Chronic insomnia

[EAV]

After going off Klonopin; I developed chronic insomnia.  I don’t know what to do as I never can fall asleep naturally.  Melatonin etc does not help. It’s impacted my whole life ; disenfranchised my family and my career.  

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Rosalind]

At the moment this site is still being added to but some insomnia advice…..

 

As you will be aware Beating Benzos receives numerous posts on this most common withdrawal symptom. I’m just posting a few thoughts this morning on this problem which sadly led me to take Benzos nearly fifty years ago.

Long term use of any Benzo will worsen sleep and this is the most important factor to remember. You can’t take them for more than a couple of weeks before a dependency sets in. This dependency may start as psychological and then progress to becoming a physical one as brain receptors are changed in response to the drugs.

 

Over time you come to believe that you can’t sleep without a pill and you take your dose every night, perhaps even for years. Now you have become truly dependent and sleep without this pill may no longer be possible at all. You could also be suffering effects of your sleeping pill during the day as you become more prone to anxiety, possibly have panic attacks and then find you suffer pain in various parts of your body. Even digestion is disturbed with disturbances in bowel actions and intolerances to some foods. Daytime fatigue is also common and you can start to lack motivation for things you once enjoyed. Effects are numerous and may go unrecognised as to their cause.

It all happened for me and doctors diagnosed other illnesses, performed numerous tests and even minor investigative operations to find the causes of my multitude of symptoms. Of course nothing was found and I was offered many other drugs to deal with these symptoms. I was lucky because I was very sensitive and the addition of further psychiatric medicine was never a long term option for me thankfully. However, I was also given more Benzos for the daytime anxiety and arthritic pain. These I took irregularly alongside my little pill for sleep (Nitraz....then Temaz....). I knew no better sadly but for forty years I believed I needed that pill for sleep until finally I understood what that small dose of sleeping pill was doing to me. I lost most of my life to this repeated prescription for sleep.

 

You, on the other hand, do have the opportunity to rid yourselves of Benzos both for sleep and for any other causes they’ve been prescribed for and to do this with support and knowledge. I never had this opportunity because when I was first prescribed technology hadn’t progressed to social networking and to allowing for the sharing of information. I was to remain in the dark for decades.

Sleep will return if you can taper your benzo whether it was originally prescribed for insomnia or for something else. Withdrawal often does cause insomnia anyway so learning to deal with it without a pill is part of becoming benzo free. Heather Ashton herself reassured me that lack of sleep does no harm as the brain switches off without us knowing it. The best answer for insomnia is to remain in bed with eyes closed if you can, watch your breath, meditate if you know how or listen to music. Sleep returns if allowed to do so. Above all try not to fret about not sleeping because eventually the brain will readjust and you’ll sleep again. Acceptance is the key.

 

Normal sleep is unlike drugged sleep as it is refreshing and rejuvenating. Drugged sleep can do the exact opposite and lead to memory loss, premature ageing and all the other symptoms mentioned above. Benzos also take away REM sleep which will return once you have recovered and perhaps cause a lot of dreaming as your sleep pattern settles. I now love my dreams!

 

Trust yourself to learn to sleep without a benzo or even any other ‘pill’ if possible. I know melatonin, antihistamines and some herbs are sometimes helpful just to get over a rough patch but only take something occasionally, after careful research as well as asking here, as I understand the awful effects of no sleep at all for several days. Above all don’t become dependent on anything else by taking it every night as you may have done with a benzo, that is replacing one dependency with another which you don’t want to do.

There is Guide 10 here on Insomnia with further information and ideas on this. I can assure everyone that real sleep is beautiful and well worth all you may go through to get it back. Nobody needs a pill for the natural function of sleep just as we don’t need a pill to allow us to breath, to digest our food or even to blink our eyes! May your sweet dreams return naturally.

[EAV]

How long did it take you to recover from insomnia?

[James]

Not to jump in here but I am finally starting to sleep a bit after 17 months of zero drugs. For months I went to bed and thought to yourself that tonight may be the night I sleep. For so long it wasn't. I don't want to jinx myself but for the last four or five nights I am sleeping 6+ hours. It isn't all at once but cut up through the night. I retire about 11:30 to 12 pm and have trouble falling to sleep. Once in sleep I am finding I'm able to stay asleep. This is through nothing I'm doing, it is just my body finally overcoming my insomnia.

 

I started taking benzos to counter act the insomnia I was having from taking synthroid. I was on a LOT of synthroid and still am but now I just deal with the agitation it causes me. I took benzos for 15-20 years. I estimate I have taken 20,000 pills during that time. wow

 

I know it's hard but you must fall back on your own mind and body to heal you. Your body will heal you eventually. The advice given above is very good. Don't start taking something every night to fall asleep. No alcohol. No benedryl. You can do it.

[EAV]

Thank you James. These posts are inspiring

[EAV]

James.  Did you taper the benzo or CT?