Has anyone had sleep return naturally - meaning no prescriptions or supplements

[[SS...]]

Not sure that anyone will respond - but has anyone had sleep restore naturally?  I see lots of posts of people using trazadone, seroquel, antihistamines, l-theanine, etc,  but who has had sleep come back without taking anything.  I'm 3 months out today.  In these 12 weeks - i've had 4 weeks where i got 4 hours of sleep most nights but otherwise its been 0 to 2 hours.  several times i've gone as long as 6 days with zero sleep.  Like all other symptoms - nothing is linear - it seems like it's coming back and then it's gone again,  sure, I could take all the things people are using - but they come with side effects and are one more thing that need to be tapered later....

 

I have tried all the natural things like breathing techniques, meditation, guided meditation, guided hypnosis, MP3 files with delta waves, yoga stretches, etc., none of it works.

 

so - anybody able to report that sleep came back naturally and remained? 

[[Ma...]]

Hello !

 

Yes absolutely.. it took a very long time but now going to bed and waking up is actually a pleasure . For the 3 years of t/w and then 2 years of healing it was an unbelievable struggle but now all is back to even better than before benzos . The brain does indeed reset .. promise you ❤️

[[...]]

I stopped zopiclone at night, long before I stopped taking it by day.  I had many months of scanty amounts of sleep - an hour or two if I was lucky.  I had to wait about 2 years before I felt my sleep was returning to pre-zopiclone levels and I don't take anything to help it.  After a few months it was significantly better and I was at least getting enough sleep to mean I was functional during the day. 

 

These days I sleep about 8 hours a night, although I do wake up a couple of times and go to the toilet.  But then again, I am 60! 

[Guest [Le...]]

Yes, sleep is back!

 

I was on a path very much like what you're describing - I thought I'd never sleep naturally again, which was unbelievably depressing. Finally long stretches of 7-9 hours of sleep just hit out of nowhere, a month or two ago, just after the one year mark.

 

It took a long time, but it was worth the wait, just to know that I could be normal (and well-rested) again. You're gonna get there, too - it just takes time. I know how discouraged you must feel right now though.

 

It doesn't take everyone this long, but I had a long period of being on several drugs, and then cold-turkeyed off of Ativan, so you may get there much sooner than I did. 

[[SS...]]

thanks everyone for the replies  - i had a cold turkey off high doses of valium prescribed for a surgery and i am finding that my symptoms seem far more severe than what others are reporting......... it doesnt sound like tapering is any treat but maybe sends the body into less shock ......

 

i will try to remain encouraged.  i live alone and need to support myself.  i figured by now i'd be able to return to working (3 months out) but without sleep  - and the kind of work i do - which is at the executive level - this is becoming pretty frightening ....

[Guest [Le...]]

I completely understand - I'm in an extremely high-pressure environment as a database architect, and looking back, I don't even know how I kept my job. I could barely think for months, and with the lack of sleep, forget it.

 

Somehow our brains seem to go on autopilot, even while they feel as though they're in failure. I realize now that people simply didn't notice that I was as impaired as I was, and I have no idea how they could have missed it.

 

Luckily all the sharpness returned, and at my worst I kept the systems running without incident, even if I had zero creativity for a while.

 

Just going through the motions helps bring back normalcy (and sleep).

[[Fi...]]

Yes sleep is back, sometimes waking up early but I'm grateful to fall asleep without having to take Zopiclone! Hope yours returns quickly for you buddy!

[[SS...]]

i know time frame is different for all of us - but generally - when did you see it improve?  i had hoped at 3 months - with taking no supplements to try to assist - that my brain would have healed enough to start seeing some progress but no luck..... not sure if the cold turkey means it will take a long time....  i am grateful for the nights i get the 4 hours - but there are still many nights with zero.  i just don't know how to be able to return to working with how poorly I'm functioning.  when i've had the week were 6 nights were 4 hours - i start to feel human but then boom - its gone.....

[[al...]]

I wasn't long on benzo, so my sleep returned after a week or two without any prescription or supplement, but 1st month and some of the 3rd month I'm into right now I still have horrific adrenaline rushes that wake me up sometimes. They were regular at beginning. They're now less severe, but still terrible when it happens. I also have a lot of vivid and detailed dreams in last few weeks and after waking up I can't tune myself into reality for half of day or longer. I still hope that such dreams are a good sign.

[[Fi...]]

