Cyclic insomnia, what is going on?

[[Ma...]]

I had really stabilized pretty well at 0.5 Clonazepam.  I wasn’t sleeping great, but getting a good solid 6 hours and falling asleep immediately every night. I slept well for about a month straight with only a couple bad nights.   Now I’ve had 5 straight nights of horrid sleep where I feel wired and anxious lying in bed, maybe drifting off for a couple hours at most.  I’ve been non-functional during the day and get dizzy if I try to do too much but still feel wired.  Is this normal?  Anything I should be doing differently?  Sleep is the main driver of my mood, energy, and withdrawal experience.  Looking for some positive support, no horror stories please.  

[[or...]]

Hi @[Ma...]

I looked at your History input, so have you now been holding at your August taper?  I want to try and help but if I could get a little more info.  I also was on C for years, and I do suffer with insomnia, but it is better now, oregonlady

PS I did want to mention if it gets tough for me, I will reduce my % of taper, but I've found that sxs finally decrease if I hold at same dose long enough, feel stable, and taper again.

[[An...]]

1 hour ago, [[M...] said:

I had really stabilized pretty well at 0.5 Clonazepam.  I wasn’t sleeping great, but getting a good solid 6 hours and falling asleep immediately every night. I slept well for about a month straight with only a couple bad nights.   Now I’ve had 5 straight nights of horrid sleep where I feel wired and anxious lying in bed, maybe drifting off for a couple hours at most.  I’ve been non-functional during the day and get dizzy if I try to do too much but still feel wired.  Is this normal?  Anything I should be doing differently?  Sleep is the main driver of my mood, energy, and withdrawal experience.  Looking for some positive support, no horror stories please.  

Hi @[Ma...]

The month where you were getting the solid 6 hours of sleep.......were you still holding at .5 mgs of Klonopin? Can you give a brief summary of your benzo taper journey from the beginning to now please?

[[Th...]]

Unfortunately as you cut, your current dose no longer produces the same sedative effect that it did in the past due to down-regulated GABA receptors.  What you are experiencing is completely "normal" and that's how I felt for about 10 months after my cold turkey from Benzos.  It's normal to feel wired but tired at the same time even after getting very little sleep for weeks or months.  I was only averaging 5-10 hours of sleep per week for months, but it slowly gets better AFTER you are completely off, then true healing and recovery begin.  That's why I did a CT (not recommended) at the recommendation of my doctor, so I could get on the road to recovery.  The story is told that if you slowly taper, you might not experience as many symptoms or an intense withdrawal?  From my experience on this website, that doesn't happen as much as most would like it to? 

Not much short of another Rx drug will help with sleep.  Seroquel seems to work for most or low-dose Mirtazepine.  Some have luck with Trazodone.  I would avoid anything that works on GABA though.  It's super hard to do, but if you accept the fact that insomnia comes with healing, you'll be better off.  Try not to worry too much about sleep.  I worked through almost all of my withdrawal and sometimes went to work after not sleeping at all for 3 or 4 nights in a row.  I always felt wired like I drank 4 pots of coffee.  Eventually sleep slowly returned in fits and starts.  I have been sleeping pretty well now for the past 5 years and average 7+ hours per night every night.  I still get an off night of sleep here and there, but nothing like the insomnia I experienced during withdrawal.  I was and still am amazed at how well we can function on very little sleep.  Unfortunately we "convince" ourselves that if we don't get X amount of sleep each night we should feel like garbage.  It took some time, but I learned to be grateful for any amount of sleep I received the night before.  Staying home only made me realize why I was home and then I sat there all day and felt sorry for myself.  I decided to get out and continue working even thought that wasn't easy some times.

Your sleep WILL return.  It's only a matter of time after you finish your taper.  Good luck!

Edited December 21, 2023 by [Th...]

[[Ma...]]

6 hours ago, [[o...] said:

Hi @[Ma...]

I looked at your History input, so have you now been holding at your August taper?  I want to try and help but if I could get a little more info.  I also was on C for years, and I do suffer with insomnia, but it is better now, oregonlady

PS I did want to mention if it gets tough for me, I will reduce my % of taper, but I've found that sxs finally decrease if I hold at same dose long enough, feel stable, and taper again.

Yes I have.  I am currently in Mexico and didn’t want to be cutting while I’m here for several weeks.  I’ve been at .5 for well over a month now. 

[[Ma...]]

5 hours ago, [[A...] said:

Hi @[Ma...]

The month where you were getting the solid 6 hours of sleep.......were you still holding at .5 mgs of Klonopin? Can you give a brief summary of your benzo taper journey from the beginning to now please?

I tapered from 1.0 starting last July, went a little fast and hit a speed bump in November.  Had to go back up from .4 to .5 and that really seemed to stabilize me.  Best I’ve felt my whole taper.  This insomnia just hit out of the blue about 6 days ago.  No new stresses etc.  

[[or...]]

7 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

Yes I have.  I am currently in Mexico and didn’t want to be cutting while I’m here for several weeks.  I’ve been at .5 for well over a month now. 

Ok Matt, so wondering if you're traveling, a staying away from home that might be why things flared up on you.  I know I felt way out of sorts when I had to go 300 miles South to see a dentist, and just in unfamiliar territory.  I feel safe at home and much less stressed. 

Anyway, I wish I could help more with the sleeping thing, I am getting about 3-4 hours sleep a night right now and to be honest, I'm just toughing it out because I just keep counting on it only being part of my wd sxs, and it's going to get better.  Do stick with us as it's the only thing that has really been a "real" comfort to me being here with others that understand, oregonlady

[[Ma...]]

23 minutes ago, [[o...] said:

Ok Matt, so wondering if you're traveling, a staying away from home that might be why things flared up on you.  I know I felt way out of sorts when I had to go 300 miles South to see a dentist, and just in unfamiliar territory.  I feel safe at home and much less stressed. 

Anyway, I wish I could help more with the sleeping thing, I am getting about 3-4 hours sleep a night right now and to be honest, I'm just toughing it out because I just keep counting on it only being part of my wd sxs, and it's going to get better.  Do stick with us as it's the only thing that has really been a "real" comfort to me being here with others that understand, oregonlady

 

Good point…it definitely helps to feel safe at home, although this started a few days before.  Possibly the anticipation of going away.  As @[Th...] stated, we should cherish the sleep we get.  I do know our bodies know how to demand sleep when they really need it so I shouldn’t get as upset about it as I do.  I actually had a window of energy even as I write this despite 3 hours last night.  I do think a lot of people are able to make it through without things getting worse and worse if they go slow enough (different for everyone though obviously)