SEVERE insomniacs emergency hangout

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Shirah, has anyone in this group had any help at all with natural remedies or OTC remedies or RX that doesn't mess up our progress?  Thank you.  Cross

 

I take Natural Calm magnesium and a 1/2 Unisom one hour before bed

[[cr...]]

Thank you, Vika.  How many mg Magnesium?  Cross

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Thank you, Vika.  How many mg Magnesium?  Cross

.

 

It's a powder.  I suggest to start with a half of teaspoon as it may give loose stools.  I take a teaspoon to teaspoon and a half,  dissolve in half a cup of water.  You can find it in max nutrition stores

[[Sh...]]

Cross - OTCs never worked for me. I do take a natural supplement combo called Sleep Reset; I find it calming, but won't really induce sleep. For a while, I alternated between low doses of two sedating ADs: Remeron and trazodone. They worked pretty well for a time, but I'm trying not to take them any more, as they no longer worked consistently. On occasion I've also had some luck smoking pot (indica strain).

[[cr...]]

Ok, thanks, I was just thinking that since this group started in April that by now someone would have found something that works.  Sleep is just so elusive, yet so important. Cross

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Malamute80, I am in the same insomnia hell and I am sorry you are suffering too.  Can you ask

Friends or family to walk your dog for you if you can't afford to pay someone? Cross

 

Hi thanks for the reply .

No matter how messed up I am with no sleep I still manage to walk the dog , he gets 3 walks aday either from me or my partner .. It's just a shame it's not more but I'm doing my best . I love my dog so much , it's so sad that the dog sees me upset all the time .

 

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Good on ya, Malamute, you had said "impossible" after you mentioned your dog so I thought he wasn't getting any walks.  Bless you for being such a good dog owner!  Cross

[[MT...]]

Cross, benzo wd insomnia is mind blowing. Most of us have had at least transient experiences with insomnia (at least a night or so) before but prior to this if we lost sleep we were sleepy. I used to be the one in the family that had to get a ton of sleep and now I'm awake later at night and up earlier than everyone.

 

There has been progress though. I used to have zero sleep nights multiple times a week and now I've had one night like that in the past 2-3 weeks. None of my sleep is deep, it's very broken, but I'm thankful for every minute. I'm tapering off all of my other meds and will be drug free in less than 3 weeks. Scary but worth it.

 

Recovery is going to happen for us but it sure takes a long time. Get through this any way you can. Be compassionate towards yourself.

[[cr...]]

Wow, only 3 weeks and you will be off all meds. How exciting that must be for you, so happy for you.  Cross

[[mu...]]

Sleep..... Still not really getting better.  Ran out of my Ambien last night and laid in bed all night tossing and turning maybe got some light REM stage sleep but that was about it. 

 

I figured I would see how my body did without taking an ambien last night but dang I guess I am really dependent on it now.

 

Oh well guess we will see how tonight goes.

[[Sh...]]

Murph - As you may already know, Ambien works on the same brain receptors as benzos, keeping the GABA-a receptors down-regulated. And those receptors need a chance to heal for natural sleep to return. So if you must take something for sleep (and I fully understand the need for it when dealing with relentless, long-term insomnia), you'll be doing yourself a big favor by avoiding anything that messes with those same receptors.

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Wow, only 3 weeks and you will be off all meds. How exciting that must be for you, so happy for you.  Cross

 

Thanks, Cross. I've been at this almost 2.5 years so it's been a long road with some heavy travel still ahead. You'll get there.

 

Murph, have you considered tapering the Ambien so you don't have as extreme of a reaction? This is so tricky to figure out.

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Shriah and mtfan

 

Thanks yes I realize the zip drugs are pretty much a benzo wrapped in another blanket so to speak.  It sucks because I try to cut and then I find myself taking the whole pill just because it is "easier".

 

I've been able to come off xanax and Lexapro. I thought that ambien would go as smoothly but I can't seem to find traction in the cutting department.

 

I mean I'm glad I'm down to only an ambien but after last night I realize that it has a huge impact on my ability to fall asleep.  I thought I'd manage to get some sleep last night but really felt like I didn't sleep at all.

 

I'm going to keep trying but man this is tough!

 

Insomnia is such a silent struggle because those who have never suffered they won't and don't understand.  I never knew either but now I get it.

 

Good luck everyone!

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Murph, are you tapering  Ambien or just not taking it anymore?  It's late and I'm confused.  Thank you.  Cross

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Murph - It might be a good idea to cut up the pills in advance, so the lower dose is ready to go before bedtime or whenever you reach for it.

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crosstheroad, I have been trying to taper off ambien but it is not an easy pill to cut I always end up with random pieces.  Some nights I just take the entire pill 10mg and other nights more or less around 7.5mg.  I am going to really focus this next month on making a noticeable cut.  I want to be around 5mg by end of the month hopefully.  Last night took a full 10 since the night before sleep was so crappy.  I remember when I use to take a full ambien and not even sleep and that was why I took Xanax too so luckily my brain has healed from that portion so far.  I will keep you posted.

