Valium Insomnia

[allstressedout]

Hello Friends,

I'm currently in the middle of tapering down from 10mg of valium- just made the cut from 6mg to 5mg. One of the most bothersome symptoms is insomnia for which my doctor has prescribed lunesta. I know that the Ashton Manual does not recommend using z-drugs while tapering but I cannot sleep right now unless I take lunesta. Anyone else been through this that can offer advice or support?

Thanks

 

[Tryptamine*Dreamer]

Lunesta does not sound like a good option to me either, it creates some of the same tolerance problems as benzos. Perhaps you could ask about Trazodone or Seroquel. For most people, these meds are quite effective from what I have heard from others who use them. I use both and they work for me where benzos and z-drugs never have (taking 100mg of Valium or Ambien and not feeling sedated enough to sleep is not common, is it? That is how ineffective they were to me).

100mg of Seroquel could very well be more than enough to get you to sleep as could 150mg of less of trazodone. I need more of either myself when I am having insomnia issues but yours is due to coming off of benzos and sometimes mine are from mania or what I'll call psychosis at present even though I think this is telepathy and hope to prove it some day.

Trazodone is probably most likely to be prescribed and people I've talked to said it worked well for them. Takes a high dose for me though. In the mental institution, one of the nurses told me 100mg of Seroquel was really effective for her insomnia and I know even I can get to sleep with just 200mg of Seroquel if nothing is stressing me out and I am not manic and sedatives do not affect me as much as they do anyone else I know. There are some risks with using Seroquel for a long time but you'd probably just need it short term if they wanted to try that.

 

[allstressedout]

Thanks Tryptamine. Actually my doctor prescribed zyprexa which is also a sedative antipsychotic. It was working ok but as I've gotten down to the lower doses of valium it's less effective. Myself I haven't noticed any tolerance to the lunesta. It may not be ideal, bit I gotta sleep man there's no way around it.

 

[thelung]

I'd try trazodone instead of seroquel, simply because seroquel can cause restless leg syndrome which you may be already experiencing due to your benzo w.d. I take 100mg-150mg of Trazodone a night and it works like a charm for my insomnia. Good luck!