I think it is much more productive and less painful to take full doses, get rested up, then simply drop the drug completely. There will be rebound insomnia, that is pretty much a given, but it will pass.

 

I'm watching carefully as you and others attempt to taper, though, and I will be the first to congratulate anyone and re-evaluate my thinking should they succeed. I just hate to see people basically torturing themselves with poor sleep for really no good purpose, when they could be off the awful drug and healing from it.

Hi Meowie, Well, I really disagree with you. For the most part I have pretty reasonable sleep. Last night 7.5 hours. It helped that the hydro went out and I went to bed earlier. I think light wakens me up.

 

I had a Zopiclone "indiscretion" and noticed no difference. Occasionally I have a rum and diet coke "indiscretion" and although I think sleep quality suffers perhaps a bit, sleep duration does not.

 

I do not wish to throw myself into cold turkey withdrawal. But each to her own! Will see how this all plays out. Good luck!  LL

[[Lo...]]

I have been sleeping really well in the last two nights. More then 8 hours. This hasn’t happened in ages! I do believe that the key for this change has to do with what I eat. I have done some research and found that food that is high in GI is good for sleep. For me its mainly bread and rice – but do look it up.  I hope this miracle continues

 

http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/10-sleep-aids-high-glycemic-foods-to-help-you-snooze

Here is one link. Just goodle Gi foods sleep- lots out there on this

 

Carem

That has been my experience too, Carem. And if I wake in the night fast carbs will definitely help settle me. Fortunately I mostly sleep through. I am trying to keep weight down and so prefer to not eat at night but during the taper I think it is better than some other options.

[[ca...]]

Yes i know. I am actually still trying lose some the weight i gaind on klonopin. But made a rule for now as long as dong gain weight on the z tappet i am ok. On all the other drugs the dic is offering me i will gain more weight andvprobablt have much more diificukt time. So for now i will work my diet arounf to allow for carbs on the evenings. Hoe so muc it continues to work!!!

[[Ki...]]

Hi,

I am new here and I don't sleep without pills at all . I was on Klonopin and Seroquel for 5 years.

Psychiatrists stopped my Klonopin and told me I have to take Seroquel because its safe and non addicting drug. I don't know but I feel its even worse than Klonopin. I am pretty much Living vegetable. Can't walk,talk,have to be fed,have zero energy,huge brain fog that I have no idea whats going on around me. Its like that for almost a year and no change and I am only 32.

Can Seroquel do this? I take 300mg for sleep and weight 85lbs.

Thanks

[[Ce...]]

New to the group, hope to find some help. as well as contribute my ideas...~CeCe   

[[Si...]]

Hi,

I am new here and I don't sleep without pills at all . I was on Klonopin and Seroquel for 5 years.

Psychiatrists stopped my Klonopin and told me I have to take Seroquel because its safe and non addicting drug. I don't know but I feel its even worse than Klonopin. I am pretty much Living vegetable. Can't walk,talk,have to be fed,have zero energy,huge brain fog that I have no idea whats going on around me. Its like that for almost a year and no change and I am only 32.

Can Seroquel do this? I take 300mg for sleep and weight 85lbs.

Thanks

 

Wow sorry you are going through this! It can get better though. I wasn't sleeping for days at a time. Now I sleep pretty well. I haven't missed a night since December 2015. I don't take anything to help sleep either. 300mg seems really high for Seroquel. At least for sleep. I always read the lower doses are what triggered sleep. The higher doses it acts as an antipsychotic. Especially since you say you weigh 85 pounds. Have you tried taking a lower dose?

 

Hi CeCe Too. Sorry you're having problems also.

[[Ce...]]

Hi,

I am new here and I don't sleep without pills at all . I was on Klonopin and Seroquel for 5 years.

Psychiatrists stopped my Klonopin and told me I have to take Seroquel because its safe and non addicting drug. I don't know but I feel its even worse than Klonopin. I am pretty much Living vegetable. Can't walk,talk,have to be fed,have zero energy,huge brain fog that I have no idea whats going on around me. Its like that for almost a year and no change and I am only 32.

