Tips to help sleep - so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

[redangel]

Thank you free spririt.  I will try that tonight.

[fefesmom]

Have to admit I have just skimmed this topic and I am wondering if people who have no trouble falling asleep but wake up  after 3 or so hours and cannot get back to sleep for a couple of hours have any suggestions. I have this kind of insomnia and practice all the sleep hygiene habits with no success and haven't slept more than 4 hours in many months. I will try the qi gong (sp?) above and see if that helps. Thanks for any experiences that you have found helpful. FM (now Sophie's mom)

[cyopher72]

Have to admit I have just skimmed this topic and I am wondering if people who have no trouble falling asleep but wake up  after 3 or so hours and cannot get back to sleep for a couple of hours have any suggestions. I have this kind of insomnia and practice all the sleep hygiene habits with no success and haven't slept more than 4 hours in many months. I will try the qi gong (sp?) above and see if that helps. Thanks for any experiences that you have found helpful. FM (now Sophie's mom)

 

I find it best to get up out of bed for 15-20 minutes. Usually I can fall back asleep after that.

 

I found that for me it is almost always a sound that wakes me (dog coughing, refrigerator compressor switching on) are you sure you have eliminated those types of things. I bought some plug phones and listen to meditation music which helps me to wake less often.

[Gibby]

I find insomnia intolerable. I wasn't always like that, though. 

 

Before I hit my crisis in 2010, I'd always had trouble with sleep, with bouts of really bad insomnia cropping up once a year or so, with periods of good to decent sleep. 

 

Since the 2010 crisis, any sort of insomnia makes me feel just awful and scared. 

 

I'm better about it now, I don't panic if I've had a few days of not sleeping well when I'm on my normal retune of meds.

 

But it seems that, whenever I try to reduce the dose of anything too fast, insomnia is the first thing to crop up, and it's the only symptom I can't handle. The crying, the flu-like symptoms, the bad poops, I can handle all that, but the lack of sleep is what pulverizes me in the end. 

 

I think a lot of that has to do with the psychic residue from my crisis, where not sleeping and not knowing why put me in the hospital. I know why I wasn't sleeping now, and I wish I could go back in time, but here we are.

 

I take heart from the many accounts on here that I've read that said that normal sleep returns eventually. 

[fefesmom]

I have taken one tablet of Benadryl  (25 mg)for the past three nights and last night I slept for 7 hours - a minor miracle- and even though I woke up a few times I could get right back to sleep. I feel much better during the day too.

Does anyone have any idea how long I can keep taking Benadryl without rebound bad effects? I

am down to two 25mg Zoloft from three and am tapering  very slowly. I went CT from Effexor four years ago and don't recommend CT to anyone for anything.

FM

[ChessieCat]

Hi FM,

 

I just did a Google search "Benadryl survivingantidepressants.org and found this already here:

 

benadryl-diphenhydramine-for-withdrawal-insomnia/

 

Especially Post # 12

 

Might find some info in that topic

 

CC

[oskcajga]

I have taken one tablet of Benadryl  (25 mg)for the past three nights and last night I slept for 7 hours - a minor miracle- and even though I woke up a few times I could get right back to sleep. I feel much better during the day too.

Does anyone have any idea how long I can keep taking Benadryl without rebound bad effects? I

am down to two 25mg Zoloft from three and am tapering  very slowly. I went CT from Effexor four years ago and don't recommend CT to anyone for anything.

FM

 

It would surprise me if you didn't build tolerance to benadryl after 3 consecutive nights of use.  I find myself needing more and more benadryl to knock me out even after just 1 night of usage.  That being said, I find it to be effective at knocking me out - it also has a slight euphoric flavor to the effect, which I particularly enjoy.  I found that nyquil would have an even more euphoric flavor to the effect, but I haven't tried that stuff for a long time because it has a lot of ingredients I'd prefer to avoid right now in my life.

 

I take between 1 and 1.5 tabs and it knocks me out for a long time - and then when I wake up, I don't have any trouble falling back asleep again.

[Skyler]

Benadryl lost effectiveness for me after 3 nights as well...

