Need non-pharma advice

[[bi...]]

My insomnia is crippling, like many on these forums. I am trying to see natural things that helped some if you. I wouild like to avoid any pills or supplements. I feel like my brain is permanently damaged. Please let me know things that worked for you. This insomnia has triggered a very scary and dark depression that is quite concerning, and I would like to find a way to at least get some sleep. Please let me know what eorked for you. I am also voncerned about the temptation to go back to drinking as a sleep aid. Im three days shy of my 1 year alchohol free anniversary, and that would be bad. Thank you.

[[mo...]]

Hi billy,

 

I am so sorry you are suffering with this.  I am 5 months off and although not the worst insomnia case here, insomnia is my worst symptom.  From pretty early on I started incorporating things to help.  I have noticed some improvement and seem to be getting better.

 

 

-Daily walks in nature 35-45 minutes, longer hikes in nature on the weekends

-listen to guided mediation 1-2x a day YouTube search meditation for benzo withdrawal and click on Benzoland

-gentle easy yoga 35-40 minutes can be found on youtube

-no screens for an hour before bed

-bath before bed with Epsom salts and lavender essential oils

-Eat two teaspoons of Ghee just before bed to have fat and protein

-diffuse essential oil lavender at night, put lavender on bottoms of my feet before bed

-listen to guided meditation once I turn out the lights youtube Jason Stephenson or Michael Sealy, if/when I wake up during the night listen to same mediatations for as many times as it takes until I fall asleep or if I realize there is no chance switch to youtube Delta waves sleep music leave on the rest of the night

-stay in bed with eye mask on an lay listening to Delta waves sometimes I am in a trance somewhere between being awake and being asleep, sometimes I realize a small snippet of a dream which clues you in that you are getting sleep.  But at least keep eyes closed and let your body/brain rest

 

I also do use supplements and have clean diet.  I cannot tell which of these things for sure is THE thing because it would be hard to know with so many variables but I am seeing improvement.  I have had to resort to Benadryl about 5 times in the 5 months so not very often.  I hope you can get some sleep soon and feel better.

 

 

[[al...]]

Billy,

I'm sure that you heard this many times before, but starting at the last time you got off the drugs, you are still fairly early on in the process and sleep should get a little better for your soon. Not great, or even good, but better than where you are now. The tricky thing about this sort of insomnia is that you can't really coax sleep into coming over and sitting on your lap like a pet. The more you try to do to get some sleep, the more you think about and hope for sleep. Expectation, at least for me, often just closes the door to sleep. Getting frustrated when sleep doesn't come, or getting overly worried about the next day tends to build up the nervous energy and you become more awake.

 

Probably the best thing that you can do would be to go to bed at your regular time and plan on staying in bed until your regular wake up time regardless of getting any sleep. This is your rest period and a time to capture as many micro-sleeps as possible. Just do what you can to eliminate any discomforts or annoyances that might make any possible sleep that much harder to get (excessive heat is a big one). In my opinion, it the best that you can do. In the meantime, depression and anxiety will remain ramped up due to lack of sleep so you can work on addressing those problems directly. Perhaps seeing a good therapist might be helpful. If you can't do much about the sleep issue, then direct your attention to managing the side-effects of insomnia.

 

Be careful about natural sleep aids. Many of these products contain ingredients that stimulate GABA production. I have googled a product name along with "GABA" before and found that a product does indeed mess with this brain chemistry. You also mentioned a concern about returning to alcohol, but I am sure that you already know that booze effects some of the same receptors as benzos and can most certainly set recovery pretty far back for some people. You really do not want to risk that.

[[...]]

