Z-Drug Support Group (Lunesta, Imovane, Zimovane, Ambien, Sonata, Zopiclone)

[[He...]]

Jorgen,

 

How are you feeling today?  I tested Negative yesterday but I still feel awful. It feels like a virus with a lot of withdrawal wave stuff on top of it.  I hope you are improving!

 

Lady Den,  As you can read, I tested negative. I may test again today...just not feeling good in much of any way.  I know it'll pass but man oh man...

 

Hugs to everyone (germ free virtual hugs).

 

Helen

[[La...]]

Helen  I’m sorry that you don’t feel well. Guess who has burning feet this morning? Me!

Whatever virus you have it’s a mean one. I hope it goes back where it came from. I wish I was there to nurse you back to health. Sending you love ❤️

[[...]]

Dears,

 

Helen - I also tested negative the first day. So better take one more test. I also feel like a virus with a lot of wd on top. I still have fever, coughing, head ache and pain all over. At least, I can give in and don't fight anything right now. Go to bed with my socks on, lol.

 

LadyDen - I also hope it will go away soon. I have that feeling of burning and over exitatory CNS. It’s so awful.

 

Jerry - I was partly joking and partly curious about the replacement woman, since I didn’t actually know what you were talking about. I do now. Hope It’s ok? I wish I had made a slow taper æike you. But I didn’t have the knowledge at the time.

 

Save virtual hugs to you all

 

[[La...]]

JB virtual hugs to you too 

 

Yes it hung around for a few hours then vanished. I’m so glad because that was just WIERD!

How are you doing today?

 

Helen?

 

Jerry?

[[Li...]]

JB virtual hugs to you too 

 

Yes it hung around for a few hours then vanished. I’m so glad because that was just WIERD!

How are you doing today?

 

Helen?

 

Jerry?

 

Ha  LadyDen,

 

I slept less good than then night before. It is what it is. My cleaning woman came today and a man and woman of Mental Care Support came along after my house was clean. We had a nice conversation. In 45 minutes I go to my father… hugs Jerry 

[[He...]]

Hi all,

 

LD, I'm glad your burning stopped. Hope mine does soon! Still burning and not getting great sleep so Jerry, I understand!  it'll get better. I'm glad you had your housekeeper and the mental health helper as well.  Enjoy being with your Dad.  Jb, I hope you're hanging in there.

 

Helen

 

 

[[...]]

Hi All,

Here is just another day with covid. The fever is less now, but still coughing, sore throat, giant head ache, muscle pain and tired. The only good thing about covid is that I actually sleep better than I did pre-covid.

Did you also experience shifting sleep patterns during wd? In the first 9 months after my CT, I couldn’t really sleep. Then it changed, where I suddenly were able to fall asleep, but later on it changed again, where I could only sleep a few hours at the time. Before covid, it had changed again, where I slept exactly 6 hours each night - no matter when I felt in sleep. And when I woke up, it was with a lot of pain, numbness in arms and legs, head aches, etc.

With covid, I now sleep 8 hours, however, I still wake up in pain.

I wish you all a beautiful day

Jørgen

[[...]]

How did wd impact your head?

I mean, I have head aches, head pressure, burning acid pain, qnd so on. But then I also got episodes that are hard to explain, where it feels like my brain is split in two and it’s shaking and when it does that, I get slurry speach, difficulties with my fine motor skills, and nervepain and numbness in my body, especially left side.

It's so crazy, and it makes me scared that I really have a brain damage...

[[He...]]

Jb,

 

I so hate that you have Covid! it sounds miserable, really.  Getting more sleep isn't worth all that illness.  It's good you see that silver lining but I know being sick is rough.  How long have you had it now?  To answer your question, yes, my sleep patterns have definitely shifted a few times.  I didn't sleep much in the first few months but I would take some antihistamine to encourage sleep then.  After I dropped the antihistamine, I actually started sleeping on my own but it was very broken sleep with many wake ups.  Then I went through another phase of sleeping 6-7 hours and I thought I was home free.  With all this buzzing and burning and heart palpitations I'm having once again, my sleep is pretty short. I have been waking up very, very early with those symptoms and it's basically impossible to get back to sleep so I lie in bed in the dark and just focus on counting my breaths.  I think it's at least restful for my eyes and body. 

 

Lady Den, Jerry, and anyone else reading here, I hope you have a good day. 

 

Helen

[[La...]]