[redangel]

I have a scrip for 50 mg of benadryl.  Doesn't do anything for me at all.  Sometimes  unison helps, it has a different sleep ingredient then the others.  Every other night I soak in the Epson salts with lavender oil and baking soda.  That does relax me enough that I can get some sleep with the guided imagery and breathing app on my phone.  I'm not understanding why since I've weaned off Paxil my anxiety has ramped up to such high levels I cant sleep and have panic attacks over everything .  I never used to have anxiety problems.  Ever!  I never used to have a racing mind during the day either, always at night but not during the day like now.  Any ideas?  I am working with a very good cognitive behavior therapy therapist.  She doesn't believe in giving everyone meds either. But sometimes now I have such a high level anxiety from lack of sleep that Its impossible to think straight to use the help she gives me.   She says in school most of her thesis papers were on how physc meds should only be used for very short term while you are getting therapy.  So I feel blessed to have her. It was a therapist that started me on them in the 90's, then said since I had the meds I didn't need the therapy. Ive raised 6 kids by myself and feel i've been cheated out of large parts of their lives from these meds that I believed the doctors and stayed on them for so many years being a zombie.  I know I'm kinda raving right now but sure wish I could sue some docs!!  My therapist also told me to be very careful with lack of sleep, she says by the 3rd night of no sleep you can have a physic break and be a danger to yourself or others. 

[oskcajga]

I have a scrip for 50 mg of benadryl.  Doesn't do anything for me at all.  Sometimes  unison helps, it has a different sleep ingredient then the others.  Every other night I soak in the Epson salts with lavender oil and baking soda.  That does relax me enough that I can get some sleep with the guided imagery and breathing app on my phone.  I'm not understanding why since I've weaned off Paxil my anxiety has ramped up to such high levels I cant sleep and have panic attacks over everything .  I never used to have anxiety problems.  Ever!  I never used to have a racing mind during the day either, always at night but not during the day like now.  Any ideas?  I am working with a very good cognitive behavior therapy therapist.  She doesn't believe in giving everyone meds either. But sometimes now I have such a high level anxiety from lack of sleep that Its impossible to think straight to use the help she gives me.   She says in school most of her thesis papers were on how physc meds should only be used for very short term while you are getting therapy.  So I feel blessed to have her. It was a therapist that started me on them in the 90's, then said since I had the meds I didn't need the therapy. Ive raised 6 kids by myself and feel i've been cheated out of large parts of their lives from these meds that I believed the doctors and stayed on them for so many years being a zombie.  I know I'm kinda raving right now but sure wish I could sue some docs!!  My therapist also told me to be very careful with lack of sleep, she says by the 3rd night of no sleep you can have a physic break and be a danger to yourself or others. 

 

Benadryl is kind of a hit or miss for most people, from what I understand.  Some people find it extremely helpful (like myself) if taken every once in a while, others get absolutely no sedative effect whatsoever. 

 

From what I've read unisom IS benadryl plus doxylamine, another antihistamine. 

[redangel]

Yea, I think the doxylamine is the difference that helps me a little. Do you know why post anti depressants people get such sleep issues and anxiety?  I just wish it would go away, dont enjoy it at all.  I got to a stage in my life that I want to learn to be content, at least and thought ditching the meds would help but now I have these other issues to deal with instead

[redangel]

I also cant figure out how to put a med signature on, if anyone can explain how to for me.  Im sure I cant remember all of the meds and even what years I was on what but I could give it a try. 

[DLB]

I'm gonna be honest, my sleep has been brutal but getting better during the past 14 months. It was 2 hours max. for about 4 months then 4 hours for a few and then 4-5 for a few and now 7 months off after my taper I am actually getting tired and am sleeping 6-7 hours. I went through 2 boxes of doxylamine and found that was the only thing that would work for me when I couldn't take the sleeplessness any longer. I could actually split them in half and it would work. Doxy was a Godsend.

[oskcajga]

Yea, I think the doxylamine is the difference that helps me a little. Do you know why post anti depressants people get such sleep issues and anxiety?  I just wish it would go away, dont enjoy it at all.  I got to a stage in my life that I want to learn to be content, at least and thought ditching the meds would help but now I have these other issues to deal with instead

 

Here's a success story I found from another website, this person had terrible anxiety for a long time but it got better with time.  I hope this doesn't scare you but I thought this person's description of the anxiety was just so palpable and comprehensible that I felt it was appropriate to post here in response to your question:

 

 

6 YEAR UPDATE/RECOVERY

 

rangerNY

 

When The Impossible Becomes Possible - Some Encouragement From The Other Side

 

This is for those of you that are struggling and are not sure if you'll ever have a normal life again. I'm gonna ramble here. Just stick with me and I'll get you back home.

