Insomnia? How you guys deal with it?

[[Pa...]]

I guess Insmonia is the main problem for all of us? But how you deal with it? For me the Insomnia makes everything worst, a couple of symptoms like intrusive thoughts and audible hallucinations just start with the heavy insomnia. I would be happy about every little  tip makes it a bit more doable to cope with that.

[[...]]

I dealt with it for years which led me to benzos/z-drugs.

The wd made things a lot worse.  It was horrible during the peak of my wd.  

I've tried everything under the sun over the years.  The most helpful for me is reducing stress and consistency on my sleep schedule.  Avoid alcohol and really any psychoactive substance.  No cell phone or screens 2 hours before bedtime.  Journaling at night under candlelight has helped a lot.  Yoga nidra/meditation to fall asleep to help on the bad nights.

Daytime exercise, yoga.  Sun exposure.  No caffeine at all.  Chamomile tea.

I used trazodone during my worst withdrawal insomnia.  I still use it but at a much lower dose.

I personally didn't get restful sleep during withdrawal or while on benzos.  Benzos inhibit rem and deep sleep.  I think it just takes time for the brain to normalize during the withdrawal process.  Time does help.  I fell asleep for the first time in over 6 years the other night without any medication.

Hang in there.  Give your brain time to heal.  Reduce stress and let your body rest.

 

[[Re...]]

3 hours ago, [[P...] said:

I guess Insmonia is the main problem for all of us? But how you deal with it? For me the Insomnia makes everything worst, a couple of symptoms like intrusive thoughts and audible hallucinations just start with the heavy insomnia. I would be happy about every little  tip makes it a bit more doable to cope with that.

@[Pa...] 

I had bad insomnia for 14 months. There were two occasions I basically didn't sleep for 14 days straight. Before I started to turn a corner I had a five-day streak of not sleeping with increased pacing akathisia this was the end of last year. I have hallucinated also and understand how scary that is.

My advice as harsh as this sounds is to avoid any sleep drugs including Benadryl or over-the-counter drugs. These drugs can really get a person in a deeper hole and complicate the withdrawal and recovery process. If you decide to take them, at least THOROUGHLY research the risks.

Ice packs helped me when I couldn't sleep -- an ice pack on the chest or heating pad later on in recovery helped me fall asleep and I still use both sometimes now. They can calm the nervous system. Just make sure the ice is not too cold and heat pack isn't too warm because you don't want to harm your skin. There were times I put a huge ice pack in my pillowcase -- it was the size of my entire torso and I hugged it to fall asleep.

Also putting a pillow on top of my body and hugging it helped immensely. That slight weight calmed my system. I still sleep like this now since I am still not out of the woods.

I was put on Seroquel because a doctor convinced me I would die from not sleeping or have some other bad health problems. That is another medical myth.

If it gives you some hope, I am now 18 months off of benzos/9 off Seroquel and I don't sleep less than 6/7 hours a night usually more like 8-13 hours sometimes. I am an exception in that department for sure but in the last month or so I have stopped sleeping as broken I may wake up for a few minutes but I go back to sleep quickly for the most part.

 

[[...]]

Insomnia and twitches exacerbating each other was what landed me on a Z-drug, which is why I am here. While it might have been necessary since I didn't sleep at all for several days, I don't recommend Z-drugs to anyone. It is low quality discount "sleep".

What works (sometimes) for me:

- Sleep restriction. If you are only able to sleep 2 hours a night, then set your alarm for that. Lying in bed being wide awake messes things up even more. Dozing off-time is ok. Then gradually increase the amount of time you area "allowed" to sleep. 

- Sunlight or daylight lamp first thing in the morning. It helps you wake up,  even if you haven't gotten much much sleep. 

- Go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every day, also weekends. 

- Getting out of the house, seeing other people, doing things that I like. Good feelings makes you more relaxed and at peace.

- Moving. Not pacing in my home,  which makes me feel awful. Instead I go for nature or city walks or take a bike ride. That is "normal" movement and exercise, and doing something good for myself. And like the bullet above, it makes you feel better. 

- Sleep mask and earplugs. Many of us are very light and sound sensitive. 

 

[[mi...]]

I would often have problems sleeping, there were times when I didn't sleep at all for several nights in a row, it was terrible and hard. But now my maximum sleep per night is 3-4 hours. I think in my situation, it's worth taking some nutritional supplements to improve the quality of sleep. I like to get more familiar with the problem to know how to solve it, so I often read everything I am interested in on the Canadian Pharmacy Partnership, for me it is a good solution to the problem I am facing.

Edited April 25 by [mi...]