Post Benzo Freedom Withdrawal Support Group

[[ve...]]

Quick update.  Took 2mg melatonin last night and slept from 11:00 to 6:00AM, about seven consecutive hours.  However, woke up a little groggy, which is unlike me.  Not sure I like the groggy side effects.  I thought I needed a nap yesterday but when I went upstairs to do so, found that I was not sleepy and skipped it, had taken the 1mg melatonin the previous night.  So maybe it's helping, still a little early to make a final analysis.  Will probably keep taking the melatonin for a week and see how I feel.

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

 

Vertigo

[[ve...]]

thank j

no never caffeine or sugar

i will get those books.  one doctor said it was as if i am getting worse.

but worse happens and goes away right

i guess i am just so scared right now

 

How much sleep are you getting these days?  Are you under more stress right now than usual?  work stress?

 

Hang in there Pan,

 

Vertigo

[[gi...]]

Hi V,

 

I take 1000mg l-trypt & (how ever many mgs is in 1 tab of) l-theanine every night. I have for the last 18 months.  BTW I took l-trypt for 4 or so years, 10 years ago, but then it was taken off the market. And so I went back on pharmaceuticals...and the rest is history. I don't know if I've told you this b4 but since I was a kid I've been a VERY light sleeper. Up until puberty I was a regular sleep walker, but since then have only had 2 episodes that I know of; both very bizarre one! The first was in college (age 19); the most recent one was about 25 years ago.  I also talk in my sleep, but that's also calmed down over the years. Everyone in my family talked in their sleep; my sister had night terrors her entire life. I was the only one who wandered the house like a zombie, though.

Have a good day -

g

 

No, I didn't recall reading about the sleep walking G.  As far as the L-Tryptophan, I've found 500MG has been enough for me at the moment.  I'm hoping that maybe the melatonin will kick in and that I will be able to drop the L-Tryptophan.  I have no trouble falling asleep.  Also, I have always been able to read before bed and get sleepy that way. Some of the experts say no reading in bed, but I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, although my wife isn't always too happy about it if I read for too long .  My wife sometimes snores and I've found that if I ask her to use a breathe right strip, it seems to help.  I wonder if your hubby would be willing to give one a try since you said his snoring has woken you up from time to time.

 

V

 

He's tried CPAP (noise kept us both awake), BreatheRight (no help), mouth guard (ditto), nasal spray designed to relax the uvula - that only gave him a sinus infection.  He now has a prescription dental appliance that forces his jaw forward. It's supposed to work but it's incredibly uncomfortable and causes him to panic. He's managed an hour or two with it in before bed and about an hour in bed before he starts to panic.  I think as he wears it more & more he'll get used to it. If that doesn't work, he wants to have surgery.

 

I've told him absolutely not. We've seen several doctors about the types of surgery. The one that's appropriate for him is barbaric and it will permanently raise his voice an octave and change his profile.  I'd rather sleep on the couch than hear him with a different voice; that would be too freaky. Plus, like I said, the surgery is barbaric and painful.

 

Got another solid 5 in last night, though; another banner night! Then we both fell back to sleep for an hour after reading the Sunday paper in bed. It's a good day.

 

g

[[jo...]]

When I wake up in the morning and also from a nap I have the adrenaline problem. This began during acute w/d and is still with me at 6 months. It is constant with waves coming that can be severe and will last all day. The late evenings get better with it gone at times. I have noticed it gets better after I take my trazadone at night. I have read that trazadone also effects the neurotransmitters that work with the gaba in a positive way.

I understand how you are feeling. Some days it is so intense that I think it will drive me mad and I become very depressed thinking it will never end. I dread going to bed because it will be bad when I wake up, some mornings, most of them, it wakes me up.

 

This is what I am trying.

No caffeine in the morning if it is bad, if it is very low I will try a cup of half caffeine coffee, but not often.

No chocolate or other caffeine containing foods. I do notice a difference if I take caffeine in any form, it makes it worse.

OJ first thing in the morning to get my blood sugar up.

Exercise at the gym three days a week, weights and treadmill for 1 mile at a pace of 3 mph. This makes a big difference and I feel so much better afterwards. It really decreases the sx.

Walking my dog more often, we go out 6 times a day and take long walks.

Keeping very quiet in the morning, no TV, no talking, moving about slowly.