 

After almost 9 full years, my last dose of Paxil was in September 2005. Things at first were not too bad, but by December 2005 I was sliding down a sleep slope and by January 2006 the wheels had completely come off. I was a total disaster. Wracked with almost constant anxiety and panic, overcome with rushes of uncontrollable emotion, dogged 24x7 by irrational intrusive thoughts, and flattened by waves of crushing depression. Sleep was light and never lasted past 4 AM. Everything from the phone ringing to the sound of my daughters playing to the smell of dinner cooking was almost too much to bear.

 

The business I own is a technical one. It involves working with complex networks and computing systems. I'd been a pretty cool cucumber my whole life, but when I added the numbing effects of Paxil, I was virtually bulletproof. I felt no stress and no pressure. When everyone around me was freaking out and the phones were ringing off the hook because packets were not flowing beween New York and San Francisco, I was the calm guy that just fixed it. Nothing phased me. I reconfigured production routers, switches and servers on the fly with no backups and no plan B. I rarely backed anything up. Some of it was because I'm good at what I do. Most of it was because I was acting like an *** - not uncommon for SSRI users. 90% of the time (maybe more) it all worked out - at least from a technical point of view.

 

When I hit the worst of withdrawal, that dude was lost. Gone. Nowhere to be found. It was so disheartening for me. I wanted bulletproof Drew back in the worst way. Instead, I had to read things 2-3 times to understand them. I would forgot my passwords, and actually resorted to writing them down. I couldn't recall simple commands that I used hundreds of times every day. I could barely talk on the phone without bursting into tears, so performing advanced operations on complex computing systems seemed completely out of the question. I couldn't enjoy a movie, or music, or a hockey game. Everything I had once been - even before Paxil - was gone.

 

I recall one day very clearly. Late February 2006. A Sunday morning. I was absolutely beside myself because I had to reconfigure part of my wireless backbone linking three locations here on Long Island. A task that I would have breezed through with no advance planning or forethought seemed insurmountable. I had to actually sit down and write out the exact steps - every keystroke - needed to get the job done. I went over the plan several times before sitting at my desk to get started. I was shaking. Literally. I was cold and hot at the same time. Sweating and freezing. My heart was pounding out of my chest. The task itself was terrifying, but even more so was the notion that if I made a mistake, I might have to actually leave the safety of my house and drive 20 miles to fix it. You might as well have told me that I had to drive to the moon wearing a fishbowl on my head. Same general reaction of complete terror.

 

I got through it, albeit at a snails pace. It took me probably 10 times longer to finish than it would have a year before. I remember getting out of my chair, basically collapsing on the sofa, and taking 10-15 minutes before I stopped breathing like I'd just climbed the Matterhorn. I was happy it was over, but I was also crushed because it took such an effort to accomplish what was really not that difficult a task. At that moment I figured I'd never be the person I once was.

 

But, minutes, hours and days do pass, one at a time.

 

Fast forward 6 years to November 2011.

 

Today I spent maybe 4-5 hours moving Paxil Progress to its new home on an upgraded server. I had two monitors running, and most of the time I had no less than 8 terminal and browser windows open. I was working on three or four servers at the same time. The move plan was entirely in my head. Nothing written down. I had maybe a six different username/password combinations to work with. There was software to compile, packages to install, configurations to decipher and duplicate, data to backup and move, and a whole mess of geeky stuff going on. Spotify was running in the background, streaming music from the 80s (sorry, I'm stuck there it appears!), and I was bouncing from server to server, from task to task and back again without so much as a missed keystroke.

 

Everything went just fine, and at no point during the process was I stressed, anxious or nervous about a damn thing. Now I know 6 years is a long time so obviously I should have changed in that many days, but working on Paxil Progress today actually made me realize for the first time that the old Drew is back. He's been back for a while now, and I just didn't realize it. In fact, he's better than the old Drew. I actually keep passwords double encrypted in two places now. Everything I have is backed up. I leave nothing to chance. As I worked today, I always had a plan B in my head in case something went wrong. I wasn't concerned with getting done as quickly as possible. I was actually enjoying the work (and the 80s music). I even took a few breaks to go outside and see what my kids were up to. The old Drew might have gotten the job done, but he would have never gotten it done in as "graceful" a way. With time comes wisdom I guess, and without Paxil comes a clearer more efficient mind.

 

Laurie has been very gracious about thanking me for the help, but in reality I owe her - and this site - a HUGE debt of gratitude. It helped get me through the darkest of times. Working on it today made me realize that I've been so pre-occupied with life that I've completely missed the fact that what I thought to be impossible in those dark days has actually come to pass. For this - appropriately enough with that particular holiday approaching - I am extremely thankful.

