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Diazepam taper, NOT a minutes sleep in the last 3 nights

Posted , 4 users are following.

fred21728
fred21728

Almost 2 months ago i started my diazepam/zopiclone taper , just taking diazepam , I am now on 3 mg per day - probably not enough to help with sleep ? , But as i am typing this i am shaking having zero sleep in well over 72 hours plus . I certainly dont want to take higher levels of diazepam again or any zopiclone re the really bad and rare side effects which initially effected me mostly why i want these drugs out of my system. But i need to sleep and cannot , i have suffered severe insomnia over 30 years .

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • ursulauc62
    ursulauc62 fred21728

    Posted

    I empathise totally with you.  

    The problem is that you have to have time and space to do the tapering.  I am on holiday - 'supposedly a relaxing experinece' - but the disruption to normal routine has meant I have increased my valium intake, and am pretty upset by it.  I know now that any disruption or stress might trigger this, and the whole process is really difficult, and can realistically take years.  I was down to 3mg of valium a night like you and sort of coping, but then something stressful - more than the usual happened - and my dose started creeping up.

    All I can say is - presevere. I have gone backwards, but when I get home again I can start on the tapering again properly!

    We can do this.

    Lots of Luck!

    • fred21728
      fred21728 ursulauc62

      Posted

      Thanks ursulauc  , thing is i do everything right - i dont drink never smoked not overweight - get to the gym when not exhausted and shaky dont drink caffeine no other drugs/meds , i have even put anti heat reflective window film on my east facing bedroom window , eat almonds and a banana as a snack before bedtime , absoulutely nothing  works . 

      I think i am going try a med named circadin 2mg , i just enrolled on sleepio course 2 days ago - but not slept since , doing almost anything is becoming dangerous ,and concentration is almost non existance

    • ursulauc62
      ursulauc62 fred21728

      Posted

      I know where you are coming from. I am generally pretty fit and healthy, eat healthily, hardly ever drink, and dont smoke.  However, this sedative addiction is really insidious. Its totally physical, and I have cut down on diazepam and tried to come of a few times, and after a week without, the withdrawal creeps in, and within a few hours its the shakes, the adrenaline rushes, the shakes, disorientation, - it is horrendous. I've never known anything like it. Its awful and extremely frustrating, - its like your'e trapped.  

      Youre brain 'forgets' to release chemicals - Gaba Receptors is it? - which people need to feel 'normal', and has to somehow re-learn how to do so, and its very hard. 

      Nice if someone could come up with an antidote to the withdrawal, but as yet I dont think there's anything on the horizon.

      It just has to be taken slow - very slow tapering, otherwise, no, one cant function normally.

  • carol20979
    carol20979 fred21728

    Posted

    Fred I went 6 nights with no sleep while trying to switch from xanax to diazepam. I gave up on the diazepam as it did not agree with me, seemed to build up in my system. I went back to the xanax I have rarely taken over .05 mg and that is just for sleep. I now take .25 mg xanax and do ok. Insomnia is terrible I have been plagued by it for 4 years it is at the root of many of my problems. Good luck, get some sleep.
  • brenda88179
    brenda88179 fred21728

    Posted

    The only sleep aid I have been on is zoplicone.  I was taking 7 (7.5mg) a night for a very long time.  With help from my doctor I started weaning down. Now I am only taking half a pill and doing very well.  When I go to bed i think positive things and totally try to relax.  I have been dozing off and on but must be getting enough sleep because next day I feel fine.  I also am feel much healthier.  My doctor told me to go down half a tablet a night for awhile until i have made it to just half.  I eventually want to come right off.  Good luck.
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