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Insomnia? Welcome to Team NoSleep.
- Thread starter FlamingoWrangler
- Start date
- Tags insomnia team no sleep
Sorry @Jezah81 am late to the thread - I suppose it's a thread I only visit when really in bad insomnia, and after 2 years of benzo and other-related insomnia, I seem to be finally sleeping at least 4-5 hours a night and sometimes more. Though had months of pretty much zero sleep.
How is it going with the amitriptyline? What does were/are you on? It was something I took initially for sleep - 10mg-20mg. Sometimes took more. Had breaks from it, no problem. However at the beginning of 2025 I became very ill - complete insomnia, extreme fatigue, anxiety, the works.... Put 2 and 2 together and realised I'd run out of amitriptyline before Christmas and was in withdrawals - one dose made everything better within hours.
Been stuck on it ever since, tapered down to 2mg, but then ended up in benzo withdrawal and went back to 10mg ami just to get some sleep (didn't actually work, the groggy effects of ami were the first to reduce due to tolerance). Benzo withdrawals have eased now, but still struggling to get off the amitriptyline. I cut from 10mg - 7.5mg over a couple of weeks and ended up with the fatigue that's hard to describe - like the tank isn't just empty, it's full of holes. Currently got to 7.5mg over the space of about a month and seem to be OK on that dose, am going to keep going very slowly - I get warnings if I reduce too quickly, in the form of the extreme fatigue and insomnia.
I hope you can get fully off the amitriptyline soon, albeit slowly and safely!
How is it going with the amitriptyline? What does were/are you on? It was something I took initially for sleep - 10mg-20mg. Sometimes took more. Had breaks from it, no problem. However at the beginning of 2025 I became very ill - complete insomnia, extreme fatigue, anxiety, the works.... Put 2 and 2 together and realised I'd run out of amitriptyline before Christmas and was in withdrawals - one dose made everything better within hours.
Been stuck on it ever since, tapered down to 2mg, but then ended up in benzo withdrawal and went back to 10mg ami just to get some sleep (didn't actually work, the groggy effects of ami were the first to reduce due to tolerance). Benzo withdrawals have eased now, but still struggling to get off the amitriptyline. I cut from 10mg - 7.5mg over a couple of weeks and ended up with the fatigue that's hard to describe - like the tank isn't just empty, it's full of holes. Currently got to 7.5mg over the space of about a month and seem to be OK on that dose, am going to keep going very slowly - I get warnings if I reduce too quickly, in the form of the extreme fatigue and insomnia.
I hope you can get fully off the amitriptyline soon, albeit slowly and safely!
Not that I'm aware of - the main issues have been when I've tried to stop it, I seem to function well enough on 10mg (and now 7.5mg). It does seem to get harder if you've quit before - I think it's like dieting, you can lose a lot of weight fairly easily, but if you put it back on the body decides it wants to hold on to it (at least that's how it happened to me!). Definitely the case with benzos, but possibly the same with this. Good luck reducing the 25mg! I'll update you in due course if I make progress!
When I do sleep, I have bad dreams that are always about me being lost and confused, sometimes in a classroom or someplace where I don’t know where I am. I always feel ignored in the dream and feel behind. I wake up and feel worse. Another dream I have is being attacked by animals, people, or something. I would rather not sleep than feel that pain, but my body is tired while my mind stays awake, which keeps me up all night replaying my thoughts and interactions from that day, week, or even years ago. It just keeps replaying in my head over and over.
Back on Team Insomnia. The one thing my body needs is sleep, and as usual when that's the case, it's refusing to sleep much. I go to bed and struggle to get to sleep, then wake up stupid early, and can't go back to sleep. I had a period where it seemed to get better, but the last few weeks have been the same sleepless merry-go-round.
What has to change for me is that I stay for hours in an almost asleep mode which is when the worst thoughts and half dreams happen. I unplugged the clock to stop myself from constantly checking. Coffee after noon is going to have be cut - to see if that helps. Caffeine is what makes it possibe for me to get stuff like my work done, so I have no good solution
I woke up at 3 a.m. and lay in bed until 5 a.m. I got up, had some tea, and felt more awake. I checked to see what’s new on SF. I already know that my current energy level will last until around noon or 1 p.m. Then I’ll need to sleep for a couple of hours. After that, I’ll be able to stay awake again until evening.
Try taking a short nap during the day. A siesta often helps.
Try taking a short nap during the day. A siesta often helps.
I used to get drowsy if I lay on my bed and played relaxation recordings, now even that doesn't happen. I haven't got total insomnia currently, but I'm not getting anywhere near enough - keep going to sleep at about 2am and waking at 5am. On my insane schedule that is.... insane. I honestly have no idea how I am still functioning, my eyes are sore, I feel lightheaded at times during the day, I just want to sleep for hours and hours and my body and brain just say.... Nope.