Sleep Quality Tracker started by Antibenzo7

[[ni...]]

And so it is Christmas eve day..

I made some rum balls yesterday and ate one.  A little larger than a quarter across. Anyway, I ate it mid afternoon and then did not sleep last night.

During the evening, as I watched a good movie, I struggled to stay awake and actually did. 

Went to bed and sleep would not come. I assume it was the rum ball as I ate nothing else out of the ordinary. 

Oh well and so it goes. I am glad the year is coming to an end. 

 

TS, I am happy your blood work came back normal. 

 

The weather here is supposed sunny and warm on Christmas day. 

 

We are not venturing out for a while.

 

Stay safe, too!

 

NG

 

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Hello nightengale,

 

Wishing you a wonderful New Year!

 

I hope your sleep may improve and your physical issues may disappear.

 

All the best!

 

Stay strong and stay safe!

 

Greetings,  TS.

 

[[ni...]]

Trochsetter, Happy New Year to you, too!

Let's hope for a better 2021!!

NG

[[Tr...]]

Hi nightengale,

 

Well, almost a week into the new year.  I hope you're feeling  OK and sleeping better.

 

My sleep is OK, I 'm  very grateful for that!  A had one night with a lot of tossing and turning.  So sleep was quite light and unrefreshing . Reason?  I forgot to turn the central heating down...Last night I slept from 11.30 pm until 7.45 am. Only one bathroom visit. Wonderful!

 

After not walking for 5 days because of painful legs and feet, I started my daily walks again yesterday.  Not going too bad. Even though it's cold right now, I still go for a bike ride every day.

 

How's your knee doing att? And the body stiffness?  I have a lot of that too. Awful at times. But we have to keep on going and hope for better times, right?

 

All the best and stay safe!

 

TS

 

[[ni...]]

Good day, TS. your seven plus hours of sleep was such good news! It's what we all would wish for.

Forgetting to turn the heat down can disrupt the sleep pattern.   

 

On Monday, I had the de quervain's release surgery on my right wrist. It went well with the tourniquet. I drove myself there and home again just fine. 

The drive entailed an interstate and a busy six lane street called 6th avenue.  My check in time was 6 am, so it was before rush hour traffic and driving home was after rush hour. Seriously rush hour should be called "slow hour" as no one drives fast, but what does happen is they line up and changing lanes can be a challenge.

 

I've been on a strong pain med, which is helping me sleep. The first night I slept seven plus hours, then the next morning I had an hour nap and another hour nap in the afternoon. I am so thankful for this much needed sleep.  My pain is not under control, but it is doable. 

 

The body stiffness is still there, though perhaps slightly less beings I am on the pain meds.

 

Like your walking break, I am taking one until my stitches come out of my wrist. The daily bike rides sound so very nice. it's fairly cold here, too. 

 

Stay strong, well, and safe.

NG

 

 

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Hi nightengale,

 

I just lost my posting! Ughh!

 

Well, here we go again: I am really happy for you. A good sleep is so important for us. Recharging the battery and having some time-off from all our worries, etcetera.

 

How's your wrist right now? Has the pain gone? 

 

After skipping my walks for 5 days, I started to go for a walk again. The first 2 walks were not bad at all, but since then the pain is back. Feet and muscles and tendons are stiff. I've lost a lot of muscle strenght while on benzos.

 

I hope you have a nice week.

 

Corona is still really bad everywhere, so stay safe!

 

TS

[[ni...]]

Hi TS, losing a post is such a pain. I typically ctrl C  each line and repeat until I get it posted. Trying to remember what all I said once it's gone, isn't fun!

My wrist pain is mostly gone. Some pain on the incision site. I stopped with the pain meds two nights ago.

Today we received our covid vaccine. The 2nd shot is February 8. I am so glad to be putting this behind me.

