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Mental Health What to do about benzo withdrawal insomnia?

Flowing

Flowing

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 10, 2014
Messages
60
I am tired of being on psychiatric medications as they have ruined my life. Over the past couple of months, I have been slowly coming off of 3 mg of Klonopin first. I am also taking 1250 mg of Depakote ER. I made it down to 2 mg, then a ton of stress hit me, and now I haven't slept in four days. Benzos seem to be the only thing that put me to sleep. I'm thinking about updosing but I do not want to ruin my months of work dropping down from 3 mg to 2 mg. My GABA system is completely destroyed. I don't know what I can do to heal myself at this point. If I stay on psychiatric medications, I run the risk of head injury. There were multiple times at 3 mg of Klonopin where I would hit collapse due to a blackout. I know at some point I have to switch to regular Depakote. I know that regular Depakote was very sedating. I don't know if my pdoc will switch me over to regular Depakote right away though. Sorry for the ramble. Like I said, I haven't slept and it feels like I'm only a few hours away from having to give up and commit myself to a psych ward and then get ruined more by these dangerous psychiatric medications.
 
You may want to give melatonin a shot. B12 may also be useful because it can help with natural production of melatonin. I would recommend the sub-lingual methylcobalamin form. Benzos can deplete b12 levels. Magnesium citrate (not oxide) has also helped me tremendously in my AP withdrawal. You may also want to take epsom salt baths or try the oil that you can apply to your skin.

Be careful with too many supplements though because with a compromised nervous system you don't want to be adding too many things into the mix. Vitamin C, Nicacinimide, and Vitamin D could aid in your recovery at some point. If you do try a b complex though, be careful with your dosages as it may amp you up more. Try and stay away from multi-vitamins because it has a lot you don't need and lots of them aren't even absorbed very well if at all.

If you can access it, gabapentin may provide some relief. If you only use it for a couple weeks you should be fine, but if you use it for any substantial amount of time, it can have a withdrawal of its own. Tenex or clonadine may help you as well.

Hang in there buddy, I know benzo wd can be rough sometimes.
 
quetiapine will put you out if you're non-tolerant but makes me feel like shiyat in the morn
 
When I quit etizolam, I couldn't sleep normally for months. Melatonin + Benadryl helped immensely. Sometimes I substitute doxylamine (Unisom) for the Benadryl, as it's a little more potent. GABA agonists like Valerian root and kava only made my withdrawals worse.
 
Thanks for the input. Unfortunately I got to it a bit late. I was forced into psych inpatient and had another traumatic experience there. The only thing that has changed is that I'm able to sleep a little bit better with the new addition of 50 mg of Doxepin. However the side effects are just too much to handle. My skull feels like it is going to implode and my heart is racing constantly. Now I've got Depakote ER, Klonopin and Doxepin to come off of. I'm SOL now.
 
I possess some alimemazine (Theralen°) and it works wonder to bam you to sleep for as long as each liquid drop is put in the spoon. Not an addictive soup, it's good to have when no benzos are around.

Hydroxyzine is another winner, but it doesn't pack a punch like alimemazine/cyamemazine ime. YMMV.
 
I went throught 7 days of no sleep after a abrupt benzo cold turkey after 4 years self prescribed very high use.

In the end I buckled and hit A&E (I am UK) but after hours of waiting they gave me 10 x2mg diaz......only sole benefit of that nightmare was my tolerance dropped.

Well needless to say don't drink, only opiods I had were tramadol so I was W/D off them too but taking them would do the opposite of help sleep.

In the end while waiting for my rehab team to write me a 7month taper for benzo (and starting subutex tomorrow for opoids) I started to cold water extract codeine just to feel ok.....do I advise this? No, I advise that whilst a UK at least will not give u benzos or a z-class med to zzzz he will have no problem prescribing mirtazapine, it mightbe a low dose, dont worry, its more sedating.....obviously convey you are at the end of your tether.

Trazadone might work also.

Please dont let him prescribe a AP like seroquel or olanazapine, you are going crazy, its temporary I promise ,this AP stance is simply my opinion.

Remembering anti-d in their anti-d propertiea are considered inaffective inbenzo W/D.

However mirtazapine should put you out.....you will wake up hungover for a while and get hungry which is good butanything beats the lingering phychosis of insomnia.

Meanwhile get rehab referral asap to get u on a safe taper.

Good luck, hold on.
 
Doxepin. (sinequan)

Given to virtually every junkie in rehab up to 200mgs a night. A decade long opiate run ruined my ability to sleep without H or benzos. Virtually everyone agrees that tried it, this works better than anything else, ambien (zolpidem) included. It is an anti-depressant but before you knock it, know that it works immediately first night. Sleep only doses are at 3mgs-6mgs. 100mgs makes me sleep better than I ever remember, and not in the just 'blacked out' sort of way either. Your side effects don't sound like they are a result of the doxepin. Weight gain is the only side effect I've heard people complain about. Maybe some grogginess in the morning that lifts abruptly soon after waking.
 
