[Ryan]

Greetings all! I’m new to this website and love everything I’m reading. I’m currently on a waiting list for CBTI but am considering doing the program here.

I have been dealing with occasional panic attacks since December of 2020. However, I never really had that impact my sleep. Last month, I had a panic attack on a roller coaster and immediately felt a sense of claustrophobia. This was a new sensation and it really messed with my head. The following morning, I woke up with an extreme amount of anxiety that was on a different level than previously. I was on zoloft at the time so I decided to taper off of it and start a new SSRI. I thought that maybe the zoloft was the reason I had a bad episode (always looking for something to blame in my anxious mind). The insomnia kicked in after that and I’ve been dealing with it since the first week of October. Out of desperation last night (3 days of no sleep), I took a klonipin, which i have been doing as a contingency when it’s more than 3 days of little to no sleep.

Now I’m paranoid that I’ll become addicted to klonipin. It has only been a couple weeks of use, but I’m very nervous about starting headlong into CBTI with sleep restriction when I am already so sleep deprived.

Has anyone else come off sleep aids or benzo’s to start CBTI immediately with results?

Thank you,

[Lindsay_Morrow]

Hello Ryan,

I too have experienced horrible panic attacks over the last several years. The panic attacks made me so anxious about having more. I started taking Ambien to help me sleep (it worked so well), but now I have a full on dependancy for sleeping. I do however think the dependency and worry of not having medication to sleep causes even more anxiety. So I would say stop before you get too far in because it will be easier to stop the earlier on into it you are.

[Chee2308]

Hello guys
Fear is driving all this. Fear of something. And these can be real or fake, your brain is confused between the two and is in constant hyperalert state over it. In many cases, certainly in insomnia, that fear is completely false and unwarranted. Everyone knows how to sleep just like they know how to eat or breathe. So why bother worrying over something that takes care of itself? Now, there can be two ways to tackle this, either through a cocktail of drugs that alter brain chemistry or through repeated exposure to that very thing that causes you so much fear until you just get used to it, this is sometimes called the Claire Weekes’ method. Apparently, your brain is capable of rewiring itself neurally. Tackle the fear head-on and be brave about it! What is it so bad that inspires so much fear and resentment about it? Is this fear even rational? Get to the root of your fears and be willing to see if they are really true. This route will often lead to long lasting success without drugs. Good luck guys!

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Chee2308.

[smitty5000]

Ryan,

I was/ am very much in your same position. Historically, I’ve had anxiety and a tendency toward insomnia/ sleep anxiety, which got much worse over the past month due to a few significant life stressors (husband looking for/starting a new job, trying to get pregnant, moving apartments all at once). I had been taking Xanax to sleep for several weeks and had similar fears to you about dependance and addiction. Moreover, I believe that the nightly Xanax use was causing rebound anxiety and depression the next day, while making my insomnia worse in the medium-to-long- term. A few days ago, I decided to go cold turkey with the Xanax and commit headlong to the CBT-I strategies for sleep. This was a hard and scary decision that I cried about several times! But for me, I had become even more anxious about the Xanax use than about not sleeping, although it took me some time to realize that. After reading Martin’s free emails, listening to his podcast, and spending some time on this forum, I am beginning to understand how to dismantle my fear of wakefulness and sleeplessness. Think of it as some short term pain for some long term HUGE gain. I have slept (for a few hours at least!!) the past couple nights without the Xanax, through employing sleep restriction (for me, simply moving my bedtime from ~11 PM to 12:30 AM). Of course, the techniques are not an instant fix and I know I may have a long road in front of me. But I think the confidence of having an evidence-based plan and starting to change my mindset around my fear of insomnia has already done a ton of the work for me.

Writing this to give you encouragement–you know that the Klonopin is a bandaid, which in the short term is fine! But you have what it takes to get to a more solid place without it. (Listen to the Cindy episode of Martin’s podcast–it really helped me get to a turning point.)

Good luck!!!
-Sarah

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