It all happened so quickly when a friend said she was getting hers today. I called her this morning and got the number from her, called and they had a 12:40 appointment for today. Wow, that was fast! The drive was not quite a half an hour away, but not way out south, so I was happy with that.

Got there, everything went so very smoothly. I had some burning when the needle went in, but am fine since then.  I'll keep you posted!

Like you I have also lost pain and muscle strength on this benzo journey. When I took the outside Christmas lights down, it made my arm muscles sore. Good grief, I felt so out of shape!

That's too bad your feet, muscles and tendons are stuff. It is frustrating, but hang in there!

NG

 

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Hi nightengale,

 

Glad your wrist is ok again.

 

Wow, that really was fast with the vaccination. Mine is due somewhere between April and September...but the published schedule is changing almost daily. So I 'll just have to wait and see.

Lots of backpain the last few days. Makes walking hard to do. Ughh, not much fun at the moment. Maybe I should hold again for a while, but I so want to get off this drug. You know all about this dilemma.

 

Numbers of Covid-19 cases are beginning to go down again, but only slowly. We're not out of the woods  by a long stretch.

 

Hope you feel well and sleep better.

 

TS

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HI TS, good to hear from you.  As for the covid vaccine, I was in the dark as to how and when we were going to get ours. My new PCP said they requested the vaccine, but knew noting else beyond that. I was to check back later.  My old PCP sent an email out saying we could register for the vaccine. By chance I talked to a friend who was scheduled to get the shot on Monday. I asked for the number of the place she was going to and called. They got me and my husband in right after lunch. I was shocked! Anyway right now it seems to be word of mouth with nothing being published.  The place was a medical clinic and then I noticed a reporter/ cameraman outside interviewing a nurse.  I no longer watch TV news nor do I read the paper, so I have no idea what the interview was about. I do check some online news, but pick and choose what I want to read or not. I am so tired of the news.

My wrist continues to heal fine, thanks!

I hope your back pain is better. A break sounds good. You will know when to get back to walking. It never hurts to stop for awhile.  I resumed sit ups and some knee therapy this morning. The first since  my surgery. I am not yet back to my 30 minute walks, but we have been taking the dog to the park for 15-20 min walks with the weather so nice.

Indeed getting off of the drug was a milestone, but looking back, I was very naïve and should have gone slower like you are doing. Just keep moving along at your own pace. 

That's good the covid numbers are down slowly.  This is always great news!

Stay strong,

NG

[[ni...]]

Just checking in. I'm replying to myself, but that's ok.

The night before last I slept around 7 hours. It was awesome. 

Then I took an hour nap the next day.  I felt it doesn't get any better.

What happened? I was searching for ways to calm my brain down during the night so I could go back to sleep after waking up.

The site I found suggested the deep breathing count to four breathing in, hold for seven and breath out for 8 counts.

I do deep breathing every night, but didn't always follow the 4-7-8 count suggestion. Close but still.

Then she said to tell yourself to quiet the mind...put this thought in the window and go back to it the following day. Or this was a nice thought, but now let it go.

Like everything it worked very well.

She also said to list vegetables according to the letter of the alphabet they begin with. Oddly that was more challenging, as I could only come up with 2-3  or 4 , but I still kept at it. 

Anyway, as always it worked well the first night but last night not so much.  I went back down to around 3 hours.

On the plus side, I can and do sleep now and then, so I'm not completely broken. 

Hang in there,

NG

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Hi nightengale,

 

Congratulations on a very good night! 7 hours is wonderful.

 

I've had the same experience with that kind of mind relaxing methodes. They work well once or twice, then the success fades. But there’s lots of tricks to fool the mind into more calmness. I hope you're going to have more and  more good nights.

 

We had  a colder week with some snow last night, but now that's all gone, because much milder weather followed  after it stopped snowing. I rode my bike for 45 minutes. Later this afternoon, to finish it off, I walked for 15 minutes. Both went surprisingly well. Not much pain in feet, left knee and hip. Just some backpain.

