53 months sleeping without Valium and Ambien!

[[Al...]]

In two weeks I will be 53 months off Valium and Ambien. I used both drugs only as a sleep aid. I am writing this positive success story for those members who had sleep issues prior to using either drug; or any members who are not sleeping due to their taper or c/t.

 

After I c/t off both drugs (never c/t off either drug) I was very fortunate to have found a knowledgeable PDOC who taught me how to sleep on my own. My PDOC explained to me that sleep is SO powerful that with good sleep hygiene it will be restored in time. Once I c/t off both drugs I NEVER took anything for sleep. Sadly, I see so many members looking for something to help them sleep and IMO this is not prudent. One must learn how to sleep on their own without being dependent upon taking anything. Please believe me when I know how hard this is but please believe me when I tell you this CAN be done and YOU can achieve it.

 

I recall my PDOC telling be about Belsoma and I told her I didn't want to try it. She agreed that coming off Valium and Ambien and trying Belsoma was a bad recommendation. We both agreed that I had to learn how to sleep on my own. Reflecting back to all of the years that I used Valium as a sleep aid (at 3:00 AM when I couldn't fall back to sleep) or popping an Ambien when I slept out of my house or traveling to Europe was by far the biggest mistake that I ever made. When I was on Valium I always woke up exactly at 3:00 AM and now I know it was my brain waking me up for Valium. It was almost like my brain craved it and 3:00 AM.

 

I suppose that I experienced some sort of sleep anxiety because I always felt that I could not sleep out of my own environment, my own bed. If I knew that I had a big night planned the next day instead of going to sleep on my own, my brain told me that I needed to pop an Ambien to get a good night sleep. 53 months later I now know that thought was the benzo devil aka a benzo lie.

 

I am living proof that if you stay off of everything and practice good sleep hygiene sleep will be restored. I currently sleep 10:30 PM-6:45 AM straight through the night and I can sleep out of my bed without any problems. I no longer have the benzo demon thought pop into my head that I need to take something to sleep. 98% of the time I sleep straight through the night (I'm 55 years old) however, if I wake up to go to the bathroom I can always fall back to sleep on my own within a matter of seconds.

 

I hope those suffering from insomnia or any sort of sleep anxiety read my post. You owe it to your brain and yourself to stay off everything and let your brain learn how to sleep on your own. IMO the worse mistake would be to come off Ambien or any benzo and become dependent upon using something else for sleep.

 

At almost 53 months off life is great and I am out living my life to the fullest. The hell that I went through is a distant memory and coming off a benzo was by far the hardest thing I ever had to endure. Please keep going because you will make it. Always remember that the brain is a complex organ however, never doubt for one second it doesn't know how to revert back to homeostasis.

[[or...]]

That's a great story, always. Good for you!!!

 

 

Katz

 

 

[[Li...]]

How long did it take you to return to relative normalcy?  I’m 20 months out and things still suck. There are occasional windows, but for the most part it’s 3-4 hours of dream laden sleep and frequent awakenings.

[[An...]]

Thanks AlwaysFrantastic! Please elaborate on the good sleep hygiene that you practice now plz.

[[Li...]]

I'm really glad your sleep is better now AF!

 

For some chronic insomniacs, "sleep hygiene" isn't enough to fix their problem. Hygiene is kind of the first level sleep experts cover off with patients after they eliminate physiological causes (like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, etc.). It consists of having a consistent go-to-bed and wakeup time, not eating a huge meal before bed, staying off the computer/smartphone/TV an hour before bed, etc....the basics if you will.

 

Unfortunately, many of us that had/have chronic insomnia as a pre-benzos condition need a more intense and multi-faceted intervention to finally get better sleep. This usually starts with instituting a combination of sleep restriction and stimulus control, which can be absolutely brutal at first, but is probably the two most powerful things chronic insomniacs can do to help break the insomnia cycle. In addition, there are cognitive exercises to help retrain the brain to react more rationally to not getting enough sleep and tame the sleep anxiety beast.

 

But all of these natural interventions take time, patience, and discipline, which is why so many folks would rather reach for the medicine cabinet.....

[[Si...]]

Hiya Fran!

 

Glad to hear you’re still doing well. I’m doing great now as well. It took a hell of a long time to make it through. Rarely any insomnia for me these days. Thanks for always taking the time to listen to me complain when I wouldn’t regularly sleep for days at a time.

 

Take care!