[sbcohen99]

Looking for any input getting off sleep medication. I take gabapentin and Lunesta every night, sleep ok, but typically wake up 2-4 times a night, able to fall back to sleep most of the time. But really need to get off the meds. It will be tough. Any advice from others that made it through this would be helpful.

[Martin Reed]

Have you discussed this with your doctor? If so, did they give you any suggestions?

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[hiker]

Hi sbcohen99, I found that sleep meds could provide a short-term solution, but that inevitably I would build up a tolerance. So I can understand you’re wanting to move beyond them.

For myself, it seemed like doctors just wanted to write another prescription, because they could, and didn’t feel all that comfortable discussing what was driving the insomnia in the first place.

As for getting off meds, I also found that pharmacists know more about side effects, half-lifes (i.e. how long it stays in your system, and whether you need to taper off a particular medication). And that they are glad to share what they know.

As for root causes of insomnia, I hope you stay with the forum and read other people’s comments. I would also recommend Martin’s materials, such as podcasts and consider taking his course. And even when you make progress, know that nobody sleeps great every night. So don’t panic if you have a setback.

It does get better.

[Spindledog]

If you get the medical ok to get off the meds, go for it, but have somebody or a support system ready to be there for you. Don’t try to do it alone. I recommend Martins program as he’s an expert and experienced, otherwise people will not be sympathetic to you and that’s frustrating. My doctor said to me once: you don’t need to do this insomnia recovery alone. And you shouldn’t.

[Author]

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