 

I hope the remainder of your Sunday will be pleasant.

 

Stay safe. Sleep tight; you know you can still do it! 😴😴

 

TS.

[[ni...]]

Good afternoon TS,

Your bike ride sounded so nice. The best news was less pain. Hopefully the pain is staying that way.  Like your weather, it is milder here, also.  No snow for a week or so and it is warming up a bit. Today it is to be windy, so not sure if we will get to the park today with the dog.  The area is so open the wind blows right through it.

Speaking of the wind, here it is, as I type.

 

Today my stitches come out. My wrist is doing so very well and the pain is completely gone that plagued me for the last year or more.

 

My sleep is back down again. Last night was slightly better than the night before, so I am feeling better this morning.

 

Indeed the relaxing methods are short lived. There are probably more out there, so I will search and see what other ideas people have.

 

Take care and enjoy your day.

NG

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Hey friends, it’s been a while, but nothing much has changed. I went through another spell of 3-4am wakeups with sweats, adrenaline, etc., but that has gone away somewhat. I had a streak of good sleep recently and I felt so good, but it didn’t last. Trying to hang in there.

 

The good sleep came after a period of severe sleep deprivation, which makes me wonder if sleep restriction therapy could be something to try.

 

Take care, DBM.

[[ni...]]

Hi DBM, thanks for coming back. I've come across some of your posts on other topics, now and then, so knew you had not left us

I am sorry nothing much has changed.  That's great news you had a streak of good sleep. It can and does feel so amazing. 

It is not surprising that the good sleep came after sleep deprivation. I do that somewhat "naturally" when I go without much sleep for a few days/weeks, I will have one or two nights of more than a few hours, then go back to very little sleep, again.  If you do decide on the sleep restriction therapy, I hope you will share it with us.

At this point, I am not sure if I could do that to myself on purpose with hopes of healing, but I will never say never.

 

My sleep is up and down, though mostly down. Perhaps this is just the way it is, but I'm not giving up. 

Stay strong,

NG

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Hey NG, sorry to hear you’re still in the same boat. The recent window was so nice. The dark circles started to recede and all. Can’t wait till the day the sleep sticks around.

 

I went through a little more than my normal sleep deprivation. We recently had a baby and stayed up for days through the labor and everything else. I was worried about not being able to sleep with the withdrawal and added stress, but I slept soooo good. I’m sure it was my body forcing sleep, but it also seemed like a window. It lasted for around a week.

 

It got me thinking of the SHUTi program. I tried it once, but never followed through on it. It’s a sleep restriction therapy type of deal. Might not work at all for our type of insomnia, but who knows? I know there’s stuff on here about it.

 

[[Sh...]]

I did sleep restriction and it didn’t help at all, but I think it could help someone further along in their healing for sure x there’s a good podcast u can listen to here is the link x

 

https://insomniacoach.com/podcast/

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Thanks, Shayna. I’ll check it out. The wakeups and poor sleep quality are what get me. I’m starting to scale back at the gym because I think it might be contributing to adrenal fatigue.

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Coming back here. Four hours last night. Going through a very stressful situation. I don't know how long this will last and my anxiety is up the roof. I'm in fear of many sleepless nights plus keeping up with my job and everything. NG I remember you managed to sleep very little and still be productive? I teach online, so sleep deprivation makes it hard. I hope everyone gets some sleep soon.

[[ni...]]

Good evening, so good to see all of you!  Congratulations to DBM on the birth of your new baby! Boy or girl? How great you slept better after the birth! I remember those days, the best and most tiresome days of my life.  The baby started sleeping and things settled down. 

I wish it was that easy for me to just grow into sleeping well through the night. 

 

Perhaps the sleep deprivation, Shuti, would help. I will keep that in mind. Today I napped so easily for an hour. I can also fall asleep so easily watching TV. When I go to bed, I do some self hypnosis, tense and relax, pressure points, read a few paragraphs of Harry Potter atm and fall right to sleep.  Then I wake up usually an hour later and so the night of being awake begins. My mind wants to think, think, think.  What works to settle it down in the beginning stops after a night or two.  My guess is the sleep deprivation would be the same, but I will keep it on the shelf.