 

The point is, even if you think that you're lost forever, that you're broken beyond repair and that you're doomed, you're not. I thought that too once upon a time, and I'm here to tell you that its not going to be that way forever. Just keep breathing, keep taking baby steps forward, and keep your eyes focused down the road, not in the two feet of bumpy pavement in front of you. If I can get there, so you can you.

 

Note:  This is a success story written by a user from a now defunct website, Paxilprogress

[redangel]

You mean It still could be 6 yrs?  I'm almost 60 already!  But guess Ill have to take it like everything else, One step at a time.  Im so happy the man in that story is so much better!  It gives me hope, even though it might take a lot longer then id like.  Thanks for posting that for me, and others going through the same thing. 

[ChessieCat]

Wow!!!  What else can I say?  And having been involved with computers, I know a bit about what he is talking about.

 

I think what amazed me most about this is the final outcome of him actually being better at his job than he was to start with and that it didn't stress him, he chilled during the tasks he was doing.

 

Let's hope that many more of us can have the same outcome, preferably in a shorter time though (I'm about to turn 58 edit:  same thought as redangel    )

 

I hope others can find some inspiration is this update.

 

CC

[oskcajga]

Wow!!!  What else can I say?  And having been involved with computers, I know a bit about what he is talking about.

 

I think what amazed me most about this is the final outcome of him actually being better at his job than he was to start with and that it didn't stress him, he chilled during the tasks he was doing.

 

Let's hope that many more of us can have the same outcome, preferably in a shorter time though (I'm about to turn 58 edit:  same thought as redangel    )

 

I hope others can find some inspiration is this update.

 

CC

 

There's like 30+ more inspiring stories like that on this thread here.  I strongly encourage everyone to read through these stories, because recovery definitely happens - and there's a tremendous amount of information contained within those individual stories that can be helpful.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1226-recovery-success-stories-from-around-the-web/page-4

[geckodebc6]

I've had sleep problems for many years, and now in my 6th month of med free  (after 33 years on them)it's pretty awful.  I just don't get tired.  I've tried melatonin, l-theanine,  valerian, warm milk, chamomile tea, to no avail.  I go to bed at 12, hoping I'll drift off.  I'm not sleepy at all.  I'm not sleepy if I stay up until 3 or 4.  I don't drift into sleep. I don't slowly awaken.  I'm awake and then I must sleep because I'll awaken and a few hours have passed.  I've been awake until 4 0r 5 every night for the past week and then sleep  until 9 or 10.

 

I have a paradoxical reaction to most drugs so I wonder if I should take something that is more stimulating (a supplement, not a med).  I'm in the bottom of a wave, profound depression, so sleep is really important to me.  I don't know how many more nights I can stand lying awake for 4-6 hours for my blessed sleep to come, maybe another day closer to a window!

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Meimeiquest]

I haven't tried this as the link on the introductory email didn't work, but the Paleo Mom is launching an ebook and program on sleep. I'm sure it won't touch on withdrawal insomnia, but it should have a lot of info on cortisol-related sleep problems as she is going through that herself. If you sign up for her newsletter I'm sure you'll get the ads...thepaleomom.com

[GardeniaBlossom]

I've tried a couple of things that have worked for me. One is binaural beats. I found a free app called "Binaural Beats Music." It has a track called "sleep induction" that worked very well for me. I didn't use earphones, just played it normally in my bedroom. That worked well to help me fall back to sleep during the first few months of withdrawal when I would wake up every hour or couldn't fall asleep at night at all.

 

More recently, I've used a mixture of 5 teaspoons of raw honey and 1 teaspoon of Pink Himalayan and put a little under my tongue just before bed. That's helped me feel less tired when I wake up in the morning.

[Meimeiquest]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/01/07/women-sleep-problems.aspx?e_cid=20160107Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20160107Z1&et_cid=DM94355&et_rid=1302447920

 

This link is from mercola.com. I thought the most interesting part was on the sleep of more "primitive" people groups. They're not sleeping as well as you might think and it seems the most critical part of sleep is resting in bed in the dark, not actually being asleep. Withdrawal insomnia isn't going to kill us

[Altostrata]

Interesting article.

 

It always annoys me when women's increased sleep problems are laid to "stress." Women still do a lot of chores and tend children more than men. They have more stress because they work longer hours and have to "be there" emotionally for their families as well.

[Altostrata]

Reminder to everyone with sleep problems:

 

Very important!!!!

