Benzo Taper and Withdrawal 9
I now believe that sleep is one of the most important things during and after benzodiazepine tapering and withdrawals. Withdrawals so often cause insomnia and the lack of sleep makes everything worse. I’ve slept pretty decent the last few nights and it has helped me so much. When I go through the waves of insomnia, just getting through the day takes a monumental effort of will. Those are the days I really, really want to reinstate klonopin. But when I sleep I feel hope and confidence that I can do this.
The effects of sleep deprivation are well known and well documented so I won’t list them here, but going through withdrawals and sleep deprivation is doubly hard on your mind and body. The effects are accumulative as well. During those times I find it almost impossible to “just relax” like so many people advise. It’s like telling someone who just broke their leg to will the pain away or ignore the pain. Unless someone is going through or has been through withdrawals and detoxing there’s no way they will understand. That includes doctors and shrinks, they may have some book knowledge of symptoms but they have no clue what it actually feels like. Nobody does unless they’ve personally experienced it.
When I haven’t slept and symptoms are bad I don’t breathe correctly. My breathing becomes very shallow. This causes heart palpitations, dizziness, and other unpleasant things like muscle tension. My good days are definitely tied to decent nights of of good, or at least decent, sleep. There is most definitely a correlation. It’s so fragile that I actually find myself hoping I haven’t jinxed my few nights streak of decent sleep. Just one sleepless night or even one night of poor sleep is enough to derail progress I’ve made. Here’s to hoping I and anyone reading has a good night of sleep tonight!
Thanks for reading!