Rescue dose

[[Po...]]

I’ve been off regularly prescribed benzo for a long time. I’m undergoing a great deal of stress in my life right now and tomorrow I have something I have to do. I’m not sleeping well lately and knowing how my anxious mind works in the dark of night I’m afraid I won’t get any sleep tonight and won’t be able to function tomorrow. I’m wondering about the harm in taking a rescue dose of Valium.  I have some clonidine too which is a BP med that is used off label for anxiety but I worry it might lower my BP & HR to much. No good answer it doesn’t seem??? I have taken the occasional rescue dose of Valium and I didn’t have any ill affects but not sure how many times I can get away with that. 
Any thoughts appreciated 

pokeu 

[[ji...]]

since you've been off benzos for a long while, maybe a glass of wine before bed would help you sleep~~jill

[[Po...]]

Wine will definitely keep me awake. I don’t handle alcohol well at all anymore 

[[...]]

I took rescue doses after tapering and being off. No issues felt til one of those doses triggered severe kindling with symptoms i never had before. I was feeling great living al living life, had just some anxiety. Since this happened 6 months ago i"m completely disabled and getting worse as time passes. Lost everything overnight and dont know how am going to get out of here. Think of reinstating every minute but scared of even worse

[[Ar...]]

Hi ☀️

I am sure you know that the more you worry about not sleeping the more difficult it will be.

Do you practice any coping strategies?

Breathing techniques, exercise etc?

Learning to deal with stressful situations without falling back on medication is key in moving forward.

Currently working on that with hubby, who was prescribed Dalmadorm for insomnia for 12 years.

Luckily he's now off since a few month.

He took a small rescue dose once during his journey, but now there wont be any more of those, since that would be taking an unnecessary risk.

When hubby gets anxious its

1. Breathe 2. Relax 3. Know it will pass.

I know it is difficult. So you coming on here talking about your worries is a good thing.

Are you seeing a therapist or any other medical professional to help you in moving forward?

All the strength to you 🤗 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Po...]]

Yes I’ve been working with an ACT therapist and doing meditation. Working on mindfulness, 478 breathing exercises and reading the Daily Stoic. I’ve been able to get to sleep, just can’t stay asleep long enough to get rested . Then I get sleep deprived which leads to fatigue & anxiety plus there’s other stress in my life. Once i get to a certain anxiety/stress level I can’t seem to get my body to mellow out enough to relax and go to sleep. It feels like I’m awake on adrenaline. It’s an awful exhausting feeling. I do take low dose mirtazapine & CBD but that doesn’t necessarily cut through the adrenaline. I et so tired I wanta die. 

[[Ar...]]

Hubby is the same.

He never had problems going to sleep but rather staying asleep. Which got worse while  on Dalmadorm.

Sleep doctor told him to stay in bed which has worked to some degree.

Sometimes when the thinking takes over, he does get up and the night is pretty much over for him (and me) since he suffers from a neurological condition and is prone to falls when moving around alone.

I did install an audiobook app on his phone. Listening to a good book has helped with distracting him enough to sometimes get back to sleep.

Unfortunately there is no miracle cure really.

I am sorry to hear about the stress in your life. I hope it is something that you will be able to overcome. 🤗 

 

 

[[or...]]

@[Po...] I "get" your plight.    An alternative to taking a rescue dose of a benzo for insomnia is Unisom Sleep Tabs. I sometimes take one if I can't sleep. But you need to limit use as you develop a tolerance quickly. They're just a sedating antihistamine, but they do pack a wallop. You can order them from Amazon. Make sure to order the Sleep Tabs, not the gels. I also sometimes use Stay Asleep CBN (not CBD) gummies from Charlotte's Web online. CBN is much better for putting you to sleep and keeping you asleep than CBD. Again, use sparingly. Hope these ideas help for sleep emergencies. 

[[Po...]]

Didn’t know that about CBD v CBN. I take CBD nightly with melatonin. Like I said I get to sleep, so far, but wake up at 3 or 4 am. A few days of that and the stress hormones starts setting in. 

[[Po...]]

It’s been at least a month since I took that last rescue dose. This week I’ve been having really bad insomnia.  If one was going to have insomnia issues after taking a rescue dose wouldn’t the insomnia appear sooner than a month out?? You hear a lot about kindling but I’m not clear what it is exactly, how it affects you and I tend to think it gets over rated.  But also I’ve got a lot of stress in my life right now. So I’m thinking it may be impossible to know exactly what’s causing my insomnia. I did my usual meditation last night focusing my breathing of course. I couldn’t identify any specific anxiety keeping me awake. I simply couldn’t sleep. Can’t I likely rule out the rescue dose a month ago as a cause of my insomnia today?? 

[[PE...]]

2 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

It’s been at least a month since I took that last rescue dose. This week I’ve been having really bad insomnia.  If one was going to have insomnia issues after taking a rescue dose wouldn’t the insomnia appear sooner than a month out?? You hear a lot about kindling but I’m not clear what it is exactly, how it affects you and I tend to think it gets over rated.  But also I’ve got a lot of stress in my life right now. So I’m thinking it may be impossible to know exactly what’s causing my insomnia. I did my usual meditation last night focusing my breathing of course. I couldn’t identify any specific anxiety keeping me awake. I simply couldn’t sleep. Can’t I likely rule out the rescue dose a month ago as a cause of my insomnia today?? 

Try to find something else!!

I use a THC/CBD when my insomnia gets bad and it works better than those nasty pills!!

Google for indica THC and insomnia :))

Edited Friday at 13:55 by [PE...]

[[PE...]]

No you're right it can't be ruled out. It messes up everything. 

[[Po...]]

What messes up everything? Kindling??

[[PE...]]

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

What messes up everything? Kindling??

Benzo mess up sleeping. The more it has effect the more the brain wants it.

Try anything but benzo. 

 

[[PE...]]

I had bad insomnia before the benzo.. I thought THC/weed was to "dirty" so finally went with benzos. Bad choice..

Like I said I'm getting much help from thc now when I can't sleep. And it works the first time so no need to take it every day.