Honestly the advice I have to give is probably hard to take.

Introducing another drug into your system generally may alleviate your pain, but it will also probably prolong your discomfort.

On the other hand, if you're not sleeping, that sets you up for a host of ills. This can range from simple anxiety to depression to outright psychosis. Four days is a long time without sleep, long enough that I wouldn't be surprised if psychosis or extreme anxiety has set in. We need to sleep. If you're not sleeping for several days, contacting a doctor and honestly explaining your situation may be of great use.

I've read that benzo withdrawal, if one tapers down to fast, can cause permanent damage--not to mention your sleep being in short supply. I think it's usually a strong idea to taper down benzos, especially if you've been on them for several months or more.

Going to the psych ward for something like this isn't horrible. These days, people are generally committed for shorter periods than before. Also, benzo withdrawal can, as you probably know, threaten your life.
 
Thank you all for your input once again. I managed to get off of the Doxepin pretty easily. I was doing well back on just the Depakote ER and Klonopin for about three weeks. Now I'm taking a turn for the worst. I'm only sleeping about 2 hours per night. My diet has changed to being extremely healthy, I'm exercising, taking supplements like magnesium that are supposed to help insomnia etc. But I think I've hit the point where my GABA system is just so damaged. My meds are no longer working.


There are very few psych meds left for me to take. I don't want to jump back on an antipsychotic but that might be what I have to do since I'm considered to have bipolar disorder. My pdoc doesn't want to give me regular Depakote which I think would help but instead wants to put me on Thorazine or just stay on what I am on even though I am not sleeping well. Xanax is the only major benzo left for me to try. Medical marijuana has been suggested and although it is legal in my state I don't think I'll be able to get it because bipolar disorder isn't considered a serious illness in my state. The big daddy of them all, Xyrem (legal GHB) is probably the key to repairing a lot of the brain damage caused by all of the other medications. It's supposed to give the brain deep sleep, something I haven't gotten in almost 20 years. It's supposed to repair damage to many neurotransmitters, particularly Dopamine (my Dopamine and GABA are probably the two most messed up of all). But my insurance doesn't cover it and it's over $10,000 per month and without a diagnosis of narcolepsy / cataplexy, it is too hard to acquire. I've heard mixed reactions about the supplement Phenibut too. Not adding anything and trying to live on 2 hours of sleep might be the right thing to do as I've seen many people get off benzos this way. But they usually haven't been so severely polydrugged like I have been.


I found a pdoc with over 40 years of experience that understands how bad psychiatric medications are for most people, understands the correct way to withdraw (based on Breggin, Healy, Glenmullen, Whittaker, Ashton, MindFreedom, Icarus Project etc.) are and is willing to prescribe almost anything I want to get me off the Depakote ER and Klonopin. I need to survive for another two weeks before I see this person. Also, there's another issue involving insurance. Since I'm already seeing a regular pdoc and getting prescriptions from that pdoc, how the hell is insurance going to pay for yet another pdoc and more meds from another doctor? Eh, so much to think about and no easy solutions.
 
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Wow, Flowing--I think you hit the jackpot with that doctor. Ask him/her if posting on Bluelight interests him/her?=D At least I hope you will continue to write about your experience.<3
 
Well my update didn't post properly, so I'll consider this an "edit" for now.
 
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Flowing said:
I need to survive for another two weeks before I see this person. Also, there's another issue involving insurance. Since I'm already seeing a regular pdoc and getting prescriptions from that pdoc, how the hell is insurance going to pay for yet another pdoc and more meds from another doctor? Eh, so much to think about and no easy solutions.
Click to expand...

I have found that deep breathing using relaxation hypnosis tapes can make up for some lost sleep. It's one of the only things keeping me going as I hardly sleep these days either.

Here's two I like a lot.

RELAXATION AND WELLNESS
RELIEVE STRESS

BOTH BY BELLERUTH NAPARSTEK

Easy to find on Amazon. Best of luck to you. I really feel for you and that horrible situation you've found yourself in.
 
Alright, so quick update which will hopefully post properly this time. I'm still seeing the withdrawal pdoc who prescribes whatever I want. I've managed to come down from 1250 mg of Depakote ER down to 375 mg of regular Depakote. I have not had any hospitalizations since the one from June 2015. I am still taking 3 mg of Klonopin though. I have a feeling I'll make it off the Depakote fine but I'm not sure how I can come off of the Klonopin. I think I'm just too addicted to it. But I guess I just have to keeping taking things day by day.
 
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