Drink lots of strong chamomlie tea. This does help a tiny bit.

I read a lot to keep my mind distracted from thinking about it.

 

I have noticed that when I am active doing housework, reading, shopping, etc. it seems to be gone, but when I sit down it comes back. When I think about it, let myself dwell on it that it will get worse.

 

The insomnia doesn't bother me any more. Had that for 4 months after the last .5 mg was stopped. I sleep very well now but haven't noticed that the sleep has made any difference for me. Sleep can make it worse for me.

 

I hope this helps in some way. Know that you are not alone in this and it will eventually get better.

Josephine

[[...]]

josephine - you are so kind and yes it did help a lot.

[[An...]]

Ginger and V

 

I found the perfect solution to my husband's snoring - separate rooms!!!

 

Works a treat hee hee

 

Angel

 

 

 

[[gi...]]

Ginger and V

 

I found the perfect solution to my husband's snoring - separate rooms!!!

 

Works a treat hee hee

 

Angel

 

You know, I do that on occasion -- but his snoring wakes me up anyway, and then I have to get up, go to his bed, smack him upside the head, tell him to shut the f* up, I'm trying to sleep, go back downstairs to my bed and then lay there until my heart stops pounding so I can go back to sleep! :laugh:

[[An...]]

 

I also wear earplugs 

[[ve...]]

Quick update.  Took 2mg melatonin and 500 L-Tryptophan at 10:15PM.  I noticed a little bit of stomach upset around half an hour later, not the first time with taking the L-Tryptophan.  I don't think it's something I will take on a regular basis.  Anyway, fell asleep by 11:00PM, woke up at 3AM briefly, did not get out of bed, went back to sleep til 6AM.  A little bit groggy this morning, nothing major.  Also, no nap yesterday afternoon. Tonight I will skip the L-Tryptophan and maybe try 2mg melatonin only.  Also, this week I am getting back on the exercise bike 20 minutes a day at least three to four times, probably start tomorrow as I have some appointments today.

 

Cheers,

 

V

[[pa...]]

Hi V!

I haven't been posting regularly here but I have been following your progress. I'm glad to hear that the melatonin has been working for you so far. At least, that's what I understand from your posts. I usually get by with 1.5mg melatonin at bedtime and sometimes another 1.5mg early morning if I wake up and don't feel I'll get back to sleep.

Sometimes my sleep can be flaky and I don't always seem to get as many hours as I think I should especially when I'm overtired. In fact, feeling overtired sometimes seems to cause me to not sleep as well.

Last week I was working all day shifts and I noticed more early morning wakefulness. Perhaps this was do to anticipating getting up? Today, I work that dreaded late night shift. I haven't heard yet if I'm working any additional nights or days this week so I'll just have to wait for the phone to ring...

Again, I'm glad to hear that the melatonin seems to be working. I have only had minor issues at times with melatonin. Certainly nothing like benzos, and I'm not even sure if the issues were connected with benzo w/d. I also don't have issues taking melatonin with small amounts of remeron. I'm still hoping for the day when I have a regular shift and don't need a boost, if you know what I mean!

It's difficult for me to respond to all the postings here directly. I am glad to see that members are interacting here and exchanging ideas. That was the reason Vertigo started this board and it has served the BB community well.

One more update for me plus a question... I have been suffering from an unusually strong sinus problem the last 2 months. I have been using a nasal cleansing pot with distilled water plus non-iodized salt. What you do is poor the water into one nostril over the sink with your head tilted and let the water flow out the other nostril. I've used this now for 3 days. Does anyone else here use that and how has it worked for them? I was getting desperate to try something different because my right ear got plugged and I was getting sinus pain and pressure behind my ear. To add to that, the sinus pressure started kicking up some old benzo symptoms with head-nerve pain. Not a nice combination!

Hope everyone has a great week and I'll try to post back later, work allowing!

 

[[ve...]]

Hi Pangelingua.  Yes, that is the idea of sinus flushing whether using a netipot or Simply Saline.  Are you getting much yellow or green discharge?  If so, it might be time to consider an antibiotic/visit to the doctor.  I have had some ear involvement with sinus infections on occasion (usually after inadvertently flying with a cold ) and depending on the situation, I have sometimes been able to shake it with about five or six days  of flushing but if after that period, the ear is painful and if the discharge does not start to become clear, you might have a situation that could best be treated by antibiotics.  Do you have any fever?  I try not to fly with a cold but there have been a couple of occasions when I was just early on catching it and felt i could get away with it, but usually I strongly urge one not to do so during the period where there is much sinus drainage.