Hi Billy,

 

So sorry you are still in your wave although it is not surprising.. after all you have not just withdrawn from benzo's but alcohol too - so a double whammy! really the improvements you have made had been pretty amazing and i think it is always important when in a wave to take stock of just how far we have come.. i think what aloha and momert said is great advice about engaging in positive/relaxing/helpful activity, observing good sleep hygiene, and practicing an accepting attitude.. it's hard for me to add to that.. i had a really good spell of about 5-6 weeks sleep, the best sleep in a year, and now it seems i am in wave of some sort - tho not as bad as yours.. but yeah it's like a slap in the face as you come to expect all the good stuff, start to take it for granted even.. so when a waves hits, it seems harder to accept and you have to downgrade your expectations once more and get used to the suffering.. but we have to remember that the waves are part of the recovery - there is no way around them so we have to go through them.. hence i think acceptance and patience is the key, acknowledge the situation but avoid wallowing in it, engage in constructive/helpful behaviour, and be patient knowing that with time things will get better and begin to smooth out

 

hope this helps a little Billy

 

we are all in this together

 

XOX

[[ex...]]

Hello,

 

Many great advice here. I just want to add my experience tackling this sleep problem. Now I almost have no insomnia, 90% of the time I can get to sleep with no problem. And I too, am more into natural things, holistic way of health.

 

It is lot of potassium that I need. I consume a lot of salad everyday (lettuce, etc. - you know, green leafy vegetables). I got this info from the internet. Potassium helps calm down the body, normalize your blood pressure as well (I never have any issue with my blood pressure anymore).

 

I hope this helps.

[[te...]]

Hi Billy, I am probably re-stating what others have already said, but what has worked for me is winding down and going to bed at roughly the same time every night and staying in bed for 7-8 hours with my eyes closed. I have been doing this for the past 9 months+ and very slowly my sleep has come back. I am over 9 months out, and sleeping 6-8 hours a night, with 1-2 wake ups. It's not back to normal yet, but it's getting better. I try to tell myself that I am going rest even if I can't sleep. My family has been very supportive, being careful to be quiet for me during those hours. If I need to, I have used ear plugs to block out sound that might disrupt my fragile sleep. Hope you can get some rest every night and that sleep returns to you soon 

[[SS...]]

exbenzo - how much potassium are you taking?  i have a high / fast heart rate as a result of benzo WD so i know potassium would be good for that but there is so much scary information about potassium supplementation out there that ive never tried more than the 99mg capsules it's sold in.  my heart rate pre benzo use or benzo WD was 60 - an athlete my whole life - now its 95...... so frustrating.  adding to that - getting overheated under my comforter makes my heart rate even faster...

 

thanks for any info you can share about the doses you've tried

[[Ma...]]

My insomnia is crippling, like many on these forums. I am trying to see natural things that helped some if you. I wouild like to avoid any pills or supplements. I feel like my brain is permanently damaged. Please let me know things that worked for you. This insomnia has triggered a very scary and dark depression that is quite concerning, and I would like to find a way to at least get some sleep. Please let me know what eorked for you. I am also voncerned about the temptation to go back to drinking as a sleep aid. Im three days shy of my 1 year alchohol free anniversary, and that would be bad. Thank you.

 

hey buddy,

sorry that also you have to go through that. I had severe insomnia for months and really thought this would never ever go away any more. But it did. I think what helped me most were other buddies here on the board telling me exactly this.

My insomnia was severe, actually I did not sleep 3-4 nights, than got some hours - it was hell.

You are still taking other meds (if I have read your signature correctly), so I would not add another one. For you are early in WD I wouldn't take supplements either. Now (I am more than a year off) magnesium is helping me in combination with Potassium, but I had my blood levels checked before taking it to be sure that I am in a lack of these minerals (I was). At the moment the only thing you can do, thats my opinion, is live from day to day and moment to moment. Accept that you are awake at night. At a certain point I stopped "trying" and just did other things at night. I did not work so I could nap or behave like that in the daytime. Don't try to get a routine or so - so early in WD - every hour sleep counts and if your are only able to sleep one hour per day in the afternoon for example so well, thats fine, come and get it.

Don't drink. thats logical. Don't want to say more. You have come so far,- don't go backwards.

 

The only helpful advice is: Feel free to do whatever you want at night and day. The only thing that counts is Not to go back to benzos or alcohol and to survive.

 

Depression gets better with time, too.