Can Seroquel do this? I take 300mg for sleep and weight 85lbs.

Thanks

 

 

Hi Kitten,

 

300mg does sound very high. At one time I was taking 100mg for sleep, I don't know about how it affects you, but I was getting RLS really bad on Seroquel. I didn't know it was the drug, until I timed my RLS along with when I went to bed. It never failed, I'd be fine before I took the drug, within half hour-45 minutes after, my RLS would kick in. Needless to say, I stopped taking it. Other drugs like, trazodone will kick my RLS up, as well.

 

Also, I wouldn't dismiss Seroquel as being non-addictive. If you're taking 300 mgs daily, I would taper off on that one, if you want to get off of it. It can have w/d side effects, I would think at that high of a dose. Especially if you've been on it for as long as 5 years!

 

Good luck to you!  ~CeCe   

[[Lo...]]

Anyone else with restless leg syndrome? As I get lower on my taper I am experiencing more often it seems.

Any ideas?  Thanks, LL

 

[[Ne...]]

Hi Buddies!

Almost down to dust on this nasty K. But I'm still experiencing plenty of side effects.

The sleep has been horrible ALL the way down this long, slow taper! I'm waiting for it to get a little better. Usually go to bed around 11 and wake up like clockwork between 2 and 3. I'm up for a good hour or two and then toss and turn with broken sleep the rest of the way. I'm so tired when I get up,

usually around 7 or 8. Anyone else in the same boat? Once I am completely off, how long does it take to get a solid 5-6? I know everyone is different, just looking for encouragement :'(

New Girl

 

[[Ar...]]

Hello everyone

 

Loveslife... I got hit with RLS during my withdrawal too.  It was really bad for awhile and I had to give in and use the medication Ropinrole.  I could not tolerate it at all.  I had enough other sxs and this at least worked.  I only took the .5mg and only took it when it was extremely bad.  Now if it happens which is very rare I cut one of them in  half.  I havent had to take one in months now.  It does go away. 

[[Be...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I thought I'd mention what has finally begun to work for me.  Dont know if you need to be off everything first or not, but I suspect that anything will work better if you no longer are on any meds.

 

I am currentlly off benzos for 38 months and off the evil Remeron antidepressant for 23 months.

 

Since getting off Remeron, my sleep went away.  I did have 6 months of good sleep using cannabis edibles, but that too, stopped working.    Since LAst December, my sleep was awful, getting anywhere from 1-3 hours a night of broken sleep, and then wondering how I was going to survive so little sleep for so long.  Anyway, I pretty much tried everything in the universe and now finally, things seem to be improving.

 

I currently do "5 element" acupuncture once a week, do low frequency neurofeedback twice a week to reduce/suppress the stimulatory Beta and alpha waves, and to reduce the constant anxiety, and have recently begun neurokinesiologoy/craniosacral therapy. 1-3 times a week.  All of this together seems to be making a difference as just last week , my numb feet began to have feeling again, and while I dont sleep more than 3 hours straight, I have been piecing together 6- 8+ hours a night, getting up 2-4 times a night. Not great, but so much better than the awful 0-3 hours  night I'd been having for months.

 

That being said, however, when I do get more total hours of sleep, I usually feel worse the next day, as some believe that more sleep allows more detoxing, which makes you feel worse.  Eventually this should even out, but for right now, it's not ideal, but I'm very hopeful for the future.  So, if you are still taking either sleep meds, benzos, or antidepresants, get off them as comfortably as you can without risking your mental or physical health in doing it, but the sooner the better, and give up all sleep aids. If they work at all, it's just temporary and you'll pay the price later anyway.  Go through what it takes of no or little sleep and eventually your body will give up and begin to sleep.  The treatments I mentioned have definitely helped me get over what I call the "bed Dread," if you know what I mean. 

 

I know now that I will get a reasonable amount of sleep each night, even when I feel so awful that it seems that there'd be no way to get to sleep or stay asleep. 