 

As for the melatonin, I saw a doctor today about an unrelated matter (it's that time to consider having a routine colonoscopy) and he told me that melatonin helped with falling asleep, not sleep maintenance (staying asleep).  I told him about my research about Silenor/doxepin and he was reluctant about the idea that it would help sleep maintenance function, but he pulled out his i phone and looked it up and confirmed that at least on their website, it is correct that it claims to help for staying asleep, not just initiating sleep as perhaps may be the case with melatonin.  In any case, I will try the melatonin a while longer.  Hope your sleep troubles are minimal and that the switching of work shifts does not negatively impact your sleep too much.  By the way, I have confirmed there will be no valium or other sedatives used prior to the colonoscopy and I have indicated the request for Propofol only, no versed for anesthesia!

 

V

[[pa...]]

Hi V!

Fortunatley, it's all been clear discharge. However, there was some blood traces yesterday. Not sure what that means. Today, just clear and no fevers. I've heard that it may take some time to clear it all out so I'm planning to do it for a few more days. Today at least my ear feels better!

Quick update: I've just been informed that the night shift person is going to need at least 1 day off so I'll be covering them tomorrow evening. After that, my supervisor will contact me if they should need me Wed or Thurs.

This is how my weeks go... It can be unsettling but at least it means more money. I'll be working late for the next 2 nights (possibly more) and so I expect to feel tired for awhile.

One tip about the melatonin is that sometimes I'll take it if I wake up too early and don't feel like I'll get back to sleep. I don't know if it's just a sugar pill effect but it usually works! Again, best wishes to you and I'll try to post back tomorrow.

 

[[ve...]]

Sounds good Pange.  It's no fun to have to work late shifts when you are not feeling your best, but as you said, it does provide additional income for you and your family. It makes sense that the melatonin might help you fall back asleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.  The L-Theanine seemed to help me with that too but I woke up feeling pretty groggy so would only recommend it if you can sleep in the next day and of course, if you are not taking medications or other supplements that would not be safe to interact, best to check with the doc on those things.

 

Cheers,

 

Vertigo

[[ma...]]

Hi vertigo. I had propofol for my colonoscopy a year ago and it worked great and caused me no problems. Wish I could say the same about the prep. I should have stopped a lot sooner with the gatorade miralax mix. Boy was I clean, and wiped out. Luckily everything was ok.

Good luck to you.

I've gone back to melatonin 2.5 again for sleep. After a year I'm still struggling. I'm quitting wine again, just in case it will help my sleep.

[[ve...]]

Hi vertigo. I had propofol for my colonoscopy a year ago and it worked great and caused me no problems. Wish I could say the same about the prep. I should have stopped a lot sooner with the gatorade miralax mix. Boy was I clean, and wiped out. Luckily everything was ok.

Good luck to you. I've gone back to melatonin 2.5 again for sleep. After a year I'm still struggling. I'm quitting wine again, just in case it will help my sleep.

 

Thanks Maltesemom.  I've heard that propofol is a pretty good way to go too.  Hopefully that prep won't be too bad.  I figure if I could handle liquid valium, this won't be the worst thing in the world. Regarding wine, I find that I can occasionally have half a glass to a glass of wine with dinner without impact on sleep.  However, if I have two glasses or a third (which is not very often), I do tend to awaken around 3:00AM like clockwork. I've read that it has something to do with blood sugar where the alcohol raises it and the drop occurs some hours later which causes one to wake up.  Too much wine seems to also negatively impact my stomach so I generally stick to one or two glasses maybe once a month or two.  However, if it impacts your sleep, it might very well be a good idea for you to abstain for a while or longer .  I took 1mg melatonin last night before bed.  I slept through the night til about 6:00AM and woke up not feeling groggy .  It was a total of 6 hours and 45 minutes, not too shabby.  2mg may have been too much for me.  I would consider taking 2 or 3mg while traveling if I have a lot of jet lag.  In any case, on my next trip which will likely be next month, I will also take some L-Theanine with me.  It seemed to help me sleep as well, but also had some side effect of grogginess upon waking.  Guess there might not be a perfect solution.  I think I have found a doctor who has free Silenor samples, but  I plan to reserve that for jet lag as well.

