Symptoms disappear at night

[[hi...]]

My husband did a fast taper off Clonazepam.  He took .25mg Clonazepam BID for 2 and a half weeks, tapered down to .032mg BID over 4 and half weeks then jumped. He has been drug free for 6 weeks.

 

He experienced some withdrawal symptoms throughout his taper. After his last dose his fear/anxiety and insomnia were severe. Very slowly over the last few weeks his insomnia has improved and he's now averaging about 6 hours sleep a night. His anxiety is also less intense but has been stuck in an odd pattern for the past couple of weeks.

 

He wakes up with mild symptoms of anxiety/apprehension and chest tightness. Pretty quickly after breakfast his anxiety increases to a level he terms as "moderate" and the chest tightness becomes quite severe.  He says it feels like someone with hot hands is squeezing him all around his rib cage from front to back. Throughout the day these feelings increase and decrease in intensity in waves. Any stressful thought will cause an instant wave of symptoms to go through him. After dinner we settle down to watch tv and by 8:00 ish his symptoms magically disappear.

 

This pattern seems to have been fairly constant for the past three weeks.  Has anyone else experienced a pattern like this where symptoms disappear at nigh but return the next morning?

[[Fl...]]

Yes this has been my experience. My mornings and most of the day is just awful and I get a small window in the evening. I'm still tapering at this time. Sometimes I stay up late so I can enjoy more time feeling peace. But the next morning it's all back. I have heard cortisol levels are high in the mornings and goes down throughout the day. I'm wondering if this is connected somehow.

[[Co...]]

I think it is connected.

[[mi...]]

I noticed that having a light dinner at night and as early as posible helps. Cortisol kicks in for some at 3 in the morning due to a late or heavy dinner.

Belly brething and get out of the bed when finish sleeping also helps to wear out cortisol. If you are brave enough a cold shower also helps. It resets evrything.

Mice

[[Mo...]]

I seem to have the same pattern. Around midnight I feel almost normal only to have it all reset when I wake up in the morning. It's like living the movie groundhog day.

 

I hope he gets better soon!! I hope we all do.