5 years off..sleep not returning...help..?

[[hs...]]

Its been 5 years already and my sleep is still not resolved...during the earlier years i thought that sleep would eventually get better as more time went by...but im still having the same rem broken wake up every 3 to 4 hours..its been this way for 5 years...i think im thr only onr here still struggling with sleep so many years off...should i just accept that sleep isnt going to return or should i just give some more time?

[[hs...]]

Ive tried sleep hygiene restriction...melatonin sleep tracks..alot of things and it dosent help at all.....

[[...]]

I'm the same way, although not as far out as you.  I am 44 months off now and have been stuck at 5-6 broken hours for a few years.  It just stopped improving.  I never sleep more than four hours in a block.  And I tapered for 30 months before that and did not sleep well during the taper either, so my total time being sleep disrupted is over six years.  These drugs are exceedingly damaging.

[[...]]

That's a good question...IDK.  I worry it is at this point as I have not noticed any change for about two years.  But we just don't know.  Maybe some of the longer-term protracted members will see this and tell us what they experienced in the 5-10 year range.  My guess is it will slowly keep improving.

 

I sleep well enough for health I guess, but it sure would be nice to sleep through the night again.  I never had any sleep problems prior to tapering.

[[MT...]]

I feel for you hsj and SG57. Being protracted and not sleeping is especially painful. I'm almost at 22 months. I've been in a long stretch of only a few minutes at a time sleep or zero sleep every night for the past 6 weeks since tapering off 3 nights per week of amitriptyline. Prior to that I only slept those 3 nights/week. At this point I feel like I'd do back flips for 2-4 hours and it's getting very clear to me that my sleep is going to take a very long time to recover. Just getting through every day is a struggle. Like you guys, nothing seems to make any difference--exercise, meditation, diet, etc. I'd love to hear from some long term insomniacs that got better. Did either of you have much of the zero sleep thing?

[[...]]

No, even at my worst I got two hours, although they were still broken. I have never really been an insomniac so to speak. I always slept well other than this dang taper. Something is damaged.

[[Bu...]]

HSJ,

 

Feel for ya Buddy. Probably not what you want to hear but... Acceptance is important. Try not to worry about how much sleep you get, don't obsess. You may not be getting all that you want, but enough? Try to learn to just relax while laying in bed, you are still resting even if not sleeping.

 

The pattern that you describe is more than I get, more than most on this forum. I am just grateful to be getting any at all. 4 to 6 total hours is better than two or none. When I get seven or eight I am ecstatic, broken or not!

 

Have you tried bacopa, Tryptophan, Relora, Flexeril or Phenergan off label?

 

Good Luck and Good Night! 

 

Wilson

[[hs...]]

Thanks buddies...now i feel alot better..before taking in all this junk for depression and anxiety..i had no problem with sleep...slept long and deep for 12 plus hours..and took refreshing naps too...... :'( i guess i should just accept whats happened to my brain...acceptance is the key no?

[[Bu...]]

HSJ,

 

Yeah I think that there are a few things at play. Yes of course the damage done by benzos literally altered your brain, but the damage should have healed at least somewhat by now. Then there's always the line about "as we age we need  less sleep", blah blah blah... Both of these could be contributing.

 

If I were you I would start experimenting with some nootropics like ginkgo biloba, got kola, bacopa monnieri, ashwaghanda, rhodiola, relora, Theanine and especially Tryptophan, etc... Can't hurt.

 

For instance: BACOPA MONNIERI in fact might prove very helpful, since this has been shown in studies firstly to NOT be a GABA RECEPTOR AGONIST, but has in fact been shown to upregulate down-regulated GABA receptors, which means it could prove highly useful in helping to treat recovery from GABA RECEPTOR AGONIST ADDICTION:

 

Okay now don't laugh... There are some very powerful self healing meditation techniques out there, they work! The mind heals us all of the time, it is what it does. With direct intention using certain techniques we CAN learn to heal ourselves very effectively. If you are interested let me know I can lead you to some really good stuff. Hey if nothing else it's a way to kill some of your free time while you're awake, hah! 

 

Here is a cool entry level one, check it out: The Reach Approach "Heal thyself"

 

Good luck friend,

 

 

Wilson

 

[[ve...]]

Hey hsj, I've read that you drank pretty heavily after your jump for a while? From what I've read alcohol acts like benzos, so they might have caused a setback in your recovery. It might be better to count from. The date you last stopped drinking. I'm no doctor, so I can't say for sure, but I guess as long as we stay the course and stay away from all supplements or drugs a respectable sleep pattern will return, not sure if it'll ever get to pre-benzos for me, and I was only on Lorazepam garbage for a month and my sleep has not returned at 7months out.

 

Take care.