 

Cheers,

 

Vertigo

[[gi...]]

I had propofol for my colonoscopy, too, with a side of ether. I definitely recommend it.  I think I need another endoscopy and I have no idea how they'll do it without benzos.

[[ve...]]

I had propofol for my colonoscopy, too, with a side of ether. I definitely recommend it.  I think I need another endoscopy and I have no idea how they'll do it without benzos.

 

Hi G.  Due to my history of acid reflux/GERD, my doctor wants to do an endoscopy of the esophogus too to make sure I do not have Barrett's.  It's a couple hundred more to add the endoscopy to the colonoscopy at the same time since the room is a one time charge for the colonoscopy.  Insurance confirmed about $200 more for the GI doc to add the 2nd procedure.  I am going to check if the anesthesiologist would try and charge more for an extra five minutes of propofol to do the 2nd procedure, we'll see, hopefully not.  On the other hand, I wonder why do the procedure when probably 90% of treatment for mild cases is what I already do, take prilosec, allbeit every other day.  I don't have any severe symptoms like pain or bleeding, just mild reflux mostly when I go off a reasonable diet, such as drinking more than a glass of wine or two and/or eating too many snacks or treats with them... Might have to rethink the endoscopy although maybe it's worth having a look and if it's clear, I might feel better about trying later in the year to wean off the prilosec again, something I unsuccessfully tried to do last year!  The reflux has been a little worse the last couple months since gaining back some weight since the holidays.  Time to get serious again about regular exercise!

 

V

 

 

[[ma...]]

Hi vertigo. Good luck with the procedures. You'll be glad you did them when they're over. I know you're right about stopping the wine. It's just such a part of my social life. Last nite was crummy sleep with 2mg of melatonin and 500 tryptophan. Tried 1mg and it was not enuf so took more an hour later. Maybe that's why it didn't work as well. I used 2.5 and it was generally good for me.

For some reason in Dec I was able to sleep naturally for about 2 weeks. Now I'm back to square one. So frustrating and now I feel crummy today. Every nite is a new adventure. If I get too tired I'll do unison. At least I can get some sleep with that. Just can't use it all the time.

Gotta run. Thanks for the advice. It's always welcome.

[[ve...]]

Hi vertigo. Good luck with the procedures. You'll be glad you did them when they're over. I know you're right about stopping the wine. It's just such a part of my social life. Last nite was crummy sleep with 2mg of melatonin and 500 tryptophan. Tried 1mg and it was not enuf so took more an hour later. Maybe that's why it didn't work as well. I used 2.5 and it was generally good for me.For some reason in Dec I was able to sleep naturally for about 2 weeks. Now I'm back to square one. So frustrating and now I feel crummy today. Every nite is a new adventure. If I get too tired I'll do unison. At least I can get some sleep with that. Just can't use it all the time.Gotta run. Thanks for the advice. It's always welcome.

 

Hi Maltesemom.  If you need the melatonin for now, 2 or 3mg is reportedly not harmful, although some articles suggest taking a break from it from  time to time.  I am going to keep it going for a week or two and see how I feel.  The L-Tryptophan did not seem to agree with my stomach a couple of times so I've taken a break from it for now. I doubled the melatonin to 2mg and found that it seemed to make me feel a little too groggy.  I tried 1mg again last night (and the night before) and slept like a log although I woke up slightly groggy this morning but not as bad as when I took 2mg.  My wife wakes up in a lesser state of alertness .  I used to wake up more alert when  I slept 5.5 to 6 hours compared with the 6 to 6.5 hours I've gotten a couple of times since I started this experiment.  Could it be the extra sleep  is leading to the grogginess or is it the melatonin effect? The chicken or the egg???  In any case, I think my body has enjoyed the extra sleep and I seem to need that nap a little less than has been the case in the past,  so I'll take the minor side effect of slightly increased morning grogginess for now.  It will be interesting when I get the Silenor samples in a couple weeks, whether there is any side effect.  Well, I hope everyone is hanging in there and making progress in their post benzo journey.

 

 

Vertigo

[[gi...]]

I think you should have the endo. I had mild like you and they found a tiny polyp. Polyps are always precancerous.  The doc also expanded my throat, which seems to be a common part of the procedure. That significantly reduced my a/r as well.  It's worth the extra $.