 

- Get off the computer, tablet, or smartphone early in the evening. This is not a joke. The light from these devices will keep you awake, or cause you to sleep so lightly, you wake up in the middle of the night.

 

If you have a bad habit of Web surfing at night and not sleeping until the early hours, you have reset your sleep cycle with the light from your electronic devices and set yourself up for poor sleep.

 

- Turn the lights down or off in the early evening. The darker it is, the more your natural sleep hormone, melatonin, is stimulated.

 

- During the day, get outside for at least 10 minutes to get some natural light. The natural light sensed by your eyes helps set your biorhythm and sleep cycle.

 

- If you can, get at least 30 minutes gentle exercise, such as walking, each day, before the early evening. This causes your nervous system to record physical activity, which will help trigger your sleep cycle at night.

[Sarabera]

So true, a few other things you can do to help melatonin release normalize--download f.lux for your computer, tones it down a lot in the evening. Get some blue-blocker goggles and wear them in the evening for an hour or so before bedtime. Replace the light bulb in your bedroom with a blue-blocker bulb (easy to find online) for middle of the night reading. I like one that is quite dark.

 

There are certain activities on line, such as video gaming or streaming porn, that will totally rev up your nervous system and throw the circadian rhythm completely out of whack. Not a good thing to do if you are experiencing insomnia. Reading a real book (not kindle), or watching TV with blue-blocker goggles, or knitting, are activities that are much more likely to allow your body to get back to sleep.

[uncomfortablynumb]

Is it normal to feel totally exhausted but not have the sensation of feeling sleepy or drifting off to sleep? Does this come back? Some doctors are telling me this is part of depression and anxiety. I have never had sleep issues in the past before meds or on meds. This was never an issue when I had bouts of depression or anxiety. I would sleep more than usual. The deprivation is torture. I have promised myself not to rely on meds for sleep. How long can I expect to suffer before experiencing some improvement? Have my fast tapering and trials over the years set me up for disaster?

[Christian]

Hi there. I thought I read your sleep improved ?

[uncomfortablynumb]

Sadly, that was very short-lived. Had only a couple of nights of a bit of relief.

[Christian]

I bought this product from GNC called Natra Sleep. It has Passion flower, valerian root and chamomile in it. It did make me tired when I took it with a Melatonin after an Epsom salt bath. I also had chamomile tea just prior. I could tell I was tired. If I wasn't in the early stages of WD I bet it could have put me to sleep for the night as I was tired. One day soon when I'm done tapering Ambien That will be my combination I'll use.

[uncomfortablynumb]

Is there some sort of timeline when withdrawal insomnia starts to ease? I know everyone is different and have different drug use histories, but personal experiences and averages might be helpful.

[Christian]

I'm interested in that too. But I'm sure I'm not going to like what the responses are going to be

[InvisibleUnless]

for me, personally:

 

~3 months until i was not sleeping only every other night

~6 months until i was not sleeping mostly in 1 hour portions

~2 years until i was not sleeping mostly in 2-3 hour portions

~3 years until i was not sleeping in mostly 4-6 hour portions

~4 years until i was sleeping almost every day and for around 6+ hours each time

 

i still have a rotating circadian rhythm, so my sleep is not limited to day or to night and tends to roll back hour by hour across days and weeks.  some months, i have a renewed difficulty in getting proper lengths of sleep.  i still cannot just lay down and sleep---various criteria have to be met, and it can become quite inconvenient and delay sleep for hours or even half a day.

 

i attribute the worst of things (in sleep, but also many other areas) to the antipsychotics, and i was on antipsychotics for 7 years in addition to all the antidepressants and other muck.  as i tapered off the last 5 or so drugs one at a time, the incidence of withdrawal was kind of staggered.  in order of first completed discontinuation, my final tapering schedule was: cymbalta, remeron, risperdal, buspar, topamax.  i should not have stayed on the topamax for so long, but did not know any better and all the doctors were against my discontinuation.  i went 3-5 months between zeroing the doses of each medication, with the next taper beginning after the last one was ending.  i dont remember if i had stabilization months or what my exact dose reductions were, but i tapered according to my longtime psychiatrists plan.

[compsports]

I haven't tried this as the link on the introductory email didn't work, but the Paleo Mom is launching an ebook and program on sleep. I'm sure it won't touch on withdrawal insomnia, but it should have a lot of info on cortisol-related sleep problems as she is going through that herself. If you sign up for her newsletter I'm sure you'll get the ads...thepaleomom.com

Sorry, I am just now seeing this post.   I found this article interesting.

