Down to .16 Clonazepam. Anxiety definitely lower but insomnia worse?

[[Ma...]]

I have always attributed some of the anxiety/panic feelings I have had to be associated with poor sleep, because there always seemed to be a direct correlation.  Lately, my sleep has just been “meh”, like 5-6 hours on a great night.  But I don’t feel panicked/anxious the next day like I had, and my blood pressure isn’t spiking out of control. And generally, I’ve still been pretty functional despite the lack of zzzz’s. I slept like crap last night but just did a bunch of errands and went to the gym and feel pretty good.  I’m down to .16 Clonazepam right now.  Curious how others anxiety and insomnia was at the lower levels.  I feel like my symptoms could be indicative of some healing but don’t want to get ahead of myself.  

Edited September 19 by [Ma...]

[[Ro...]]

2 hours ago, [[M...] said:

I have always attributed some of the anxiety/panic feelings I have had to be associated with poor sleep, because there always seemed to be a direct correlation.  Lately, my sleep has just been “meh”, like 5-6 hours on a great night.  But I don’t feel panicked/anxious the next day like I had, and my blood pressure isn’t spiking out of control. And generally, I’ve still been pretty functional despite the lack of zzzz’s. I slept like crap last night but just did a bunch of errands and went to the gym and feel pretty good.  I’m down to .16 Clonazepam right now.  Curious how others anxiety and insomnia was at the lower levels.  I feel like my symptoms could be indicative of some healing but don’t want to get ahead of myself.  

Hi Matt,

    I think it's a good sign that your anxiety/panic has reduced as you go lower.  Many experience heightened anxiety as their taper progresses.  In my case, I experienced a low level of anxiety throughout my taper.  It was hard to distinguish it from my pre-existing anxiety.

     I'm sorry to see that you're experiencing insomnia.  I didn't have insomnia per se, but I did (and still do) experience fatigue, possibly as a result of lack of quality sleep.  I'd typically get 7 hours of sleep in, but still feel tired the next day.  Lack of restorative sleep, I think.

    Good to see you so low on your dosage.  You're almost there!

    I'd continue exercising as that can promote good sleep.

[[Ta...]]

Hi @[Ma...]

I’m down to about 1.35mg diazepam, and have definitely improved as my dose has decreased. It’s a very clear improvement. I can still become agitated and/or triggered into mental/emotional entanglements that can overstimulate and send my autonomic nervous system surging, however, it’s now down to about 10% of what I experienced at higher doses. I now experience moments of pure happiness. As I said…  the improvement is absolutely undeniable. 

I consider myself very lucky, as I know it’s not the case for everyone.  
 

[[Ma...]]

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

Hi @[Ma...]

I’m down to about 1.35mg diazepam, and have definitely improved as my dose has decreased. It’s a very clear improvement. I can still become agitated and/or triggered into mental/emotional entanglements that can overstimulate and send my autonomic nervous system surging, however, it’s now down to about 10% of what I experienced at higher doses. I now experience moments of pure happiness. As I said…  the improvement is absolutely undeniable. 

I consider myself very lucky, as I know it’s not the case for everyone.  
 

At what point in your taper would you say you started to notice those positive changes?  

[[Ta...]]

 

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

At what point in your taper would you say you started to notice those positive changes?  

That’s a very difficult question to answer.

I think the best I can say is - I guess I started improving once I really stabilised at 6.5mg and began tapering at a sensible rate. However, I don’t think I ever really acknowledged I had been improving until I recognised the suffering had decreased to the point where it no longer consumed the majority of my time and energy.