[Fuzzybear]

An Expert irl told me, unsolicitated, that I can ''function on 2 to 3 hours sleep a night''

hmm. This is someone who had access to my medical notes.

I do not get that comment or the other, scare mongering tactics that person used.

I feel MUCH worse since that conversation.

They had mentioned ''CBT'' to me. That was not in the notes they wrote.

What I said, what they said and what they wrote down do not tally.

My sleep, anxiety, mood are much worse.

They seem committed to trying to cut my benzos, the only med I'm not allergic to that helps me sleep....

That Expert wanted me to be referred to another Expert.

(hides under chair)

Any thoughts, similar experiences etc?

I often feel much much worse after talking to one of those people. The system is ... sub optimal

(I don't wish to share my location

(forgive any errors, I'm writing this in a hurry.)

I believe, I am more of an Expert on me (and also on psychology, and even psych meds) than that Expert. (hides under same chair)

[*Beth*]

Oh, Fuzzy. Similar experiences? Absolutely You probably know by now, because I have complained so much

2 - 3 hours of sleep? Outrageous! That is severe sleep deprivation. Three hours is minimum to go into REM (deep) sleep. The Mayo Clinic says that "Adults need 7 or more hours a night."

In my experience CBT is helpful only while doing psychodynamic therapy, too. (Of course, that may be different for other people.)

I can tell you my experience with the benzo Klonopin. I'll make it as short as possible:

I was prescribed K-pin roughly 30 years ago, 1 mg./day (bedtime). Benzos were very popular back then. For the first about two years the K-pin was an excellent medication to reduce anxiety and to help me sleep. After that I started to build up a tolerance to it, so I had some anxiety again. My pdoc added 1 mg. in the morning.

I remained on the 2mg./day, with occasional increases to 3mg. per day. So here I am, still taking Klonopin. It isn't doing anything to decrease anxiety, nor is it helping with sleep. The problem is that my body is addicted to the stuff. In November I began decreasing the dose, so now I'm taking .5mg. in the morning and 1mg. at bedtime. Next week I'm going to try to eliminate the AM dose altogether.

I will feel successful if I can make it to .5 mg./day. At that point I will shave off minuscule bits with the goal of stopping the K-pin, altogether. But it will take about a year to stop it, if I can without having a terrible ongoing withdrawal syndrome. I want to stop taking the K-pin because it has definitely caused me to have cognitive problems. There is some strong evidence that long-term benzo use can cause dementia.

So that's my "benzo story."

With all of that, I still believe that benzos are an excellent medication as long as the same dose isn't used daily for more than about 6 months. It needs to be either a prn med, or taken for a while, then either reduced or stopped, then used again. (I would use otc sleep meds to alternate with the benzo.)

That's my experience with Klonopin, and I suppose it would be much the same with any benzo.

As for the "professionals" who prescribe psych meds...UGH. I've seen at least 35 prescribers (most of those pdocs, some psych nurses) and of those I'd say 4 were excellent, a bunch were mediocre, and too many were so bad (huge egos, poor knowledge) that they should not have been practicing medicine, plain and simple.

So yes, I completely validate your feelings, dear Fuzzy

[Crazy Hitch]

2/3 hours of sleep is insane. I completely agree with what *Beth* has written above about sleep. I’m severely sleep deprived at the moment and I’m not functioning properly …. I need 8 hours.

I’m not sure about benzos long term only because I developed a tolerance to them years ago and had to eventually stop taking them. I now take them prn.

[Hexagon]

I slept 2-3h a night last year when I worked as hell. And it triggered insomnia. So now I’m even more cautious about my sleep and the stress at work.

Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

[Moose72]

I managed to not sleep at all last night and finally at 5:45 am decided to get up and go to the local donut shop to get some paczis. ("Poonchskis") as today is Fat Tuesday. You indulge in these donut-like pastries - think thick heavy large filled donuts- then give up something for Lent starting on ash Wednesday. I didn't sleep all last night and all day today. Now it's 9 pm and I'm in bed.

[Crazy Hitch]

I hope you get some rest moose

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by Moose72

I managed to not sleep at all last night and finally at 5:45 am decided to get up and go to the local donut shop to get some paczis. ("Poonchskis") as today is Fat Tuesday. You indulge in these donut-like pastries - think thick heavy large filled donuts- then give up something for Lent starting on ash Wednesday. I didn't sleep all last night and all day today. Now it's 9 pm and I'm in bed.

Ack. I hope you get some sleep tonight.

[Fuzzybear]

Originally Posted by Moose72

I managed to not sleep at all last night and finally at 5:45 am decided to get up and go to the local donut shop to get some paczis. ("Poonchskis") as today is Fat Tuesday. You indulge in these donut-like pastries - think thick heavy large filled donuts- then give up something for Lent starting on ash Wednesday. I didn't sleep all last night and all day today. Now it's 9 pm and I'm in bed.

Hope you got some sleep

[raspberrytorte]

Hugs, fuzzy.

My benzo story sucks.

I'm stuck on 15mg of diazepam currently. Want to get off it, but can't handle benzo withdrawal. Boo hoo!