Sleep habits during withdrawal

[[Ri...]]

Im not sure if im posting in the right place or if this has been discussed before (I did see one thread but it didnt have much info). I have a few queries about what people think is best for sleeping habits during withdrawal.

 

For the last few months I have been sleeping around 9 hours a night and I mostly fall asleep between 1-3 am and wake between 10-11. I also am an alarm snoozer so I set my alarm for 10 and usually snooze and nod off about every 15 minutes for an hour.

 

I just read an a few articles online about how snoozing and falling asleep in between is quite bad for you because your body has prepared for waking up (which it does two hours prior) but when you fall asleep and wake up over and over again by snoozing your alarm, in a nutshell it confuses your brain and your left feeling crappy when you wake up and sometimes overall most of the day. I have done this the majority of my adult life. Does anybody notice this makes them feel bad?

 

I was in some really bad sleeping habits for many many years of oversleeping 10-11ish hours maybe even more. I also did the whole snooze thing with my alarm all those years too and I definitely think this was when my anxiety problems were at peak. I a lot had a lot of disassociation and was always complaining of feeling ''out of it'' which I was told were caused from anxiety but im pretty certain oversleeping caused a lot of this as well as increasing anxiety. And maybe even the alarm snoozing? I knew it didnt make feel good but maybe it was contributing more than I gave it credit

 

Anyway I was wondering what people think is best to do during withdrawal? I was rising earlier, earlier in the year although partly due to insomnia  but my problem now is that on the days that I have tried to wake earlier I have felt pretty weird and out of it maybe even more so than when I oversleep a little. My symptoms have always been at a peak after i wake up untill between 2 and 4 in the avo and then they die down. So basically by waking at 11 I have been sleeping through some of my symptoms and making myself feel groggy for the rest of the day which im not sure i mind during this withdrawal crap. I do worry about how zombied out I probably seem to others thou...

 

The thing is I dont want to do something counterproductive by oversleeping and hinder healing or something because it obviously has an effect on the brain. Does anyone have any info or opinions on this?

[[Ch...]]

It sounds like you would benefit from putting "Sleep Hygiene" in your internet search engine.  There are many many documented things you can do to help, and they are all worth trying long term, especially when a person has poor sleep habits.

That being said, insomnia is a very real and debilitating result of Benzo use/discontinuation and there is very little that can change that part of the equation except time and healing. The peace and acceptance comes with knowing that you have done everything in your power to help.

The Insomnia thread can be both helpful and scary, so pick and choose what you read and absorb.

Good luck....it does get better.

[[me...]]

I agree you have some serious sleep hygiene issues. You circadian rhythm is totally out of whack if you are going to sleep at 1 to 3 in the morning! You need to be getting to bed around 9 to 11 and waking up at dawn. It will take quit a bit of adjustment to get back to a normal rhythm, but I bet you would feel a ton better! I also agree about doing some research on the web to figure out what you need to to.

 

Staying away from electronics, and any type of blue light, in the evenings, as well as exposure to outdoor light first thing in the morning, and a good chunk of it during the day, are what is going to help the most. Difficult for many, but not impossible if you really want to improve your sleep.

 

I have to say your use of the snooze button sounds absolutely like torture to me! You are short-circuiting natural sleep cycles when you do that. I cannot stand alarms or snooze buttons, and wake naturally every morning at the same time. Once you get your circadian rhythm back, you won't need a snooze button. But during the process of resetting, you'll have to force yourself to get up.

 

Please let me know if you want more info, as this is a strong area of interest for me...