Insomnia Forum Posting

Posted by hopeful on March 10, 2005 at 08:24:32:

In Reply to: help! Zyprexa withdrawal posted by SandraG on March 09, 2005 at 13:55:21:

Hi SandraG, if you read my story on Forum 25, "A success story", then you'll read what I went through with Zyprexa. This drug does cause you to go through severe insomnia and the only way to get out of it is to wean off it very very slowly. Start by getting a pill cutter and cutting the lowest dose (2.5 mg) into halves, take it for about a month, and then try cutting it into quarters and take that for a month. I did attempt to get off the drug earlier occasionally by "testing the waters" and I would sleep for the first two nights without the drug, but on the third night, the insomnia would return again so I'd go back to taking the drug where I left off. During your tapering you will go through many nights of no sleep, but don't fret too much about it... it's part of the healing process. NEVER be tempted to up your dosage, just keep with your tapering schedule. Yes, it will feel like a lifetime, but eventually, you will recover.

I've been off the drug for over 2 months now and I do sleep every day. It's still not the same sleep I had before I went on the drug because I have to sleep at the exact time everyday (10 p.m.) and my brain wakes me up at exactly 5:00 a.m. everyday. I found that over time though, my sleep is improving more.

Another thing I should mention is that you should exercise. I know it's difficult to think of doing any type of physical activity, but if you just stay at home moping and obsessing about your sleep, it does nothing but cause anxiety. While on Zyprexa, however, you shouldn't exercise for too long or do any hardcore exercises (makes you dizzy), so you should just do light exercises.

Hope this helps and remember, you will get over this. All that's needed is time and patience. There is no quick fix unless you want to resort to other drugs (which I'm sure your doctor will easily prescribe for you to get you off their backs). I'm not against doctors, but in the case of insomnia, I truly believe that there isn't a medicine that will "cure" it, it will only mask the problem. Your brain/body has the innate ability to heal itself if you allow it to over time. The only problem is that humans in general always want to find short-cuts and sometimes there just aren't any.

You should practice the following tips on your road to recovery (which many of us on this forum has already mentioned):

- patience, patience, patience

- don't mope around at home all day trying to "catch" up on your sleep. It's not going to happen. Only result you will get is anxiety, frustration and depression.

- practice shifting your focus to other things other than your insomnia. This does not mean you ignore that your insomnia exists; how can you? It just means that you have to learn how to cope with it and continue doing the things you like and want to do such as exercise, housechores, work, listening to music, anything that distracts your mind and gets you through the day.

- have hope and believe you will get over it. I think this is what got me through the worse of the worse. The information we feed to our mind is similar to the computer saying "garbage in, garbage out"... if you want to be pessimistic about your current condition, your brain/body will give you the same feedback. But if you stay positive and optimistic that things will get better, it will react in the same way. You'll realize that your coping strategies are better which is already a sign of recovery in itself. Just remember, you're not alone; many people here have suffered from insomnia and have recovered to tell their story. What I did was print a success story and everytime I'd lose hope, I'd take it out and read it over and over again to remind myself that if this person can do it, so can I.

- keep a log/diary of your progress. If you are doing the weaning, then it's good to do this so you're on track with your schedule and know exactly what you've been doing.

Wish you all the best!

"The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind."

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