 

I still have the anxiety, dizziness, brain fog, nausea, fatigue, and several other joint pain, visual and auditory issues, but they wax and wane.  Still dont feel "normal" but recently, as I've mentioned, have reason for hope.

 

This is truly a journey not for the meek, but hang in there and it will eventually get better.  I'm in many groups and talk to many other sufferers. The consensus appear to be that it will take anywhere from 24-36+ months after your last drug to get some semblance of normalcy back into your life.  So, its not just how long you are off the benzo, but rather, it seems to be how long you are off your last drug, whether tapering or C/T ing.

 

Good luck to you all. 

 

BT

 

 

[[Lo...]]

Hello everyone

 

Loveslife... I got hit with RLS during my withdrawal too.  It was really bad for awhile and I had to give in and use the medication Ropinrole.  I could not tolerate it at all.  I had enough other sxs and this at least worked.  I only took the .5mg and only took it when it was extremely bad.  Now if it happens which is very rare I cut one of them in  half.  I havent had to take one in months now.  It does go away.

Thanks for the reply Ariana2. Glad to know it will go away! I went for a pedicure this morning as I am going to a wedding on Saturday. It was very difficult for me...staying still and having someone touching my feet. Very sensitive and very ticklish. Nervous system just on high alert I guess. I have had restless legs in the past. It seems that medications ie antihistamines and sleeping pills make it worse for me. I will try to keep my diet clean. A bit difficult as I am leaving on a trip tomorrow.

LL

[[Ce...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I thought I'd mention what has finally begun to work for me.  Dont know if you need to be off everything first or not, but I suspect that anything will work better if you no longer are on any meds.

 

I am currentlly off benzos for 38 months and off the evil Remeron antidepressant for 23 months.

 

Since getting off Remeron, my sleep went away.  I did have 6 months of good sleep using cannabis edibles, but that too, stopped working.    Since LAst December, my sleep was awful, getting anywhere from 1-3 hours a night of broken sleep, and then wondering how I was going to survive so little sleep for so long.  Anyway, I pretty much tried everything in the universe and now finally, things seem to be improving.

 

I currently do "5 element" acupuncture once a week, do low frequency neurofeedback twice a week to reduce/suppress the stimulatory Beta and alpha waves, and to reduce the constant anxiety, and have recently begun neurokinesiologoy/craniosacral therapy. 1-3 times a week.  All of this together seems to be making a difference as just last week , my numb feet began to have feeling again, and while I dont sleep more than 3 hours straight, I have been piecing together 6- 8+ hours a night, getting up 2-4 times a night. Not great, but so much better than the awful 0-3 hours  night I'd been having for months.

 

That being said, however, when I do get more total hours of sleep, I usually feel worse the next day, as some believe that more sleep allows more detoxing, which makes you feel worse.  Eventually this should even out, but for right now, it's not ideal, but I'm very hopeful for the future.  So, if you are still taking either sleep meds, benzos, or antidepresants, get off them as comfortably as you can without risking your mental or physical health in doing it, but the sooner the better, and give up all sleep aids. If they work at all, it's just temporary and you'll pay the price later anyway.  Go through what it takes of no or little sleep and eventually your body will give up and begin to sleep.  The treatments I mentioned have definitely helped me get over what I call the "bed Dread," if you know what I mean. 

 

I know now that I will get a reasonable amount of sleep each night, even when I feel so awful that it seems that there'd be no way to get to sleep or stay asleep. 

 

I still have the anxiety, dizziness, brain fog, nausea, fatigue, and several other joint pain, visual and auditory issues, but they wax and wane.  Still dont feel "normal" but recently, as I've mentioned, have reason for hope.

 

This is truly a journey not for the meek, but hang in there and it will eventually get better.  I'm in many groups and talk to many other sufferers. The consensus appear to be that it will take anywhere from 24-36+ months after your last drug to get some semblance of normalcy back into your life.  So, its not just how long you are off the benzo, but rather, it seems to be how long you are off your last drug, whether tapering or C/T ing.

