WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS: INSOMNIA
If you feel that the lack of sleep is seriously holding you back, your doctor may prescribe a sedative (just to give you a rest) for a short time. Check to make sure that it is not in the benzodiazepine group—i.e. Valium, Librium, Ativan, etc. (See tables on pages 100-104).
The dreams and nightmares that you are flooded with during withdrawal are just your mind doing work that it should have done months or years before.
The dreams are often described as evil. They include: violence; disaster; disturbed sexual behaviour. People who are distressed by incestuous or homosexual dreams feel greatly comforted when they learn it is a common experience in withdrawal, and will soon pass.
Recounting your dreams or writing them down when you wake sometimes helps to make you less anxious about them. Trust your mind to do the work. Your normal dreaming and sleeping pattern will return.
Those who suffer withdrawal insomnia say it is the most difficult symptom to cope with. So often it is said ‘If only I could get a good night’s sleep, I could cope with the days’. Sleeping only a couple of hours a night in early withdrawal is not uncommon. Although it is very hard to bear, try not to become too anxious about it. Withdrawal insomnia is a particularly severe form of insomnia—time is the only cure.
Lying in warm water or in a warm bed can give your muscles the rest they need. Listen to relaxation tapes, and practise abdominal breathing. Try to quieten your racing thoughts by concentrating on feeling the breath entering and leaving one nostril. Every time your concentration wanders away to your jumbled thoughts, just gently bring it back again to concentrating on your breath. Do not get angry with yourself for not even being able to do this simple task, just keep going for five minutes, then try later. This simple meditation is helpful if you can discipline yourself to do it regularly. Some people have found a radio with headphones very helpful; it cuts out external sound and helps to slow down racing thoughts.
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April 21, 2009 - 5:12 AM