 

Thanks for the link, Shayna. I will go check it out.

 

Valiumnomore, good to see you again. I am sorry you are going through a stressful time. I managed to sleep very little and still function okay as time went on. if  I had known how little sleep I could exist on, those benzos would have never been taken.  Life is a lesson.

 

Teaching online isn't easy. My daughter is also doing that and I know how exhausting it is.  She seems more relaxed, last time I talked to her.

Sometimes I am productive and sometimes I drop the ball.  I took a retirement because I could.

 

Take care all,

NG

 

 

 

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Thanks, NG. It’s a girl! The most amazing experience of my life for sure.

 

The sleep deprivation was so bad that Mom and I were having auditory hallucinations and felt like we were cracking up. It was probably 4 days with only a couple hours. I was so worried that my benzo situation wouldn’t allow me to sleep when I actually got the opportunity, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

 

Lately I’m back to having adrenaline wakeups and some sweats at night. So frustrating. I think I pushed it too hard at the gym, so I’m going to do only light exercise for as long as I can stand it... I still think I have an adrenal fatigue issue brought on by benzos.

 

[[Sh...]]

Dbm i have adrenal fatigue too. We unfortunately can’t do strenuous excercise. I am a runner and a gym junkie, well I was. All I can do is walk and swim small distances now. X yoga, Pilates. Slow things as frustrating as it is, is what u need to be doing until more healing takes place x it sucks I know.

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I know you’re right, Shayna. I absolutely love the gym and lifting weights. It’s so hard for me to stay out of there. But, I know it prevents healing. I’ve decided to really do a few weeks with no strenuous exercise. I went for a walk outside today and it was so nice. I’m pretty sure I’ve triggered my adrenal problem with going too hard. It’s a certain feeling I have when I know I overdid it. Then I get the wakeups and sweats at night...My gym is a close-knit community and it’s so hard not to participate.

[[Sh...]]

I know you’re right, Shayna. I absolutely love the gym and lifting weights. It’s so hard for me to stay out of there. But, I know it prevents healing. I’ve decided to really do a few weeks with no strenuous exercise. I went for a walk outside today and it was so nice. I’m pretty sure I’ve triggered my adrenal problem with going too hard. It’s a certain feeling I have when I know I overdid it. Then I get the wakeups and sweats at night...My gym is a close-knit community and it’s so hard not to participate.

 

I get it. Trust me I was big on weights. I lifted pretty heavy for a girl 

 

I really want to get back into it but I am going really low and slow. Gotta do something about these tuck shop arms 

 

It’s hard too when people say excercise more it will help you sleep, well I tested that theory and nope it definitely doesn’t work that way for us.

 

I hate it too. I miss pump classes at gym and running my half marathons.

 

When I am in a window I always push too hard and I’m guessing u are the same. Even after all this benzo stuff u can’t change ur personality if u are a go getter!

[[ni...]]

DBM, how sweet you had a girl. Enjoy watching her grow up.

I am not surprised you and your mom were having auditory hallucinations. That's good you finally did sleep!

The adrenalin wake ups are so tiring along with the sweats. I am having them frequently and they are worse when I do more work outs. Nothing like you do, but more than just walking. 

Take care,

NG

 

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Thanks, NG. Even benzos can’t take the joy of this baby from me. It’s quite the experience. Challenging, but amazing.

 

I got 8 hours last night. You read that correctly - 8! This comes off of really horrible sleep the night before when my smoke alarm’s battery decided to go out at 2am. So I was pretty burnt all day yesterday. I’m positive about it because it usually doesn’t matter how tired I am - I’ll still wake up or have a bad night. Not last night, it was a solid 8.