Month and a half off of Temazepam

[[Jo...]]

I have been off temazepam for about a month and a half now and about three weeks off of gabapentin. I am currently taking natural supplements like CBD/CBN, valarian root, chamomile tea, maganesium l-threonate to help with sleep. I am currently taking 150mg of hydroxyzine along with dayvigo for sleep and honestly its not working very well. Am i taking to much stuff? Also my top teeth feel like they are being sucked into my skull has anyone had this before? Is this from hydroxyzine? 

[[je...]]

I personally don't think any supplements help with benzo induced insomnia. Sometimes I take melatonin but it's hit and miss. It could be a placebo effect for me. 

I have been on this journey for 3 years. For the most part I would get 3 hrs broken sleep. When I finished my taper a year ago it transitioned to 3hrs uninterrupted sleep. For the past 4 months I'm getting 4-5 hrs which can be solid or broken up. But I still get many nights of 3hrs sleep. It sucks, but there is definitely improvement. It just takes a long time. 

If I have a couple of bad nights in a row I'll take an OTC sleep tablet, just to get one good night. But this is may be once a month if not longer. Personally I think the brain needs to learn to sleep by itself again otherwise it will always be a vicious cycle of prescription meds that stops working. Ultimately it's your decision because you need to get through each day. But I can see improvement in my sleep, even though it's not as fast as I would like it. It's also really important not to be anxious about sleeping. When you stress about it, you keep yourself awake. If you just go with the punches and accept this is what it is for now, you will be more relaxed and sleep can come more naturally instead of trying to force it.

[[Th...]]

I concur with jelly baby.  Reaching for something to help at 6 weeks out is most likely not going to help unless it's a Rx drug that isn't a Benzo.  Most people experience a period of acute withdrawal that typically lasts 30-90 days?  During acute withdrawal symptoms and intensity are usually at their worst?  My worst insomnia did not set in until month 3 after my CT.  I then had another 7 months of severe insomnia.  I tried every Rx, natural and OTC supplement for sleep.  The only thing that worked for a night or two were the Rx drugs.  Seroquel worked the best, but left me feeling super groggy with tons of brain fog and DP/DR the next day so I stopped taking that too.  Damaged or destroyed GABA receptors need time to heal and/or regrow so they function normally again and allow you to stay calm and relaxed so you can sleep.  No supplement or Rx drug can speed up that healing process.  ONLY TIME can do that.

Right now your sleep switch is temporarily broken.  And what you are trying to use (CBD/CBN, valarian root, chamomile tea, magnesium l-theonate) to "fix it" will simply not help much or at all.  Hydroxyzine could help, but you might quickly build a tolerance to that as well, so using it only a few times per week is the best course of action IMO.  

There are no shortcuts, or ways over, under or around Benzo withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia short of taking another Rx drug.  And even then, the results are usually not anywhere near what we'd like them to be.

Accept that what you are going through now regarding insomnia is temporary.  It is what it is and ends when it ends.  For me, insomnia was by far my worst symptom and I am not glorifying insomnia or saying not sleeping is cool or good, but insomnia's days are numbered as they only last for so long.  Eventually sleep will start to return on its own.   

The more I worried about sleep and the more I "tried to sleep," the worse my sleep became.  It's super hard to do, but if you can go to bed with the idea that you won't sleep and you're just going to rest your body, you will start to nod off here and there.  It might only be 5, 10 or 15 minutes at first, but any sleep is precious at this point in your healing and recovery journey.  Sleep will improve, but time is the healer.  Time will heal you and allow you to get your sleep back.  Unfortunately we cannot speed up time, but time always passes no matter what.  Hang in there, you can do this.

I re-read this post when you are losing hope:

https://benzobuddies.org/topic/270442-2400-days-off-my-insomniabenzo-advice/page/3/#comment-3483712

 

Edited January 19 by [Th...]