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

[Onmyway]

Have you looked at this thread? 

 

[Sofa]

Could someone explain what is happened? I cant make sense of it.
 

Whenever i try to just lay down to relax and sleep in the day or evening, I just get this anxious feeling in the body after i while, or just when i am about to fall asleep. My head also feels more spaced out when my brain wakes up again. I dont understand it. It is really bad. It is like i lay down and wake up worse and with this scared anxious feeling in my body. 

 

I have had that before, but it went away. Dont know why it is back now, but it makes it hard to lay down because i just get this anxious restless feeling and Spaces out feeling in the head when doing it.

 

I cant relax.

[Nypeaches89]

On 7/14/2022 at 12:11 PM, Sofa said:

Could someone explain what is happened? I cant make sense of it.
 

Whenever i try to just lay down to relax and sleep in the day or evening, I just get this anxious feeling in the body after i while, or just when i am about to fall asleep. My head also feels more spaced out when my brain wakes up again. I dont understand it. It is really bad. It is like i lay down and wake up worse and with this scared anxious feeling in my body. 

 

I have had that before, but it went away. Dont know why it is back now, but it makes it hard to lay down because i just get this anxious restless feeling and Spaces out feeling in the head when doing it.

 

I cant relax.

Hi, I’ve felt something similar I think, again something I have *never* felt before withdrawal. I’ve had insomnia before, since I was a kid on and off. But this feeling is since wd, I’ll try to describe it:

usually it’s when I haven’t slept in about 5 or 6 nights in a row. I get this extreme exhaustion but when I get in bed and try to relax deeply… I hit a strange spot in my mind, a rock hard big anxiety rock in the centre of my psyche, and a huge fear to “surrender” to relaxation, a terror of “letting go” to fall into slumber. It’s a really scary feeling, it almost feels like my subconscious telling me if I fall asleep: I die. It truly feels like my nerveous system tries to keep me awake no matter what. And then out of nowhere, no reason, it “unlocks” and I fall sleep. But I have no control over it. It feels autonomous. 
anyway I hope your insomnia got better ? Mine did a little thanks to exercise + anti histamines…

I have an agitated sleep but at least I sleep. 

[UnfoldingSky]

 Non-drug means to fall asleep this is really powerful, it really works!

 

 

 

 

 

[UnfoldingSky]

Also on Dr. Mandell's channel he has other videos of other acupressure points that help relieve stress and help with sleep.  Very much worth watching as well. 

[Wortong]

Quote

On 7/14/2022 at 8:11 PM, Sofa said:

Could someone explain what is happened? I cant make sense of it.
 

Whenever i try to just lay down to relax and sleep in the day or evening, I just get this anxious feeling in the body after i while, or just when i am about to fall asleep. My head also feels more spaced out when my brain wakes up again. I dont understand it. It is really bad. It is like i lay down and wake up worse and with this scared anxious feeling in my body. 

 

I have had that before, but it went away. Dont know why it is back now, but it makes it hard to lay down because i just get this anxious restless feeling and Spaces out feeling in the head when doing it.

 

I cant relax.

 

 

I have had two periods of very similar problems. 
 

The first time, which was the catalyst that made me panic and reinstate, I was going to bed with horrible dark thoughts, as soon as I started to try to sleep my heart would start racing for no reason and I would feel mildly nauseous. When I eventually got to sleep I would wake an hour later basically delirious with severe panic and then get another hour of sleep and the same thing and that was it for the night. 
 

This went for basically a whole week.

 

The second period was the past week or so although it was not quite as intense as last time. 
 

A common thread between the two occasions is that I had a flare up of dizziness, mild nausea and stomach upset each time and this seemed to add to the panic feeling when waking.

[Hibari]

I'm having this sleep issue as well.

 

I'm going though a bad period of insomnia even with using a sleep med. 

 

What I lie to down to sleep, my body is so tired but my mind is locked in q very fearful place and won't let go. Then my body fights the sleep med (Mirtazapine) and I'm up all night. My nervous system is so dysregulated right now. Very scary. 

 

 

[Elaine5]

Hibari, hello- I’m currently going through extreme insomnia for the last month after a stupid gelatin supplement diet I was on for a few days. 
 

sometimes for me it feels like my body is simply missing something necessary in the sleep equation. Like a key ingredient just isn’t there right now. 
 

i don’t think sleep meds have helped in my situation either, very much. It’s scary! 
 

 

[Meeka]

Insomnia anyone? Whats yours like?

 

Zoloft gave me insomnia after Dr upped my dose, now been off for about 7 months total but I do still believe I need Seroquel 25mg to get any form of sleep...

Im thinking about reinstating Zoloft to get some relief. Can an admin please look at my intro page and give advice on some questions please. 
 
If you have insomnia from WD how long have you been off your poison and how many hours do you tend to sleep a night..
I sleep probably 5 to 6 broken a night, I can no longer nap.
It takes me forever to get to sleep. And I feel always wired which is probably why I dont fall asleep easily. Is anyone the same?