Morning hugs Helen, Jerry, Jorgen hope your sleep was better last night for all of you. I did decently. As far as my sleep, I haven’t had much trouble with how long I sleep since tapering off. My troubles had been waking up about twice in one night for awhile then it shifted to waking up once. Then once every now and then. Which is where it is now. Also I have trouble falling asleep. The bigger my night wave the longer it takes. I’m so glad that when I do wake up I easily fall back to sleep most of the time. I use a very strict sleep routine and go to sleep every night about the same time and get up about the same time as well. No naps during the day. I started this when I began my taper and it has worked great for me. Also getting morning sunlight exposure about 15-20 minutes helps with circadian rhythm sleep induction. I also use earplugs as I am in an apartment with people above me, dogs barking some nights, cars with loud music booming, loud airplanes flying at night ( I live close to the airport so the planes are low flying over here). On the nights that it’s not too noisy I try not to use the earplugs because I don’t want my brain to be in the habit of not falling asleep because of a little noise.

Hugs to everyone. Love ❤️

[[...]]

Good afternoon from here😊

 

Helen, the sleep patterns you describe sounds a lot like mine. Before covid, I also woke up very early with all the symptoms going on, and then just lying in the dark with my eyes closed, just to try to be with all the symptoms. I had covid since Friday, and I think there is a little improvement there. But now I got a terrible wave described in my last post.

 

LadyDen, it sounds awful with all the noise you have around you. I understand why you use earplugs. I did actually sleep 8 hours last night, which is nice, but now I just have this wave, where I can't do anything else than be in a dark room. I'm am scared how much it influences my brain and body.

 

[[La...]]

It’s ok Jorgen there are times when the waves are bad that we can’t help but think that way. But just know deep down that it isn’t true. Benzo Bully tells lies all day. Try to remember when you felt better. That will let you know that it’s temporary. Also take into account that you’re fighting COVID as well. So you feeling bad has a valid reason. But….it’s temporary my friend. Meditate, pray, positive quotes and self love until things settle down. Sometimes all I can do is be in the dark too. We’ve all been there. Nothing to feel bad about. I heard some sunlight is good to help rid COVID from the body 

Big hugs to you 🤗

[[...]]

Thank you LadyDen🙏

I really try to do self care, when the tough gets tougher. But it's hard not to begin to worry that it could be something else, when my whole system is acting weird and I can't even control speech or fingers, my brain is shaking, and numb in my left side.

The Benzo Bully might tell me lies, but it scares my anyway that I might got MS or Parkinson or whatever. I know the probability for that is very low. On the other hand, there is clearly something wrong. Sorry, I’m freaking out a bit...

Hugs to you too

[[Ge...]]

So this has been very difficult and I'm still very confused about what to do next. Today, for example, someone was supposed to come and change our thermostat and I ended up having to cancel the appointment and table it until next week because I wasn't feeling well (luckily, they were very understanding). Like I said on an earlier post, I was on 3 mg Eszopiclone at the beginning of the night and 10 mg Zaleplon in the middle of the night for about 4.5 years, took about 6 months to taper and have been off completely for ~13 months....  The only symptom I really have is bad chronic insomnia, although occasionally when I get very sleep deprived, I'll get headaches and dizziness although those are really not separate symptoms per se but consequences of lack of sleep.

 

        I am struggling to know what to do -- as in how much longer do I want to continue to wait for my sleep to get better before I contact the doctor again and embark on some sort of additional intervention.  I have literally had my life on hold for the last 6 years as I wasn't sleeping that well on the pills either. And part of the problem is because of the lack of sleep, my only real productive time (most days anyway) is the morning. After about lunchtime, my concentration, cognition and energy levels plummet to the point where I need to regularly lay down in the afternoons and usually the only productive things I can do in the afternoon/evenings is stuff that doesn't require any thought like food shopping, housework, laundry, dishes, etc.

 

        The problem also is that I have a lot of other things going on that are competing for that small amount of productive time per day --- including 2 other medical issues, one of which occurred fairly recently and may require surgery and extensive rehab as well as a legal dispute with a hospital that will require quite a few months to entangle in the near future. What I'm concerned about is that I'm 42 and I'm really concerned at this point that this long-running sleep issue (in addition to entangling myself from all this other BS which is actually piling up faster than I can deal with it BECAUSE OF the sleep issue ) will cost me my chance to have a biological child.  So for me it is really important that I don't spend time on additional sleep interventions that are unlikely to yield any results but it's also true that if this isn't going to go anywhere and it needs a "little push" to help stop this chronic early morning awakening pattern, that I do that at some point in the near future when it is convenient for me.

[[...]]

I have been really bad since yesterday. It's like my brain just broke and all my symptoms exploded.

It feels like somebody poured acid in my brain and that the acid spread out in my whole body along the nerves. I have giant head aches, feeling of shaking brain, dizziness. Inner trembling and shaking, hands shaking, numbness in the left side of my face, left ear pain, slurry speech, balance problems, problems with fine motor skills. Muscle pain, stiffness and numbness, especially in arms, hands, legs and feet. It is very bad when I wake up in the morning. I don't sleep so much due to all the pain.