 

http://www.thepaleomom.com/2015/08/the-new-science-of-sleep-wake-cycles.html

 

""The authors didn’t answer my follow-up question when I read this, but given the symptoms of excessive dietary sodium and the symptoms of potassium deficiency, I’m thinking that getting a good balances of these two essential minerals in the diet is probably a necessary for our brain’s ability to regulate our sleep-wake cycles.  I have to admit that since I read this paper, I’ve been eating more bananas for their potassium content (bonus: they’re also high in magnesium and tryptophan which can also help sleep!) and I’ve actually noticed a measurable improvement in my sleep quality!""

 

Interestingly, last week, when I took an exhausting day trip to consult with an ENT/Sleep surgeon out of my area, I got more potassium than usual.   Blood pressure was normal at the doc's office even though I was very stressed out due to an idiotic cab driver.

 

When I got home, even though I had another narcoleptic sleep attack, when I got back to sleep, the quality was so good that I was pissed off the next day that I had a dentist appointment.  I wanted to be getting tasks done that I had the energy for.

 

It looks like I need to pay attention to this since my sleep hasn't been good since last week.  Of course, it could be due to a million other things but obviously focusing in increasing the potassium doesn't hurt.

[compsports]

for me, personally:

 

~3 months until i was not sleeping only every other night

~6 months until i was not sleeping mostly in 1 hour portions

~2 years until i was not sleeping mostly in 2-3 hour portions

~3 years until i was not sleeping in mostly 4-6 hour portions

~4 years until i was sleeping almost every day and for around 6+ hours each time

 

i still have a rotating circadian rhythm, so my sleep is not limited to day or to night and tends to roll back hour by hour across days and weeks.  some months, i have a renewed difficulty in getting proper lengths of sleep.  i still cannot just lay down and sleep---various criteria have to be met, and it can become quite inconvenient and delay sleep for hours or even half a day.

 

i attribute the worst of things (in sleep, but also many other areas) to the antipsychotics, and i was on antipsychotics for 7 years in addition to all the antidepressants and other muck.  as i tapered off the last 5 or so drugs one at a time, the incidence of withdrawal was kind of staggered.  in order of first completed discontinuation, my final tapering schedule was: cymbalta, remeron, risperdal, buspar, topamax.  i should not have stayed on the topamax for so long, but did not know any better and all the doctors were against my discontinuation.  i went 3-5 months between zeroing the doses of each medication, with the next taper beginning after the last one was ending.  i dont remember if i had stabilization months or what my exact dose reductions were, but i tapered according to my longtime psychiatrists plan.

IU,

 

It never ceases to amaze me how these drugs destroy sleep cycles in different ways.   I wish you all the luck in the world in resolving your issues.

[uncomfortablynumb]

What if the problem is falling asleep? I tried many natural products and follow good sleep hygiene to no avail. I am trying my hardest to avoid meds for sleep aids. Is it just a matter of time I have to wait? I am barely functioning and my body aches badly.

[Dan998]

Sleep seems to be such an important factor to getting through this ordeal. There appears to be a link between sleep and withdrawal symptoms. If you search online for ‘sleep deprivation’ you will notice that the symptoms are very similar. I’m not sure which causes which. Perhaps it’s a chicken and egg situation. Is insomnia just another withdrawal symptom? Or, is sleep deprivation the key that unlocks the door to hell and releases all the other withdrawal demons? I have no idea, and probably neither does anyone else.

 

What I do know is that if I can string together a few nights of decent sleep I feel so much more functional, less anxious and more energetic. And, on the flipside, if I have a few nights of poor sleep, things will turn very bad very quickly. In fact, during every one of my failed CT attempts it was the acute insomnia and the accompanying deterioration of my mind and body that finally forced me to reinstate. 

 

It does seem very common for us SSRI refugees to suffer from insomnia. Virtually all of us have had difficulty getting to or staying asleep. I would be interested to know others experiences with sleep and their symptoms, especially how it affects windows and waves. Do you sleep more during windows? Do you sleep less during waves? 

 

[legan]

I heared about songha night product .its herbal and It sholud help with sleep . Any body tried it ?

 

My problrm is not falling sleep . I sleep 12 hours every day . But i wake up exhausted . Anxious . Im having the vivid dreams all the night . Its like im not sleeping . I feel im aware when im i sleeping .and it seems i didnt get any deep sleep since i quit. I never woke up refreshed . Except when i have a nap or nightmare .

 

These drugs destroyed every thing .

 

I woke up refreshed if i have a night mare . Is nt strange ?