Hi SSR1975, mine started to improve around the 3.5 month mark. I really hope you find relief soon, I feel your pain.  I live alone as well, own my own company and this whole situation has been a life altering hell. First I tried not to ever sleep during the day and thought I was losing my mind. Then I would try every day for at least a nap(if it was longer I was doing the happy dance) and I was first successful with that. May be you could give it a try? I was so against them thinking then it would make matters worse at night but it didn't. Sleep stopped evading me and now It's like the madness never existed.

Really hoping you will be able to sleep soon

[[SS...]]

Thanks FightingtheGoodFight.  i pray sleep is on the horizon.  like you - i owned my own business but because i had cardiac surgery i stopped working and then went into tolerance withdrawal and then cold turkey not understanding what was going on...... the pressure of living alone and having no other source of income is tough but i pray if sleep comes back to at least the 4-5 hours a night - i know i can get my brain working again.  i had an amazing 18 day window but its now been followed by a 2 week wave that is the darkest i've ever experienced...... as a female - this seems to be greatly worsened by fluctuating hormones...... i just pray sleep comes soon.....  i haven't been able to sleep in my bed in 2 months - i've had to resort to sleeping on the couch.  my brain has attached anxiety to my bed since that is where a series of detrimental panic attacks hit along with my first episode of atrial fibrillation.....

[[Ne...]]

For me it comes and goes. In the beginning of my mess I was shaking so bad from no sleep and no food.  That was why I was prescribed Ativan. The Ativan helped me sleep but it was broken. Then when I quit it the insomnia came back and so did the lack of appetite. My appetite has came back full force but there is no doubt in my mind that food plays a huge role in how I sleep. I have not slept through the night or even for a few hours at a time in the last three days and the only thing I can think of is that I ate Chinese food on Monday.

[[Fi...]]

Hi SSR1975, congratulations on having a successful recovery from cardiac surgery  I too am a member of the Abandoned Bed Club. I thought that perhaps I was the only member. My couch has been where I have been sleeping as well due the major panic attacks and choking episodes I had for while during my taper. Please just know that you are healing and soon you will be able to get to sleep at night. I thought it would never happen for me but with time it did. Keep trying and one day, poof! You will be able to fall asleep.

The hormones wreak havock on my mental and physical state as well. Isn't benzo withdrawal an absolute joy? 

I pray that you will be able to sleep soon, that every day in every way you are getting better and better and better. Also that we will both be able to get back to work quickly because the added financial stress is not condusive to our healing.  You are one strong lady and you will conquer this, it will just take time 

[[SS...]]

thank you so much for your kindness and encouragement - fightingthegoodfight - it means more than you can imagine during what has been an incredibly difficult week. i am not sure i'd still be here if it weren't for behind the scenes support from some friends i made on this site......  while the rest of the world may not understand what is happening to us - i am beyond grateful this forum exists to help us find support - even through the web- it is holding me together..... so thanks so much.  i wish you a ton of positive energy towards your continuing healing.  we all deserve it.

[[Fi...]]

You are so welcome SSR1975. I feel exactly the same, if I didn't have benzo buddies this whole situation would be so much worse. Thank you for your well wishes, really appreciate it and I'm always here if you need me buddy 

[[SS...]]

another bad night here.  i am grateful for the 4 hours of sleep - it usually occurs from 9pm to 1am and then that is it.  more and more around 2am the cortisol surge occurs and then i sit with the internal hysteria / akathesia feeling.  many nights i just get up and shower at 230 or 3 as sitting here in a state of panic is horrible .  today i have tried to force myself to lay here in hopes it will pass but it never does.

 

several years ago i had lymes disease and was having major adrenal gland issues - i took adrenal glandular and used some adatopgenic herbs and was able to break the cortisol spikes but now my body cannot tolerate any of these potential solutions.  ive tried the protein/fat snack but i think that only helps if your cortisol surge is coming from a drop in glucose..... it hasnt helped..... i have read that thyroid insufficiency can cause this and started taking my 2nd dose of thyroid med more around 3pm - but maybe i need to try pushing it even later in the day

 

i just don't know what to do to fix the situation but i know i will not be able to heal and return to working if i can't break this sleep problem...... it so upsetting to know there are solutions to fixing the adrenals but my body is too weak to tolerate them.  i often sit and pray for my adrenal glands to just burn out.  i can push myself through fatigue but i cannot overcome the lack of sleep and constant adrenaline rushes.....

 

feeling pretty discouraged  after 3 months of this.....