The covid is on the return though. I am still coughing a lot and have a sore throat.

[[La...]]

So this has been very difficult and I'm still very confused about what to do next. Today, for example, someone was supposed to come and change our thermostat and I ended up having to cancel the appointment and table it until next week because I wasn't feeling well (luckily, they were very understanding). Like I said on an earlier post, I was on 3 mg Eszopiclone at the beginning of the night and 10 mg Zaleplon in the middle of the night for about 4.5 years, took about 6 months to taper and have been off completely for ~13 months....  The only symptom I really have is bad chronic insomnia, although occasionally when I get very sleep deprived, I'll get headaches and dizziness although those are really not separate symptoms per se but consequences of lack of sleep.

 

        I am struggling to know what to do -- as in how much longer do I want to continue to wait for my sleep to get better before I contact the doctor again and embark on some sort of additional intervention.  I have literally had my life on hold for the last 6 years as I wasn't sleeping that well on the pills either. And part of the problem is because of the lack of sleep, my only real productive time (most days anyway) is the morning. After about lunchtime, my concentration, cognition and energy levels plummet to the point where I need to regularly lay down in the afternoons and usually the only productive things I can do in the afternoon/evenings is stuff that doesn't require any thought like food shopping, housework, laundry, dishes, etc.

 

        The problem also is that I have a lot of other things going on that are competing for that small amount of productive time per day --- including 2 other medical issues, one of which occurred fairly recently and may require surgery and extensive rehab as well as a legal dispute with a hospital that will require quite a few months to entangle in the near future. What I'm concerned about is that I'm 42 and I'm really concerned at this point that this long-running sleep issue (in addition to entangling myself from all this other BS which is actually piling up faster than I can deal with it BECAUSE OF the sleep issue ) will cost me my chance to have a biological child.  So for me it is really important that I don't spend time on additional sleep interventions that are unlikely to yield any results but it's also true that if this isn't going to go anywhere and it needs a "little push" to help stop this chronic early morning awakening pattern, that I do that at some point in the near future when it is convenient for me.

Hello Getmysleep sorry to hear of your troubles with sleep. Firstly it is highly common to have sleep issues after coming off sleep drugs. Those issues can last quite awhile for some people. But given some more time, it will resolve. If you go to the doctor to seek something to help, you perhaps should be very careful what intervention the doctor suggests. Many of them will offer benzos, antidepressants, psych meds, other sleep drugs, etc In taking those especially after you’ve already come off Zdrugs can cause a new kind of hell. They would also require you to taper them at some point once you hit tolerance on those too. Then you’ll perhaps have even worse insomnia. In my opinion I’d say try something over the counter - one thing at a time for a few nights to see if it helps. If you find something that does help then stick with it until you heal more. Morning sunlight about 15-20 minutes can help reset your circadian rhythm for bedtime sleepiness. Soothing music and a strict nighttime routine is ideal every night. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time every morning. This trains the brain when to enforce sleeping. Lights out or very dim an hour before bedtime. The idea is to be in a calm relaxed dark environment. This is CBT-I ( cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia). It has worked very well for me. Some nights it takes me a bit longer to fall asleep than others because I have night waves. But I stick with my relaxation technique and fall asleep naturally without any assistance from any supplements, herbs or medications. After I’m very relaxed I put in my earplugs. Like you I’ve struggled to sleep most of my life starting in my teens. I wish to God the doctors would have tried CBTI with me before giving me Ambien ( zolpidem). It literally ruined my life for 4 years now. I’m 27 months free. For most people the CBTI takes awhile to cater it to your individual liking. It has to be given some time to be fully affective. But for some, like me, it worked almost immediately. The rule I have for myself is once I close my eyes I’m not allowed to open them even in the dark. Something you can cuddle is another soothing nighttime tool. Perhaps you can imagine holding your future new baby.

I’m not sure if insomnia is your only symptom left after 13 months. If it is I’d say you’re very fortunate. I had a friend on here named Shay that was on the same medication you had. Her insomnia was unreal as yours is and it lasted a long time. Currently she still struggles from time to time but her sleep is much better.  Please go through this thread and read her posts. She’s no longer active on this thread as she has healed much and living her life.

I wish you the best in having a child of your own. At 42 that will cause some stress in itself. Any woman at any age will when trying to have a baby. I hope to hear in the near future that you are expecting. How lovely it is to be a mommy. In a nutshell, the zdrug you were on is a known culprit of causing prolonged insomnia issues. Given more time they should improve naturally as the brain fine tunes things. Your other life stressors is perhaps making things worse. I believe meditating with soothing spa music might prove to be a useful tool to keep the stress down during the day. Maybe for 15 minutes take some time during the day in a cozy spot to do calm breathing. When I do it, I pretend I’m at a spa or on a beach if I use the beach waves music. I hope this was some help to you. Best wishes. 🤗

[[La...]]

