PTSD and benzo w/d

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37 days in after rapid detoxing from Valium (15+ year use).  Like so many of you the physical sx are improving ie muscle spasm, shooting nerve pain, HA etc.  The insomnia issue has taken on a life of its own. I've been using Melatonin in addition to Neurontin (700mg) and Lamictal (25 mg) at bedtime but the nightmares are horrible.  The main topics are either blood baths (reliving days of being in the medical world) or my mother (last night she was coming after me with a large kitchen knife ).  I'd rather not sleep than have such graphic nightmares.  This is not a fictitious post!  I'm going to start using my alpha stim device daily to try to help with the PTSD and pray that the SSRI starts kicking in pretty soon.  This is not the way to start the holiday season.  Thanks for the support and any advice you can offer.  This benzo w/d process is such a lonely ordeal

[[Da...]]

37 days in after rapid detoxing from Valium (15+ year use).  Like so many of you the physical sx are improving ie muscle spasm, shooting nerve pain, HA etc.  The insomnia issue has taken on a life of its own. I've been using Melatonin in addition to Neurontin (700mg) and Lamictal (25 mg) at bedtime but the nightmares are horrible.  The main topics are either blood baths (reliving days of being in the medical world) or my mother (last night she was coming after me with a large kitchen knife ).  I'd rather not sleep than have such graphic nightmares.  This is not a fictitious post!  I'm going to start using my alpha stim device daily to try to help with the PTSD and pray that the SSRI starts kicking in pretty soon.  This is not the way to start the holiday season.  Thanks for the support and any advice you can offer.  This benzo w/d process is such a lonely ordeal

 

I'm just over two months out from the end of my rather rushed taper off Diclazepam. I have horrific, very disturbing nightmares too. Blood is a common thread for me, blood, demons, evil entities, people trying to kill me, people I care about being killed or tortured right in front of me, and being trapped in a huge labyrinth and something very evil is coming after me and I can't find a way out etc. I get these EVERY time I manage to go to sleep for even ten minutes. I wake up freaked out, shaking and physically sick. Utterly fed up of it. Sorry this is happening to you too.

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The nightmares and flashbacks were how my xanax dose increased and I'm having trouble coming off. My doctor prescribed an alpha blocker called Prazosin to help with the night sleep. She said the VA has done studies with it on PTSD vets and it helps get the sleep back on track. She said it keeps the the adrenaline surge during the night which keeps the night terrors at bay. It does seem to be helping me from having night time panic.

 

I'm sorry you're struggling with this too.

[[Da...]]

The nightmares and flashbacks were how my xanax dose increased and I'm having trouble coming off. My doctor prescribed an alpha blocker called Prazosin to help with the night sleep. She said the VA has done studies with it on PTSD vets and it helps get the sleep back on track. She said it keeps the the adrenaline surge during the night which keeps the night terrors at bay. It does seem to be helping me from having night time panic.

 

I'm sorry you're struggling with this too.

 

I am very shocked by what my subconscious is capable of. I would never have been terrified by a silly dream pre WD. When this happens to me now I am totally freaked out by it and it takes me a while to realize it's not actually happening. I'll wake up, even just five minutes into 'sleep', totally freaked out now. It also causes me massive adrenaline/energy surges and palpitations which rev up all my physical symptoms too. I can't even watch a lot of movies now because it'll just become a twisted rerun of them if I dare sleep. I am not really sleeping anymore. Tiny sounds like a car passing by outside or one of the neighbors closing a door etc cause me a massive startle response. I must have background noise 24/7 to drown them out but my S/O, who has NO real idea what I am going through yet (I've yet to find a way of explaining this to him), needs silence at night. I usually go and freak out in another room away from him. I can't sleep or even get any rest after one of these 'nightmares', I have to totally distract myself from the terror or else my mind will play tricks on me and tell me my 'dream' is actually happening.

 

The 'sleep' I get now as a result of collapsing from exhaustion is just darkness, dark oblivion, and never for long. I call it a 'toxic black void'. I'll take it over sheer terror though. Meh.