 

Some nights I get no sleep.

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with existing topic

[catmama]

Does anyone have tips/solutions for getting DEEP SLEEP?

 

That's my biggest struggle right now. I use a wearable sleep tracker and every night I'm getting anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep, but it's all very light sleep. I rarely get long or frequent moments of deep sleep. My REM sleep is lacking as well. I feel exhausted all the time. It's so frustrating. 

[Onmyway]

1 hour ago, catmama said:

Does anyone have tips/solutions for getting DEEP SLEEP?

 

That's my biggest struggle right now. I use a wearable sleep tracker and every night I'm getting anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep, but it's all very light sleep. I rarely get long or frequent moments of deep sleep. My REM sleep is lacking as well. I feel exhausted all the time. It's so frustrating. 

@catmama, 

sleep trackers are not actually measuring your deep sleep very well - you'd need an EEG to be able to do that - what sleep trackers measure is whether you move and they assume that if you don't move much you are in deep sleep. If you are getting 6-8 hrs of sleep every night you are one of the luckiest people in withdrawal and should count your blessings. 

 

Also, seems like you are tapering faster than what @SA recommends which might cause much worse withdrawal problems as it catches up to you. PLease do not lower your dose by more than 10% of your previous dose, so every month your dose should be no less than 90% of your previous dose. Your current dose should be no more than 0.8mg not 0.65 if you restarted your taper in July. 

 

OMW

[Tulip52]

For cortisol spikes the adrenal cocktail is helpful for me. 
 

[Heath]

Good sleep info Here from sleep foundation updated January 6 2023

 

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/treatment/what-do-when-you-cant-sleep

 

 

 

 

[HugHK]

I thought this podcast was really great for me at the height of my insomnia days. On Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for insomnia. hope it helps. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wzmgw

 

 

[GGGG]

What vitamin is recommended?

[Onmyway]

Try extended release vitamin C, supposed to lower cortisol. Baby aspirin may help as well. Use stomach friendly versions if you have stomach issues.

 

OMW 

[GGGG]

Thanks.  My stomach is.   sensitive to everything.  Do you take food enzymes or probiotics?

[GGGG]

On 3/27/2011 at 3:57 PM, Neuroplastic said:

Still with me, unfortunately, at close to 2.5 years off. There are the spells of less insomnia when in the windows, though. Still re-wiring. Writing this post at 1 a.m., and hoping to be able to fall asleep by 4 a.m. The good news is that Monday is this very one day I can sleep a little bit longer.

 

Blocking out light helps in my case, too.

How long were you on antidepressant?

[Tranqdart]

I’d like to share that listening to light fiction is helping my sleep. I’ll listen to an audiobook to fall asleep, then just let it run on. I do wake up but when I do the novel’s still going on and it distracts me from the anxious thoughts that had been keeping me awake before I discovered this. I fall back to sleep more easily.

 

I think it’s essential to choose something read in a voice that soothes you, and a plot that’s pretty easygoing. I chose Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. The first few chapters of the first book are pretty dark so I skipped them. He’s written a ton and it’s all pretty gentle. 

[Chompoo]

I had an immediate adverse reaction to one pill of Mirtazepine and came down right away from withdrawal like symptoms. This includes severe insomnia. It has been 9 weeks since. I sleep 2-3 hours on some nights and 4-5 hours on some nights. Most of the time, I have no problem falling asleep. But I wake up every 1-2 hours. Sometimes, I manage to sleep for 3 hours at a stretch.
Why is sleep so erratic? I practise acceptance and I stress about it less these days when I get less sleep. But why do the same relaxation techniques work on some days and not others? Has my brain been damaged by that ONE pill I took? It feels like it will be many months before my normal sleep pattern would resume. I feel so tired and sad.

[CookiePretzel]

@Chompoo my sleep sounds just like yours! I fall asleep no problem, and then either sleep 1.5-2 hours, or I’ll wake up 30-45 minutes in and then sleep a couple hours. Then I’m up and just deep in thought, but if I look at my phone it looks like I slept another 45 minutes or hour. I’m so curious how long this will last, and I’m shocked that I’ve had great sleep up until now (6 months off). The only thing I can think of is that I overexerted myself a couple weeks ago and am still paying the price. 

[Chompoo]

@CookiePretzel I'm told that we recover by windows and waves. We sleep better in windows and worse in waves. We don't have to do anything to trigger our waves, they just happen. I'm tired. Recovery seems to happen so slowly.

[Chompoo]

Could diet worsen insomnia? I have intolerance to some high histamine food. Yesterday, I tried out some high histamine food to see if I'll intolerant to it as well. I had noodles with soy sauce. I only had a few mouthfuls of it, not a lot. There was no burning, prickling or itching sensations when I ate them, like other high histamine food I have intolerance to. But I slept very badly last night, only 2-3 hours. I've had less problems falling back to sleep in previous nights, and had been able to sleep 4-6 hours. But falling back to sleep last night was impossible. I'm wondering if this could be related.