 

I have been polydrugged, I have many many health issues on top and a boyfriend that loves to hate me. If I can find back to sleep, your body will, too.

 

Hug!

Be proud. You can be proud and have to be proud of you. Do you know others who have made an alcohol and benzo wd? Successfully? So yeah! Chin up!

 

MArigold.

 

[[ex...]]

exbenzo - how much potassium are you taking?  i have a high / fast heart rate as a result of benzo WD so i know potassium would be good for that but there is so much scary information about potassium supplementation out there that ive never tried more than the 99mg capsules it's sold in.  my heart rate pre benzo use or benzo WD was 60 - an athlete my whole life - now its 95...... so frustrating.  adding to that - getting overheated under my comforter makes my heart rate even faster...

 

thanks for any info you can share about the doses you've tried

 

Hi, SSR1975,

I'm in a viewpoint that isolated nutrients in a synthetic form will never be absorbed properly by the body, hence I always try my best to use natural source, and the ones that are high in potassium are green leafy vegetables (salad). You need to consume a lot of them daily, I mean one day I consume a huge bowl of salad or so. Each day. But no unhealthy dressings added. You'll be surprised for the incredible benefit from just consuming these daily. It's good for anxiety, sleep and blood pressure. They also provide lots of other nutrients. And on top of that, it's all natural.

[[SS...]]

thanks exbenzo for the clarification.  I have found supplements have not worked well for me either .  I actually made a chart of the food i eat daily to look at how much potassium, magnesium and calcium I am getting to try to ensure proper nutrition since i can't take vitamins.  I eat raisins at breakfast for the potassium.  I can't seem to tolerate bananas anymore - as that was previously a big source.  I eat a bowl of spinach or kale at lunch and dinner every day.  I had to give up vinegar dressing and have something i am using - not sure if its good or bad - so any suggestions you have on dressing would be great.  At dinner i have a sweet potato - those are high in potassium .  I am getting fewer foot / calf cramps. 

 

Feel free to share any other high potassium foods you've found !  I am think time and food are healers - the food is much harder to sort out.  I used to eat everything and anything and have no food allergies but now anything with gluten sets off anxiety and i try to keep sugar as low as possible.... no caffeine or alcohol.  life is very bland right now to say the least....

[[ex...]]

Well, as I am learning a lot from functional medicine practitioners via internet (since there is no one in my place yet, let alone the intelligent ones), I've come to realize that our body needs 4700 mg (this is very large) of potassium per day. If you rely on banana alone, you have to consume about 10 or so banana per day (a big banana has roughly 400 mg potassium). With salad (green leafy vegetables) though, you need 7-10 oz (that equals to 7-10 cups) per day. As we need sodium such as in salt (use sea / himalayan salt, not table salt), we need to balance it with a lot of potassium, higher amounts than sodium because the body only needs 1000 mg sodium per day, versus that 4700 mg of potassium.

[[Sw...]]

Add that coconut water has a good amount of potassium as well.  Try to have 8 - 12 ounces a day mixed with natural calm (magnesium citrate).

 

Sweet pea

[[SS...]]

yes - i had read something around 4500mg.  i am hitting maybe 3800-4000 - assuming any of what i am eating is being properly absorbed..... so - i still have a deficit and can't really figure out how to get more in.  many foods that are high in potassium are things i cannot tolerate but the raisins, sweet potatoes and greens are at least things i am getting in.  i had been eating a lot of salmon which is high in potassium but i found it was revving things and after doing some searches have found others have found salmon to be an issue too.  just so strange how these food sensitivities are working. 

 

i do have a 1/4 tsp sea salt in the morning and evening.  i've read that can take some of the burden off the adrenals. 

[[Tw...]]

Exercise till you cant friggin stand up anymore. This is what I do and it works most of the time.

[[Th...]]

I already posted this as part of my sleep study results but place it here as well: eat only light meals during the day, do not take naps but do something else in case you get tired during the day. Eat your main meal about 1.5-2 hrs. before bedtime and include some carbohydrate stuff as pasta to the meal. You should feel sleepy afterwards during the bedtime.