 

Good luck to you all. 

 

BT

 

 

Hi Benzotired

 

I love that whole get off all drugs idea, for sure. There's a "but" here. What if a person has to be on meds for things such as diabetes, bp, epilepsy and on and on. It is rather discouraging to think we have to be off all meds to enable our discontinuation of benzos. Benzos are one drug I know I can do without, although anxiety is not an easy thing to live with. I know the outcome if I remain on a benzo to fight an anxiety disorder and it is counterproductive and very harmful in the long run. I can help myself by living a healthier lifestyle and therefore will have a better grip on my anxiety. Whereas my mother, for instance has diabetes and although she does have to watch her way of living and what she eats, medication is vital for her. She is in her 80's, and I'm not so sure whether or not she would have made it this long without that medication.

 

So, I guess if you can do it-fabulous! But even if we have to be on other meds, this one is one we can learn to live without.

 

~CeCe   

 

[[Be...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I thought I'd mention what has finally begun to work for me.  Dont know if you need to be off everything first or not, but I suspect that anything will work better if you no longer are on any meds.

 

I am currentlly off benzos for 38 months and off the evil Remeron antidepressant for 23 months.

 

Since getting off Remeron, my sleep went away.  I did have 6 months of good sleep using cannabis edibles, but that too, stopped working.    Since LAst December, my sleep was awful, getting anywhere from 1-3 hours a night of broken sleep, and then wondering how I was going to survive so little sleep for so long.  Anyway, I pretty much tried everything in the universe and now finally, things seem to be improving.

 

I currently do "5 element" acupuncture once a week, do low frequency neurofeedback twice a week to reduce/suppress the stimulatory Beta and alpha waves, and to reduce the constant anxiety, and have recently begun neurokinesiologoy/craniosacral therapy. 1-3 times a week.  All of this together seems to be making a difference as just last week , my numb feet began to have feeling again, and while I dont sleep more than 3 hours straight, I have been piecing together 6- 8+ hours a night, getting up 2-4 times a night. Not great, but so much better than the awful 0-3 hours  night I'd been having for months.

 

That being said, however, when I do get more total hours of sleep, I usually feel worse the next day, as some believe that more sleep allows more detoxing, which makes you feel worse.  Eventually this should even out, but for right now, it's not ideal, but I'm very hopeful for the future.  So, if you are still taking either sleep meds, benzos, or antidepresants, get off them as comfortably as you can without risking your mental or physical health in doing it, but the sooner the better, and give up all sleep aids. If they work at all, it's just temporary and you'll pay the price later anyway.  Go through what it takes of no or little sleep and eventually your body will give up and begin to sleep.  The treatments I mentioned have definitely helped me get over what I call the "bed Dread," if you know what I mean. 

 

I know now that I will get a reasonable amount of sleep each night, even when I feel so awful that it seems that there'd be no way to get to sleep or stay asleep. 

 

I still have the anxiety, dizziness, brain fog, nausea, fatigue, and several other joint pain, visual and auditory issues, but they wax and wane.  Still dont feel "normal" but recently, as I've mentioned, have reason for hope.

 

This is truly a journey not for the meek, but hang in there and it will eventually get better.  I'm in many groups and talk to many other sufferers. The consensus appear to be that it will take anywhere from 24-36+ months after your last drug to get some semblance of normalcy back into your life.  So, its not just how long you are off the benzo, but rather, it seems to be how long you are off your last drug, whether tapering or C/T ing.

 

Good luck to you all. 

 

BT

 

 

Hi Benzotired

 

I love that whole get off all drugs idea, for sure. There's a "but" here. What if a person has to be on meds for things such as diabetes, bp, epilepsy and on and on. It is rather discouraging to think we have to be off all meds to enable our discontinuation of benzos. Benzos are one drug I know I can do without, although anxiety is not an easy thing to live with. I know the outcome if I remain on a benzo to fight an anxiety disorder and it is counterproductive and very harmful in the long run. I can help myself by living a healthier lifestyle and therefore will have a better grip on my anxiety. Whereas my mother, for instance has diabetes and although she does have to watch her way of living and what she eats, medication is vital for her. She is in her 80's, and I'm not so sure whether or not she would have made it this long without that medication.