 

Shirah, good idea I will actually take sometime today with my new prescription and cut them up.  Usually if I did it I would do it right before bed and I would get lazy and just take the entire 10mg.  Man I had no idea how hard this would ever be but I guess we all get to a point where we finally want off this stuff.

 

[[ch...]]

I have surfing the web for all sleep sites I have had chronic insomnia for 10+ years, Xanax was a God Send then.  I have two options I have order pharm grade melatonin since I want to start that first, I am also non 24 but sighted.  If that doesn't work I will ask for a weeks worth of the strongest sleep aide possible to get back to sleeping at night, even though what ever sleep get is in patches I am like an angry zombie right now, excuse my errors, God bless us all.  No sleep makes me so off the chain it is dangerous, can't drive or do anything for that matter, just thought I would mention that.  What is the best sleep aide if I need to resort asking the DOC isn't going to help right now.

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Chava - I don't think there's any one "best sleep aide" for all people. What works well for one person may not work at all for another. In addition to melatonin, there are other natural supplements like tryptophan and magnesium, various herbs like chamomile and valerian, OTC like Benedryl or Unisom, and sedating ADs like trazodone and mirtazapine. You can find tons of info on the pros and cons of all these and other options on the "Other Medications" portion of this website.

 

Ultimately, natural sleep is the best sleep, but it takes a lot of time and patience to regain that ability once it's lost due to the damage caused by benzos and z-drugs...How long have you been off Xanax (assuming you are off it)?

[[Co...]]

i'm back in the worst insomnia wave/taper i have been. I feel awful and not sure how i will survive right now, i'm in so much pain from not sleeping

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i'm back in the worst insomnia wave/taper i have been. I feel awful and not sure how i will survive right now, i'm in so much pain from not sleeping

 

I'm soooo sorry Corsair!  :'(

 

Maybe it's because you just came off of Trazadone? Hopefully it will even out for you soon my friend. 

[Guest [Th...]]

I have been missing 1 to 2 days and sometimes 3 since I CT in August.  lately it has been getting better I get some sleep one night and then none the next.  Hit a recent wave where I have only gotten 2 hours 1 night and 1 hour last night preceded by a zero night.  The zero nights are the worse and I think I have had about 40 since August.  Not sure why, but I feel wired today even though I didn't sleep last night (maybe an hour).  I am 3.5 months out and thought the days of feeling wired were in acute only?  Please give me some supportive words.

 

[[MT...]]

Theway, I know how hard this is. It can feel impossible to make it through another day sleep deprived, or through another long, sleepless night, but somehow we do. It seems to me that sleep deprivation produces a feeling very similar to acute. You've made it 3.5 months and that's great. I see some positive signs of recovery in you. For severe insomniacs we have to notice the small changes. That you're able to get any sleep at all is positive. That means your brain is capable of sleeping and that will only continue. I celebrate every bout of sleep, even when it's a few minutes long. It's easy to focus on that never enough feeling-we get scraps of sleep when we're starving for a sleep feast. It will come.

[[Bl...]]

Hi Guys, I'm joining this group as I could use some support through this horrible sleep deprivation.  I've been in a nightmare for almost 4 years now between C/T reinstatements of both benzos and AD's and the sleep deprivation just keeps getting worse.  The reinstatement really didn't help much so I assume I'm kindled. I'm at low doses of valium, remeron and doxepin now but I'm struggling to finish them due to complete lack of sleep. I literally get no sleep for long periods and it's scaring me now as this is what put me in the ER at the end of 2014 where they reinstated a benzo to taper but even though I have tapered slowly it's been brutal.

 

I can cope with any other sxs but the long stretches of no sleep are slowly destroying my health.  Just recently I went 2 full weeks with zero sleep, I didn't think it possible but I did.  I had a week of poor broken sleep ( using herbs and MJ ) and now I'm back to zero sleep again.  I don't know how I'm going to get through this.......any support would really help.

 

Thanks,

Blue

[[Mi...]]

Hi Blue,

I'm pretty new to this so I can't contribute any profound words of wisdom. When I know at some point during the night nothing will work and I'm not going to sleep, I listen and watch ASMR videos on YouTube. They are very relaxing, once you find your favorites. Sometimes I can at least doze off to one of these. And even if I can't, the sound of another human talking or whispering relieves some of the anxiety of being awake. I don't feel so alone

I'm sorry you're suffering. Insomnia sucks. Hang in there...

Mindy

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Mindy, thank you for the tips. This insomnia is brutal and it seems anything that I try loses it's effectiveness very quickly. I'm sorry you are dealing with this too...I hope we all get some much needed relief soon.