Does sleep discipline return?

[[bl...]]

Speaking to those of you who're sleeping again, I'm wondering how disciplined your sleep is.

 

Overall, I sleep every night now, usually at least 6-8 hours. While it's still not the best sleep in my opinion, it's a world away from the toxic, chemical sleep I was getting a few months ago. The rare full night seems like a thing of the past. The past two weeks I've not had a single night laying awake for any duration. Better yet, last night I was exhausted, just shattered, and I was able to sleep hard all night. In the past, exhaustion would often lead to the worst nights.

 

I'm happy, and I worry less and less about sleeping now, especially as I prove I can and I do. The thing I'm now concerned about is discipline. I sleep a lot, and even if I'm not asleep, I just lay there trying to coax myself back under.

 

Do you all find as time goes on it is easier to get up in the morning? Does your sleep feel more nourishing as time goes on?

[[Da...]]

Hi blandthrax, sleeping has gotten a lot better for me. The strange part is since I was in the acute phase I don't sleep at night I stay up all night and sleep in the daytime. I think I have figured out the reason why. But when I do go to bed around 6-8am I do sleep a full 8 hours now maybe more sometimes. And it is a hard sleep not interrupted. I also don't have much problem falling asleep as soon as I hit the bed I'm out. I was really an insomniac disaster during my first 60 days and that makes you feel so bad. Not only you have to go with no sleep but you have to figure out what to do for 23 hours per day. You sound like it has come back for you to.

[[bl...]]

I worry a bit because right now I'm spending 10-12 hours in bed. I don't know right now if I need to start trying some CBTi or what, gradually backing off on time spent laying down.

 

I still don't necessarily feel like myself. I feel undisciplined and a little fragile, but maybe the fact that I can wear myself out to the point where I feel like I'm running on fumes and still sleep is a good sign. I just wish I could get out of bed before noon and stay out of bed.

 

I know a lot of people wish they had this problem. I remember reading warnings that when sleep finally came back, I might get more than I bargained for.

[[Da...]]

I know exactly how you feel. I also have been sleep really hard, sometimes for up to 10 hours and also I take naps sometimes and lately I have been able to fall asleep. I know some people on this site are envious of us being able to sleep but mine has gotten with my depression which does make me sleep longer and harder and sometimes feeling worn out. But I have to say that since I started being able to sleep I have felt a lot better then the times when I could not sleep at all. I would wake up with a kind of jolt. That is gone now and I do actually feel a lot better.

 

I guess it is feast or famine.

[[bl...]]

I can't nap, yet, but I hope that's only a matter of time. I think I have a mental block on napping, or maybe I'm just not tired enough.

 

I'll take feast any day. It's good to sleep, I don't want to ever go back to not sleeping, but too much can decrease one's quality of life. I guess it's good that my sleep keeps passing all these critical tests.

 

Perhaps I just need to man up and implement my own discipline. It's easier said than done. When morning comes round, I'm a different person than at any other part of the day.

[[Da...]]

Whenever my sleep started changing I turned a corner. I went from insomniac to sleeper and I feel so much better. I still have a lot of symptoms I think the worst in anxiety. but I realized how bad off I was when I could not sleep. I feel sorry for people who are in this as far as me and still cannot sleep, it is a difficult thing to go through and it debilitating in a really bad way. It is definitely a sign of improvement.

[[bl...]]

Whenever my sleep started changing I turned a corner. I went from insomniac to sleeper and I feel so much better. I still have a lot of symptoms I think the worst in anxiety. but I realized how bad off I was when I could not sleep. I feel sorry for people who are in this as far as me and still cannot sleep, it is a difficult thing to go through and it debilitating in a really bad way. It is definitely a sign of improvement.

 

Insomnia is by far the worst symptom top to bottom out of all this because so much healing ties into sleep. Sleep restores and cleanses and when it's suddenly not there, it takes big recovery tool out of your box. You know how when you get sick or injured, what do you do? You rest, you sleep. I think a vast majority of those getting off benzos wouldn't have nearly as rough a time if it didn't affect sleep so much.

 

So getting sleep back has been huge for me, but I'm still not to the point now where I trust it. I'm still afraid it's going to go away.

[[Ce...]]

Hi guys,

 

Just want to pop in here and add a couple cents. This was by far my very worst sx, as well, because as previously stated, sleep is most important for us. It's hard to do any kind of healing without it. I'd even say impossible.

 

This was such a bear for me. I went a full week with no sleep once and I really thought they were going to have to cart me away      it was absolute horror!

 

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to change some habits I have at night. I turn the tv in my bedroom off at 2am, (I've always gone to bed late), so there is no stimulation. At 2am I take 6mg melatonin, yes more pills just not as harmful, by 2:30 - 3:00 I'm out!  I sleep about 7 hour nightly.

 

Like you blandthrax, I wake up tired, but I've noticed if I just discipline myself (as I had to in acute and throughout this entire w/d) to get up at a certain hour, literally get out of bed and get going, get my decaf, go out on the deck and see what kind of day it is, listen to the birds, whatever, I'm able to stay up. If I stay in bed like I was doing during acute, I'm hopeless.

 

Hope this helps a little. ~CeCe 

[[me...]]

Blandthrax, according to your signature, you are still on a very powerful sleep drug! I don't think you are going to have a normal sleep structure until you are off of it completely and have had a chance to heal and normalize all your body systems. Hopefully withdrawal from Remeron won't lead to more disturbed sleep, but there is always that possibility. I know when I was on even a moderate dose of amitryptiline, it was very hard to get out of bed, these drugs are very sedating.

[[bl...]]

Blandthrax, according to your signature, you are still on a very powerful sleep drug! I don't think you are going to have a normal sleep structure until you are off of it completely and have had a chance to heal and normalize all your body systems. Hopefully withdrawal from Remeron won't lead to more disturbed sleep, but there is always that possibility. I know when I was on even a moderate dose of amitryptiline, it was very hard to get out of bed, these drugs are very sedating.

 

Yes agreed, I'm tapering off the Remeron as quickly as I can. While it is sedating, I still notice my sleep improving more as time goes on. During my benzo taper and withdrawals, it didn't matter, sleep was awful or nonexistent so there is definitely great improvement within me.

 

I'm trying to step down gradually. I do a cut, let my sleep adjust, do another cut, etc. While it's not ideal, I've slept better in the past three weeks than at any time since last September and it's improving with each passing week. I'm sleeping through every night, not just one night here and there, but every single night. I've been taking Remeron since January and it never helped sleep the way I'm sleeping now, so I'm happy with the way things are progressing.

 

I don't anticipate a huge problem getting off the Remeron if I give my body enough time to adjust. I've gone down from 3.7mg to 3mg and sleep is getting better and better with each passing week. This week I'm making another cut to 2.8mg and hope to be down to 2mg by the end of August. It's not ideal, but like I said, it's vitally important to have sleep as a healing tool.

[[Br...]]

My sleep has fully returned to normal. So yes, it does get back to normal. In fact, if you can ride out the anxiety that comes with sleeping, or the inability to sleep. You will get better sleep than you ever had over the time of recovery.

[[je...]]

Just wanted to revive this thread to give hope

[[wh...]]

Yes sleep returns but deep sleep takes time