A nightmare w/o sleep

[[Be...]]

Hello all,

 

Well I really f%cked up my recovery. I had about 6 months benzo free, then reinstated due to unbearable Insomnia. I deal with a crippled nose from an extreme facial trauma, and a sinus surgery gone wrong. I believe I incurred a mild form of ENS (Empty Nose Syndrome), but am not going to self diagnose. Suffice to say my breathing is very shallow/unnatural, and it causes me great difficulty sleeping.

 

I wake up 3 hrs into sleeping with a dry nose/throat, and it is very hard for me to get back to sleep. I usually can after a few hours, but only get a few more fitfull hours of bizarre and light sleep. I am a young athletic guy, and this stuff is absolutely ruining me. Baggy eyes, difficulty concentrating (on the simpelest matters), and overall an emaciation of mind, body, and soul if you will.

 

But enough of this poor me stuff! I am currently cutting again, and am down to about .18mg of the ole Klon bomb. I am implementing things such as going to bed at the same time every night, taking hot baths before bed, and a meditation night cap to help send me into dreamland. Despite these stringant measures, I am still in a very, VERY, bad way due to sleep deprivation.

 

Can I take things such as tryptophan, glycine, etc while doing this again? Tryptophan works on serotonin right? If that's the case it shouldn't interfere with the GABA recovery process? Thanks for reading this and for any advice! I think I may have a full blown sleep disorder, but no doctor will believe that with my age (22) and healthy weight...

 

 

[[Su...]]

I know all about "unbearable insomnia"...I broke down today and went  my psych doc to get a sleep med...I am going to take 25 mgs of Seroquel for 5 nights and then try to do it every other night, then every 3rd etc..then use on a "as needed" basis...

 

I've taken it before and it works well, and although Seroquel has a nasty reputation, it is at higher doses (100mgs and above) that the nastiness really sets in...25 mgs and under simply acts as a mistamine blocker.

 

I would recommend anything except a benzo...so when you make it off the K again and can't take it anymore, look into other options..there are several...yes they all have side effects and risks..but so did the Klonopin.

[[Be...]]

Hey Sunny,

 

I really appreciate your reply, and am sure lots here know insomnia just as well as I do I hope the seroquel gets you sleeping better.

 

The plan was just to use amino acids to help. I'm probably beyond the scope of natural remedies, but even a tad bit better sleep is welcome. I truely cannot function Thanks again

[[li...]]

Tryptophan is supposed to work great.  Make sure you get at least 30 minutes of sunlight without sunglasses before 3pm to have the tryptophan turn into 5htp, which then turns into Melatonin.  I heard something on Dr Oz the other day, and trying it tonight (but I'm back on my benzo - but still have a tough time falling asleep) - take 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (no shell) and grind them up and mix in honey (for the tryptophan to cross the blood brain barrier), and he said it's to release all night long for a restful sleep.  Like I said, I'm trying it tonight for the first time and saw a doc on Dr. Oz suggest this - so I figured it's worth a try.  I have also used this supplement called Tranquil Sleep (I only take one, it says you can take two - but I think that's too much) - it helped.  I just try not to take melatonin itself because I want my body to make it on it's own.  I keep it by my bedside just in case - if it's halfway through the night (back when I was tapering, mind you) then I'd chew half of a tablet instead of one.

 

Best of luck - it's no fun when we can't get good sleep.  Sweet dreams...

Lisa

[[Su...]]

I've tried it all and some things have worked here and there but never steadily or regularly.

 

Unisom used to work, but I've only taken it 5 times and the last time was this week and it did nothing.

 

L-Tryptophan did nothing.

 

3 mgs Melatonin, 100 mgs L-theanine and 5-htp sometimes works

 

"The Power to Sleep"  worked sometimes.

 

Melatonin alone worked here and there.

 

My insomnia is too severe even at 8 1/2 months off for natural remedies to work.

 

I've given it my best and am just too exhausted and too weak to keep doing this without help, that's why I accepted the Seroquel. 25 mgs is a very small dosage and I have to be ok with it for right now.

[[Be...]]