 

[[ve...]]

I think you should have the endo. I had mild like you and they found a tiny polyp. Polyps are always precancerous.  The doc also expanded my throat, which seems to be a common part of the procedure. That significantly reduced my a/r as well.  It's worth the extra $.

 

Thanks Ginger.  I thought polyps can be benign or malignant.  Maybe if they are in the esophagus or stomach area, they are pre cancerous?  I know they can be benign on the other end, because a family member has had benign ones.  Well, I'm still not 100% whether I'll do both procedures.  I'm waiting to hear back from the anesthesiologist to see how much more costs might be to do two procedures vs one.

 

Thanks,

 

Vertigo

[[ve...]]

Ginger and V

I found the perfect solution to my husband's snoring - separate rooms!!!

Works a treat hee hee

Angel

 

Maybe in another ten years Angel, I'll be right there with ya .  My wife and I joke when the other goes out of town how well we slept by ourselves.  Maybe it's not a joke afterall .  By the way, quick alcohol update.  Had 2 martinis at Valentines Day lunch yesterday (only the second or third time I've had more than just wine since being off benzos).  Things seemed to go well and glad I didn't have to sleep in my own bed .

 

V

[[pa...]]

Hi V!

On my my way to another late night but juts wanted to send you a quick reply!

Congradts on getting longer sleep hours. At this point, you sound like your getting more than I am!

I have 2 more late nights to tackle and then snore when I can. I'm always wondering that when I have the chance to get back to an earlier night, will I get to sleep on time?

Again, congradts, and I'll post again later.

[[ve...]]

Hi V!

On my my way to another late night but juts wanted to send you a quick reply!

Congradts on getting longer sleep hours. At this point, you sound like your getting more than I am!I have 2 more late nights to tackle and then snore when I can. I'm always wondering that when I have the chance to get back to an earlier night, will I get to sleep on time?

Again, congradts, and I'll post again later.

 

Hey Pangelingua.  Hope you had a good night shift and were able to return home and sleep well.  You and others here like you are the heroes, who have responsibly found a way to get off the benzo and take your life back, even if slowly.  You're a great dad and working hard for your family.

 

How lucky we all are to have survived this messy benzodiazepene experience and be free of them.  Some of us were not fully warned by our doctors about the dangers of benzodiazapene addiction, particularly in mixing with even a glass of wine.  Yes, the bottle may have a warning in fine print but many doctors do not emphasize the addictive dangers with taking even one or two benzo pills, whether it's valium or one of the newer  so called "safer" "shorter acting" wonder drugs like ativan, klonopin, or even xanax. And let's face it, some who may have addictive personalities will probably tend to take more than perscribed when feeling ill or not sleeping, in pain or whatever the original reason for taking it might have been. 

 

I have a friend who was diagnosed bipolar some years ago.  He was given a cocktail of antidepressants and an open prescription of klonopin to use "as needed" for sleep or work anxiety.  It seems criminal what some psychiatrists are doing in the name of medical care.  Fortunately, I was able to warn him in time about the dangers of klonopin and he decided to stick with the ambien he was taking and not add the klonopin. Ambien has it's own dependency issues and is a "Z" drug, but perhaps not quite the impact that klonopin dependency would do to most people.  I don't think my friend would be in as good a shape as he is today if he had started up with the klonopin.  Plus, he has managed in the last year or two to taper off most of the antidepressants that were actually causing him more distress. 

 

It's not just the stars like Whitney Houston who are finding out the horrors of benzodiazepene prescriptions for anything other than short term use, and particularly when consumed with alcohol.  We don't yet know for sure what the cause of death will be, but I am pretty certain that Whitney Houston's lab toxicology will show ongoing use of xanax and ativan from what I've heard on the news.  My mother died of a cerebral hemmhorage in her early sixties.  Among the other medications she was taking were xanax and ativan.  It's so sad to see another human being, not just a famous one, die from complications of benzodiazepene use (if in fact that is what happened). 

 

Hope all are continuing to heal and make progress in their post benzo recovery,

 

Vertigo

[[Su...]]

Hi Vertigo..quick question...how long off were you before you tried alcohol? I am going to be 17 months off next week and I am thinking of trying a glass of wine or wine cooler and wondered when you tried it and if you think I should wait. I'm only talking 1 glass!