I have had insomnia since I was a kid. I also have night terrors, I sleep walk, and I talk in my sleep. The sleep walking has gotten better, but when I was on seroquel it got much worse. I would actually eat in my sleep. When people would talk to me, I would be very nasty to them. It was like I was in a benzo blackout.
I have taken benzos for most of my life for my anxiety disorders and my sleeping problems. I decided to stop those and I ended up not sleeping for a long time. It was terrible. I had the same problems growing up. I would fall asleep for a few minutes, either have sleep paralysis, or I would jerk awake because my legs would shake. When I was using I only had the sleep paralysis to deal with.
I got clean, and while I was in rehab I was not allowed to take my benzos so for the first month I maybe slept five or six hours. They let me stay up and read out in the common area so I didn't wake my roomates. They put me on seroquel which caused me to sleep but I had a resurgence of the sleep walking, and I gained a bunch of weight. I also did not like the way it made me feel and it raised my liver enzymes to crazy levels. After I got out of rehab I went back on xanax and temazepam...which was good at first, but without the opiates I needed bigger and bigger doses which is not sustainable. I tried many sleep aids...trazedone, belsomra, ambien, zopiclone..etc but they all didn't work or made me feel horrible the next day.
Finally I tapered off the benzos but I was right back where I was to start with. I started taking four benadryl before bed coupled with going to bed early, and having a fan blowing on me. I also needed white noise so I would have the tv on (which pissed my girlfriend off, so now I just wear headphones). I still wakeup really early, but it is a step in the right direction.
Basically, you are going to need to reset your sleep pattern. You do this by not taking any sleep meds for about a month while actively changing your sleep hygiene. After a month is up and you have gotten a decent bedtime routine down then try a couple benadryl at might. Routine is important. Routine is important (its why I said it twice).
PS: Keep a sleep journal. That way you can figure out what works and what doesn't