I have been really bad since yesterday. It's like my brain just broke and all my symptoms exploded.

It feels like somebody poured acid in my brain and that the acid spread out in my whole body along the nerves. I have giant head aches, feeling of shaking brain, dizziness. Inner trembling and shaking, hands shaking, numbness in the left side of my face, left ear pain, slurry speech, balance problems, problems with fine motor skills. Muscle pain, stiffness and numbness, especially in arms, hands, legs and feet. It is very bad when I wake up in the morning. I don't sleep so much due to all the pain.

The covid is on the return though. I am still coughing a lot and have a sore throat.

Jorgen your body is fighting COVID. COVID has been rumored to cause symptoms that are very similar to benzo wd. I’ve seen many buddies here say that. Hopefully your body will finish fighting it off soon so you can return to feeling better. I’m sorry for your discomfort. Drink plenty of fluids especially those high in vitamin c such as juice and fresh fruits. It will boost your immune system to assist getting rid of it. Hang in there. 🙏🤗

[[He...]]

Jb,

 

I echo was Lady Den says. You've got a bad virus and it's inevitable it will affect your nervous system too. I'm so sorry you got sick. I can tell you that whatever I had 3 weeks ago is gone but it was a very bad virus (much like Covid but I tested negative 5 times).  I'm now in a wave that sounds exactly like the symptoms you are having.  It's not a lot of fun. I have to think it's from the virus as nothing else has changed in my day to day life.  I'm right there with you!  The only thing I don't have that you have is a terrible headache. I had those for 9 straight years on the meds so I think my head got tired of hurting.  But the rest of me is buzzing, vibrating, aching and firing so I really do understand.  I'll be thinking of you and hoping the virus clears itself soon. 

 

Helen

[[...]]

Dear LadyDen and Helen

Thank you🙏 I know that I’m fighting the covid, and that covid can make the wd symptoms worse. What I have now is, however, not so different from what I experienced before, when it's bad. My withdrawal symptoms just seems to have worsened in the last months, especially the ones I mentioned here. I worry that it's not withdrawal but something else. But what else it should be, I don't know. I think it is a totally over exitatory nervous system.

I eat healthy and get my vitamine C. It's just so hard to be in.

Hugs Jørgen

[[He...]]

Jb,

 

I have the same issue.  Now that the virus has passed, I feel like I'm in the more acute stages of withdrawal again. I'm sorry yours has been building up for months.  It is hard.

 

Take good care,

Helen

[[La...]]

Jorgen when I think it can be something else I do a process of elimination and every time I’m left with the conclusion that it HAS to be WD because it fits like a hand in a glove. AND I get a sudden window…so yeah for most of us it’s WD or mostly WD. Not that it can’t be something else in the background but unless that something is serious that we had previously. This can present itself as many serious things such as lupus, ms, cancer, Lyme disease, etc. But if anyone wants a peace of mind then there’s tests to rule those out. Then you will know for sure that it’s just the after effects of a damaged CNS that is doing it’s “thing” to repair itself. Which is why we are feeling it….because it’s healing it. Boy I sure wish it had a better way of doing it. I totally understand what you mean. I do get those times that I question what’s happening to me. It is hard to fathom that this is still going on after so long. All you have to do is read those success stories….those people are 2,3,4,5 years to recover and a few beyond that time. They all thought it was something else too. Time proved them wrong.

[[...]]

LadyDen, Helen

Yeah, you are right. I did have some tests previously, and my doctor don't even want to look at me anymore. And it certainly also feels like a damaged CNS, so it probably is. It's just so hard to accept, that one can be so ill so long time after. And then I constantly search for confirmation that my symptoms are in fact withdrawal, because I'm scared. It’s so crazy the whole thing. I can hear that when you read about my condition, you are not in doubt.

Then it makes it difficult for me, that it's going in the wrong direction qnd that I don't have any windows. You certainly have to be very strong to go through all this.

Hugs, Jørgen

[[Be...]]

Jorgen, sorry you're feeling so bad.  Hope you feel better soon.  I wasn't diagnosed with Lupus until I was in tolerance w/d.  I went to the docs because of tolerance w/d symptoms and then they diagnosed me with Lupus.  I am convinced that my Lupus is drug-induced from my damaged cells.  I get tired of people telling me that my Lupus is not drug-induced because I know that it is.  I was perfectly fine before I went into tolerance w/d and then got off the damn benzo's and Z-drugs. 

[[...]]

Becksblue,

Thank you. I am sorry to hear about the Lupus🙏

Hugs Jørgen

[[La...]]

Team Z! Be strong. Be patient. Be encouraged!  Be positive! Be your own advocate!

Sending hugs and love ❤️