 

So, I guess if you can do it-fabulous! But even if we have to be on other meds, this one is one we can learn to live without.

 

~CeCe   

 

CeCe,  I never meant to be off all meds, just those that compromise your neuroreceptors, psych meds, , sleeping pills, etc.  Just those that you know have harmed your nervous system.  Your neuroreceptors will never begin to heal if you continue to take those, assuming you've had a negative reaction to them, which, of course, is why you are on this site.

[[Ce...]]

Okee Dokee! Just wanted to clarify. 

[[me...]]

I'm in a weird phase right now where I'm not sleeping very hard, and my sleep is very "chunky". Waking up almost every 2 hours on the dot! and then not being able to get back to sleep for a while. It is obviously very annoying and takes me a long time to cobble together 5 or 6 hours of sleep. So for instance my sleep looks like this--10-12 PM, 1-2 AM, 3-5 AM and 6-7 AM.

 

I looked at my notes, and this pattern started on 7/16 (with a couple of 7 hour nights in there). I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the chronic tooth pain issues (not severe, but constant) that I am having? Has anyone else had a sleep pattern like this?

[[al...]]

Meowie,

According to your signature, it looks like you are fairly early into your jump from z-drugs. I stopped taking mine in May of 2015 and still have some weird sleep problems from time to time that seem anything but normal to me. I also have nice normal sleeps on many nights. I gave up keeping any sleep logs a long time ago, because I was never able to find any pattern. The mind heals in mysterious ways. I would suspect that the pattern that you described will morph into something else soon.

[[me...]]

Thanks Aloha, I know oftentimes there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the healing process. I actually quit with all the z-drugs and benzos in March, tapered the small amount of amitryptiline and jumped from that June 19th. I have to keep reminding myself I am only about 1 1/2 month out, it seems like this has been going on forever!

 

I'm thinking about trying estrogen again for a lot of reasons, one being that it supposedly helps deepen sleep.

[[Lo...]]

Hi All, I am looking for your advice re napping.

 

I am currently traveling on the east coast of Canada after a wedding for my nephew yesterday. .The  travel and jet lag add to the challenge of getting off Zopiclone. Also my friend that I am traveling with snores!!! Big challenge!!!

 

I am certainly sleep deprived these days and find myself about to fall asleep @4 p.m or so and often again @8 p.m if I am not active. It is really hard to stay awake!!! Strange for me.

 

I typically go to sleep around midnight with some difficulty and sleep til 5 or 6 or 7. Should I allow myself to fall asleep during the earlier sleepy times or will this just detract from the night time quality and length of sleep?

 

I generally sleep 6-7 hours but less on this trip.

 

Thanks for any advice.  LL

[[Ce...]]

Hi All, I am looking for your advice re napping.

 

I am currently traveling on the east coast of Canada after a wedding for my nephew yesterday. .The  travel and jet lag add to the challenge of getting off Zopiclone. Also my friend that I am traveling with snores!!! Big challenge!!!

 

I am certainly sleep deprived these days and find myself about to fall asleep @4 p.m or so and often again @8 p.m if I am not active. It is really hard to stay awake!!! Strange for me.

 

I typically go to sleep around midnight with some difficulty and sleep til 5 or 6 or 7. Should I allow myself to fall asleep during the earlier sleepy times or will this just detract from the night time quality and length of sleep?

 

I generally sleep 6-7 hours but less on this trip.

 

Thanks for any advice.  LL

 

 

Hi LL,

 

I don't have a lot to say about this other than, if it were me, I would try to stay awake, so I could sleep at night. Although, I have stayed awake and not slept at night, so Sorry I'm not much help.  CeCe