Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Simon , I think the withdrawal symptoms you mention are for larger doses, for people who take a lot of Valium (I read somewhere 50-60 mg, that’s more that 10 of my pills daily!), but I will check with my doctor if these doses that I take (2.5 – 5 mg) are a cause for concern.
Today I manged around 6.5 hours without any pills! Time to pop open the champagne.
I must admit I haven’t tried prayer yet, either. 🙂 No offense to anyone, it just isn’t my cup of tea.
Simon, I fell asleep at 11, woke up at 1:50, so… A kingdom AND a horse to anyone who can explain that (insert angry emoticon). It took a lot of Valium to put me back under, around 4 a.m. (4 pills, never used that much on one night before).
The silver lining is that I will soon run out, so I’ll be forced to go “au naturale”, like I planned to anyway.
Will it ever end? Good question. Does it ever for anyone? I feel like once you screw up your sleep your brain never forgets it. Even those who say they’ve recovered often have relapses.
No offense, wayout, but that is some generic advice that you are offering. So we should all just calm down and everything will be ok? Don’t you think that comes off as a bit condescending?
What about those of us who go to bed perfectly calm, fall asleep without a problem and wake up in the middle of the night? What about people with thyroid problems, is insomnia “only in their head”, too?
Not everyone is unable to sleep because of some dreary feelings or existential worries. Some of us can’t sleep for no obvious reason.
And how long did you even have your insomnia for? 2 months?
Calling your isolated case of temporary insomnia “a way out” is a far cry from claiming that you are chronic insomniac who is now utterly and completely cured.
Still , I know your heart is in the right place, so thanks, I guess. May insomnia never visit you again.
Eddy
Croatia, football world cup semi-finalists. 🙂
Not much chance for a cup of coffee in the real world, huh? 🙂
Simon, good to hear you passed your first test. Fingers crossed for the CT-scan.
I also go to bed every night thinking this will be the night things “reset” and get back to normal. They haven’t so far, but there’s always the next night.
I hope there’s a physiological component, too, though in my heart of hearts I doubt it. I think we’re just mental. 🙂
Oh and so far as to how long I can hold on my 5-6 hrs before things go south – about 11 a.m. I like my mornings, I almost feel OK.
Well, good night for today…
How to get through tje day… Coffee, though it doesn’t really help anymore, I think I’ve grown immune long ago.
Faking, of course, though again I doubt that I’ve convinced anybody that I’m chirpy, healthy and happy. I’ve been called depressed,gloomy and ill, when all really I am is tired.
I don’t have children either, Christine, and like Steve my hat’s off to you for managing motherhood as well.
Sorry to come off this pessimistic, but everything, EVERYTHING, really is more difficult for us than it is for regular sleepers. It’s like we’re living life on hard mode. The brakes in the car are fine, but we’re out of gas.
What you said about “quality of life” is spot-on. My wife and I, for instance, like to travel. I’ve been to Istanbul, Iceland, Greece,Italy, and I liked all those trips, of course, but always with half the energy, and always telling myself “this is nice, but I wish I wasn’t so tired.” So many potentially perfect vacations turning out “just OK”. And ask me anything about them a year later, I almost won’t remember a thing, like I haven’t even been there.
It’s just not physically possible, try as you might, to laugh whole-heartedly or enjoy something fully when you’re exhausted. Sleep is the foundation for all that.
Steve, man I hope everything turns out OK with you. I’m not a religious man myself, but my thoughts are with you. I have an MRI on Thursday for my MS, the first in 2 years, I hope they find nothing too rough in either of us.
Yeah, sleep studies are there basically just to determine if you have apnea of not. I don’t know why they’re sending you on more, don’t know what they’re hoping to find.
Don’t know much about gabapentin or amitriptyline, but I know they’re not your typical first line remedies for insomnia. Have you tried the more usual ones – ambien, seroquel, that sort of thing. If yes did they help?
I’ll chime in just to get the ball rolling, though I can’t really help. I have no idea what the right approach to treating non-restorative sleep is. I’m sorry you’re going through all this, though, for sure.
What do the people who did the sleep study say?
Is there a sleep doctor anywhere in your area? Your case seems perplexing, so maybe a bit too much for a regular GP.
Christine, I can only say that I am in the same boat,you’re not alone. I haven’t told anyone of my insomnia,not even my doctors, even though my face says it all. I am that ashamed. Only my family knows.
Not that insomnia is anything to be ashamed of, but I feel society can be full of a**holes. For instance, when I tell people I have epilepsy and MS, I get a lot of strange looks and stigma, and then I have to explain that they are measurable, observable, physical illnesses. In other words, that I am not crazy. I don’t know how I would explain the inabilty to sleep, when everyone else seems to be able to do it just fine.
I agree with delv, if you can, maintain social interactions, even if you’re not enjoying them on the inside because you’re too tired. Isolation from others is not helpful, and if you’re like me, yo probably won’t sleep anyway, so you might as well go.
Good luck!
Simon – Yeah, I think we are all in agreement.
Christine, I think your post could even be turned into a new definition of chronic insomnia.
Slimon, zero sleep nights are the worst thing I’ve ever felt. They are the main reason why I’m sticking to my pills. So I hear you.
Don’t mean to scare anyone, but I have my Valium next to me at all times. For the first 2-2.5 years it worked good, only took it when I really needed to.
Like you all probably know by now, I take them almost every night. So…
On one hand it’s great that I didn’t have a 0 sleep night in more than 4 yrs. Also, I go to sleep pretty relaxed knowing I have it on hand.
The bad side, like I already said, is that I feel uneasy not having it close by. I would hate, HATE, to go back to those nights fron before, when every night there was a possibility of not falling asleep.
So, pills as a psychological backup are definitely a double edged sword. Perhaps give the method a try, but be careful.
Hey, Slimon,
Thanks for the tips. I know, benzos do lose effectivness, I can confirm that from my experience. In the beginning, half of a pill would be enough to put me out almost immediately and keep me asleep for 3-4 hours more. In time, the duration of sleep that Valium got me shortened, went from 3-4 hrs to about 1-1.5 hrs. And now it doesn’t even put me to sleep effectively half the time.
But, as determined to quit as I THINK I am, I still reach for Valium when I wake up in the middle of the night. I can’t help it, it’s my only tool.
Valium IS bad, but it’s not the reason why I wake up too early. I still don’t know what that reason is. I’ll see what my doc says, though I doubt he will have an idea either. We’ll see.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
I said yesterday full of bravado how I am determined to try to quit Valium. Woke up at 3 , tried to fall asleep naturally, aterted panicking and took one pill, still nothing, took one more… Not only did I not quit, I doubled.
It takes determination, and willingness to suffer for quite some time before things (hopefully) get better. I guess we don’t have it in ourselves yet.
Steve, melatonin is not supposed to be that efficient, but I’m glad that it works great for you.
Since it’s a natural component of our brains and all, why does it worry you so much? Next to all the other drugs (like my Valium) , melatonin is next to harmless.
My two cents- if you’re suffering so much as to pass out unconscious in the middle of the day, then take the prescribed drug, at least for a while. Can anything be worse than ending up in the ER with neurologists?
I think clozapine is lesser of the two evils, under the condition that if helps you, of course.
