Benzos for sleeping

[stella_kae]

Hi all, it's me again. I am 11 days clean from my  oxycodone addiction, and have barely slept those 11 days aside from the two days I took half a mg of xanax because I just couldn't take how tired I was anymore. My sleep schedule is completely screwed up, I am up all night every night and if I get to sleep without xanax, its only for an hour to two hours if that. I took a half mg today at about 11 and was finally able to sleep for 5 hours, and same with 2 days ago when I couldn't take how exhausted I was. I have never, ever had a problem with benzos as I honestly, just don't like them very much but they are helping me sleep. I am now just worried that using them might switch my addiction over to them regardless of me disliking them. I have to go back to work tomorrow and am terrified of not sleeping enough before I have to go. How long will this insomnia last? Is it bad to take benzos a few times when I absolutely feel like I need sleep? I have tried using melatonin and a nightly sleep aid but those just make me groggy and unable to sleep which I think is worse then just not using them at all. Please help. Any advice would be amazing. Love you all.

[stella_kae]

Thank you all for the advice, I have finally been able to get a few hours of sleep the last couple of nights- it's not a great nights sleep quite yet, but it is a start.

[VICourageous]

Hi Again. Make sure all the lights are out and the room is dark and very cool. You can add lavender to your sheets and this will help relax you. Try not to fight the sleep. I did not get any sleep for days & days and then it would come in a hour here and there. I was not working at the time, so that made it easier then most who have to go to work. I remember staying up all night here on this site. Reading will be better then TV. TV can stimulate some of the brain chems to keep you awake. I did try the Melatonin but nothing would work at first. It just took time to roll out and balance back. It has been over 3 1/2 yrs and I have to take Magnesium with my D3 when I have those nights of anxiousness or restless. This really helps me sleep. However, I get my Magnesium from a good source and they have Relax-Meg and Muscle-Meg. The Magnesium was put together for this reasons. I wish you the best and sooner then later YOU will be sleeping. OH!! I also remember when it did hit, all I could do was sleep. I called it my "Catch up Sleep"...LOL
Be Safe and Be Good!
Bless
Vickie

[real_jimmy]

Go for the herb with biological name " Valeriana Wallichii"  Famous by the name Tagara Herb. Take one tablet (250 mg) in the morning and one before the dinner. It has mild relaxant properties and is very useful in Sleep disorders.

Sometimes Benzos is really what one needs But I always recommend a use for a very short duration of time, just a few days or else one may get hooked for long or ever. Benzos are a tricky chemicals. I believe and recommend natural healing with nature. Keep an eye on the blood pressure and stay hydrated.

[jlannspr]

There is a product called somnapure sleep aid, it is all nature and has helped me tremendously. Most drug stores should have it. It is all natural.

[stella_kae]

HAHAHA oh my gosh, I have never been so excited to watch a "sleepy" video!! The only problem about a puppy video is the urge I am gonna have in the morning to go adopt one ;) Also, I would totally rather be considered "odd" than normal, I mean that is pretty boring if you ask me! If you don't mind me asking, would you be willing to share your "story"? It's totally okay if you don't want to, but you just have been such an amazing supporter for me in this process and you're so strong that it has made me curious (I'm a pretty curious person in general lol).

[jifmoc]

Aw, girl, my story is pretty dull: prescribed vicodin, started taking more than prescribed "for fun". Kept looking for more when the script ended. Started w/ a few per week, 10 years later taking 12 to 15 per day. I never thought that would happen. Thank God I finally was miserable enough to get my butt into meetings because that's the magic bullet. I detoxed several times before but never stayed clean. I always tried to do it on my own.

Let us know how you're feeling today:)

[stella_kae]

So glad to be hearing from you again, you're so sweet and inspiring. I am not buying them off the "street", I am prescribed about 5 every month that I take whenever I have panic attacks- I am also on an antidepressant/antianxiety medication so I very very rarely take benzos; only when my anxiety gets the best of me- never to get high. I have definitely been staying away from caffeine because everywhere I read about detoxing said to avoid it as much as I have missed my morning coffee every day. Do you have any sleepy video suggestions? I tend to get pretty into movies so that sounds like a hard thing to find! Haha. I really like you mentioning to only get into bed when I can't keep my eyes open anymore, because I definitely have been tossing and turning for hours upon hours every night. Thanks for replying- you're the greatest. Hope you had an amazing day today.

[jifmoc]

Stella, okay these are odd suggestions but we're all odd so it's okay!:) Videos of puppies yawning and falling asleep (so cute, too!), Also, there are 10 hour nature videos that have the sound of rain or waves, everything. All on youtube.

Also, I remember reading this when I was detoxing because I was so upset about not sleeping: insomnia won't kill us. No one ever died from lack of sleep. So, try to take it an hour at a time. If you don't get a good nite sleep, so what. You will when you heal, just maybe not right now. Our pal on this forum, Gnarly, always says to newcomers that detox is 1/3 physical and 2/3 mental. You don't have to say "yippee" to detox, but being in acceptance of not feeling well can really really help. Also, there is a huge value in this: later, when you can sleep, w/o any drugs, and when you have natural energy, you'll be so thankful. You'll appreciate how nice is it to feel healthy w/o any help from opiates. Meetings will start the healing even faster, I promise you that. You have a great attitude, you will be fine!:)

[jifmoc]

Hey again, Stella. Yes, it's good that you are aware of substituting addictions, that is a huge reality. I remember how hellish not sleeping was. If you are buying them "off the street", that's an addict habit that you want to stop. How many do you have left? I would use what you have, then for the rest just deal w/ it.  Yes, it's true that none of the otc sleep aids work at all during detox (they didn't for me.) We always say that sleep is the last thing to come back and to expect that. At 11 days, it will get incrementally better now. But it will get better. Some tricks: NO CAFFEINE right now, push yourself to get some exercise, watch "sleepy" videos at night. I remember one thing I did was not even try to sleep at say 11pm because I would just toss and turn and go insane. Only go into your bed when you can't keep your eyes open any longer. It will make the idea of sleeping not so scary. And the biggest: time.