 

[KenA]

On 3/12/2023 at 4:11 PM, Tranqdart said:

I’d like to share that listening to light fiction is helping my sleep. I’ll listen to an audiobook to fall asleep, then just let it run on. I do wake up but when I do the novel’s still going on and it distracts me from the anxious thoughts that had been keeping me awake before I discovered this. I fall back to sleep more easily.

 

I think it’s essential to choose something read in a voice that soothes you, and a plot that’s pretty easygoing. I chose Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. The first few chapters of the first book are pretty dark so I skipped them. He’s written a ton and it’s all pretty gentle. 

I have an app that I used called Loona. It was amazing for helping me to relax and fall asleep. Lots of sleep stories and calming music. It is a paid app, but it was worth the 40 annual fee I paid. 

[Chompoo]

@KenA it's been a number of years since you've been off. Are you able to sleep 8 hours continuously now? I am able to sleep for longer hours these days, but I wake up every 1-2 hours. I have no trouble falling back into sleep on some nights, and more trouble on others. But even on days when I manage to sleep 6-7 hours, I don't feel rested due to the many sleep interruptions. Do we ever get back to the sleep we used to have before antidepressants?

[KenA]

@Chompoo yep, my sleep has been back to normal for quite a time now. Sometimes I even get 9-10 hours if I want. Sleep will def return back to normal given enough time and enough healing

[Chompoo]

@KenA thank you for your reassurance. You have given me hope 🙏

[Tranqdart]

 

On 3/12/2023 at 5:11 PM, Tranqdart said:

I’d like to share that listening to light fiction is helping my sleep. I’ll listen to an audiobook to fall asleep, then just let it run on. I do wake up but when I do the novel’s still going on and it distracts me from the anxious thoughts that had been keeping me awake before I discovered this. I fall back to sleep more easily.

 

I think it’s essential to choose something read in a voice that soothes you, and a plot that’s pretty easygoing. I chose Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. The first few chapters of the first book are pretty dark so I skipped them. He’s written a ton and it’s all pretty gentle. 

I wanted to add something I know from history: before electric light, people slept in the dark and typically awoke in the middle of the night for awhile. In Dickens and perhaps elsewhere in writings from those times, we find references to first and second sleep. Long before I was dealing with withdrawal, I had broken sleep (falling asleep and then waking up), and knowing that a "solid eight hours" is only a recently defined "normal" sleep pattern helped me feel like wakefulness was something I could just accommodate by going to bed earlier. Not pathological.

[Chompoo]

@KenA did it take you many months to move from 6-7 hours of broken sleep to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep? I don't always get 6-7 hours of broken sleep and even when I do, I'm still tired in the morning. Because I wake up 4-5 times a night, and the light sleep is not restorative. Especially when they come with vivid dreams as well. I know everyone is different and heals on different timeline. Just curious whether the process of stabilising sleep took a long time for you. Thank you.

[KenA]

It probably took me a good 2 years or so before I got back to a solid 8 hours a night. It was just a slow and steady process.

[Chompoo]

@KenA thank you for letting me know 🙏 I will work on acceptance and patience.

[ElaineM]

Hello….

   I am needing some positive stories on getting through the withdrawal symptom insomnia and how long it took to go back to normal! Hoping this doesn’t be some my new life long normal! Thanks in advance!

[Comecloser80]

@ElaineM I am having same issues since I stopped. Been 20 weeks, Can’t nap , waking up at 4:00am everyday without a miss, very broken sleep. 

I hope it won’t stay like this forever.

 

[ElaineM]

Does anyone who in the past did not struggle with this now find it impossible to get comfortable at night…. like I can not find a comfortable position… maybe anxiety related?

[Tranqdart]

9 hours ago, ElaineM said:

Hello….

   I am needing some positive stories on getting through the withdrawal symptom insomnia and how long it took to go back to normal! Hoping this doesn’t be some my new life long normal! Thanks in advance!

Hi Elaine,

 

Before ever using antidepressants, while using antidepressants, and certainly throughout my withdrawal thus far, I've experienced "broken sleep" -- I fall asleep just fine but then I wake up a few hours later. Since withdrawal, I wake up with significant, intense anxiety. So I probably don't qualify as "gone back to normal," BUT: I know a few tricks.

 

1. Learn and practice good sleep hygiene; google or youtube will give you access to instruction about this

2. I take Magnesium and a little topical melatonin at bedtime. If you search here on SA you can see what other people say about these.

3. I sometimes take chamomile tea before bed.

4. I listen to soothing or even boring audiobooks when I can't fall back asleep to distract myself from anxious thoughts.

 

I hope this helps.

Mary

[Chompoo]

@ElaineM if you reinstated 1mg after jumping off 80mg, it will take a few months to stabilise and get your sleep back. No one knows how long this will take but you wull eventually stabilise.