[Pamala]

In Sept. 2017, as my deposition got closer, my activity decreased because of neck pain from a car crash and my brother in law and dog on their deathbeds I stopped sleeping. I had always had troubled staying asleep especially before I would give a voice or dance workshop or teach an early morning class. But this was different. Nothing was working. My doctor gave me every sleeping and antidepressant pill under the sun including medical marijuana. I hated all the side effects and continued to suffer. Sadly, while on a Jan. 2018 Carribean cruise to celabrate turning 60, the ship doctor gave me 1 mg. of Xanax which knocked me out. It was a relief to sleep through the night but immediately the horrific symptoms of wanting to jump out of my skin all day long kicked in. Nightly Accupuncture helped me to relax but could not compete with Xanax. After I got home another doctor put me in a slower acting benzo, clonzapam which hardly helped me to sleep and which took a horrific 7 weeks to taper off of (which is considered an extremely short period of time). I found Martins website and started receiving his very helpful daily suggestions on learning more about sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the damage to my brain from taking a benzo! I was on only 1 mg for “less than 3 months” but it can take up to another 6 months for my gaba receptors to start working again on their own. I wake up every hour. On good nights I fall back to sleep but on bad nights I only get 0- 5 hours. I now go to sleep and wake up at the same time. I eat healthy, work with my negative thoughts and stuck emotions and am planning to add another aerobic day to my 3-4 times of a 30 minute swimming routine all in hopes of learning to get 8 hours of sleep.

I am interested in others who have recovered from short benzo use and women over 55 who have trouble sleeping.

[Martin Reed]

Your experience is quite common — often we are amazed by the short-term benefits offered by sleeping medication and they do work well for short-term sleep disturbances. However, they don’t address issues that interfere with sleep that can remain for the long-term. As a result, when we stop taking the pills the insomnia returns.

Have you raised your concerns about the effects of the medication you took with your doctor?

Congratulations on your successful tapering-off. That process can be a huge challenge. If you can manage that, you are certainly capable of fixing your sleep without pills!

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

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