Sleep During Withdrawal

[[gi...]]

Has anyone found a reliable, safe drug or supplement that can help with insomnia from withdrawal?

[[ne...]]

Hi gipper, the Ashton Manual recommends antihistamines:

"an antihistamine with sedative effects (e.g. diphenylhydramine [benadryl], promethazine [Phenergan]) may be used temporarily." (source: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#19)

 

Hopefully you'll get more replies. Good luck on your journey!

[[Ca...]]

Hi, Welcome...

I dont use them (anything) as I can sleep well in the mornings...

Seem to be a few options, if you choose... some use Remeron at rather low dose...

But look into...

 

Good luck...

 

[[An...]]

I take 1/2 mg of Melatonin and Bacopa Monnieri. The two together help me a lot but even the one Melatonin helps. Benadryl can make me anxious at times so I don't take that unless I am having allergy issues.

[[Se...]]

In early withdrawal, for me, sleep seemed impossible.  My brain was constantly turned up to 12, and the only thing that ever worked was utter exhaustion...right when I thought I was going to break mentally, I would shut down, sleeping for maybe 10 minutes.  Ultimately sleep deprivation caused me to reinstate on 2 separate attempts.

 

This time around I had medical supervision though.  They didn't treat the addiction as it should be treated, tapering me off a 4 year Klonopin habit in a week.  I had a seizure complete with a 30k hospital bill.  I pushed forward though.

 

Seroquel was a miracle drug. It has some unfortunate sx (weight gain is the worst), but it let me sleep for 5-6 hours starting in week 2.  Sleep made the fight winnable and I doubt I could have survived were it not for the mental break sleep gives you.

 

Currently, 3 plus months out, trazodone is strong enough to put me to sleep without as many sx. Gabapentin has also been invaluable in this war.

 

People will recommend chamomile, kava, valerian, benadryl, other antihistamines, and God knows what else.  For me, all of it was like trying to put out the Sun with a cup of water.  It didn't even touch what was going on with my mind.  It took something as extreme as seroquel to knock me out. 

 

Exercise, yoga, sleep hygiene, and mindfulness will help more and more as you go, but early on, it might take a blunt instrument to do the job.

 

Hang in there!  What you're going through is unfair--it's likely the hardest thing you'll ever do...but I promise you're stronger than you think.

[[At...]]

You can give Rozerem a try.  It is not a Z drug and is non addictive.  Unfortunately it does nothing for my sleep, but then neither does Lunesta.

[[...]]

I use 25mg Promethazine sometimes. Doesn't really work (4:12 am again)

Used remeron 30mg  a few years which is amazing for sleep, but It 'creeps into to your head' with epic dreams.

Insomnia sucks and in my travels I have yet to find a real solution.

 

[[Th...]]

I take 10mg Elavil + 3mg melatonin 1hrs before bedtime. In addition to this I posted information about how to get better sleep in the insomnia section of BB as "my sleep study results". t.

[[Mu...]]

Trazodone is a safe bet for sleep, be prepared for some really vivid dreams though.

[[be...]]

Trazodone is a safe bet for sleep, be prepared for some really vivid dreams though.

 

That's what I take and it works. But I do get those dreams. Sometimes they are nightmares I can live without. Warning though. At least for me the first two weeks I woke up with terrible hangovers. After that they went away. Thank God for the little pleasures in life.

[[ma...]]

This helps me a lot, as weird as it may seem

[[Ar...]]

I took Benadryl and within 10 minutes I lost almost all emotion for some reason and felt a weird detached anxiousness...couldn't sleep until about 5 hours later when the feelings (or lack there of) work off. It was really wierd and scary petting my dog and feeling nothing.

[[be...]]

I took Benadryl and within 10 minutes I lost almost all emotion for some reason and felt a weird detached anxiousness...couldn't sleep until about 5 hours later when the feelings (or lack there of) work off. It was really wierd and scary petting my dog and feeling nothing.

 

Same here. That medication scares me. I do not necessarily trust OTC medications. I hope you feel better.