Sunny,

 

Yeah that is the additude we must have. If you need help, you need help. As long as it isn't a benzo, than it is a better option.

 

I am still searching too. Got up at 6 today, and I am still halfway asleep at 11. It's just too damaging. I can accept the heart palpitations, constant chest pain, anxiety, etc, but the lack of sleep is pure torture.

 

Have used 5htp the last few nights with minimal results. Last night my body finally gave out due to severe exuastion, and I got around 5-1/2 hours straight. I still feel like I got hit by a bus

 

Hoping time will heal us up (I'm sure it will)

 

 

[[li...]]

Do you mind me asking why you stopped Trazadone?  I'd heard good things about it, but never tried it.  Just curious.

 

I hope you sleep well tonight!  Good luck with this. 

 

Lisa

[[Su...]]

Do you mind me asking why you stopped Trazadone?  I'd heard good things about it, but never tried it.  Just curious.

 

I hope you sleep well tonight!  Good luck with this.   

 

Lisa

 

It was a mixture of fear that it was keeping me from healing from benzo w/d...I was so desperate to make the anxiety go away that I had myself convinced that the trazodone was causing it...it wasn't, it was just that I was in horrendous benzo w/d. The other thing was that it just didn't work well at all anymore. For the longest time when I took 50mgs of Trazodone and 12.5-25mgs of Seroquel it was a perfect cocktail for sleep...something that i am considering again right now if I can't get the Seroquel alone to start working well. However, I would have to make sure my doctor would be ok with that so that I can be sure he will keep prescribing both for me.  I have this intense fear that I will get reliant on a drug and then a doctor will take it all away from me...mainly because that happened in March of 2010 and started this whole nightmare!

 

As far as side effects go I didn't have any with Trazodone...but the w/d from it was HORRIBLE!!!  If anyone were thinking of this drug I would just say to taper as slowly as you did benzos. I have read of many who did not have 1 problem with getting off of it, but as we all know, everyone is different. People get off benzos all the time without issues..but we unlucky few pay a horribly high price for taking them.

 

Last night I took the same amount of Seroquel as I did the night before, only last night I didn't even get a 1/2 hour of sleep.  :'(  I am so exhausted and not being able to sleep off the effects of the Seroquel has made for a difficult day.

[[li...]]

Thanks Sunny!

 

I will have to REALLY think through this sleep medicine thing.  No easy answers - are there? 

 

I wish you all the luck to a good night's sleep not only tonight, but for all.  I know how important sleep is - it's when our body is heals - and we all know how much we need that during the benzo w/d phase.  Hopefully your doc knows that you are trying to get off of the meds, so should be fine prescribing some while you are going through this.

 

Best of luck!  Lisa

[[ma...]]

Hi Lisa and Sunny and Ben. I'm right there with you. 4+mos off temazapam and ambien for sleep...and not sleeping. For me, Benadryl usually works. Not like a sleeping pill, and it takes time for the drowsiness to come. I have several friends who have used this for years daily for sleep.

Have you tried Epsom salts baths for 20 minutes? They do help to relax you. I used 2.5mg melatonin by Source Naturals with 500mg L tryptophan from Doctor's Best all thru my withdrawal. Again, not great sleep, but some. Enuf to function. After withdrawal they didn't work well at all. Now I alternate with Benadryl the nites where I have to get some sleep, and the melatonin/tryptophan the other nites. My naturopath just told me yesterday she if fine with the daily melatonin. New research says your body will start up production when you stop the supplement. She said she uses it to treat cancer patients and it is a powerful antioxidant. So, we are getting additional benefit from it besides sleep(hopefully sleep). Again, melatonin is not like a sleeping pill for the quality of sleep you get, but it helps and its natural. I am really trying to stay away from any drugs. I wish the supplements worked better, but at least they help.

I also use the Sleep Tracks CD's which were recommended by someone in this group. It is only a help, not like a drug. I think we need to use as many things as we can to get the needed sleep. I am still really struggling too. Last nite was ok thanks to benadryl. Tonite I will skip it and hope the melatonin and relaxation CD's will let me get more than my normal 3hrs.

 

T

Than