Sleeping Pills Rehab: Breaking Free From Dependency Safely

Sleeping pills rehab. Sounds difficult? It can be tough, but it is not impossible. Let our experienced addictions clinicians explain how it is done. When you take sleeping pills over a period of time, as with any other drug, changes occur in the brain.

All medications work on chemical pathways in the brain, either to open them up or close them down. In time, these changes affect behaviour as well as producing physical signs.

Here at Find Me a Rehab we have experienced addictions clinicians who have many decades direct experience assessing, diagnosing and treating people dependent on sleeping pills. If you need a Free Rehab Referral Service: Call. Free clinician drug advice is available to all. We never charge for advice and all calls/emails are treated in the strictest of confidence. We only give impartial, cost free advice and are not tied to any service.

If you stop taking sleeping pills after a period of use uncomfortable physical and psychological symptoms will present themselves. This is because the brain has adjusted to their use and dependency has set in. Furthermore, at this stage you will need to take more of the pills to have the same effect as one or two did when you first started taking them.

Addiction doesn’t just affect the person caught up in the madness of it: The whole family can suffer. Often family members don’t know what to say, what to do and enable the addiction without intending to.

Sleeping pills rehab

Suddenly stopping can lead to difficulty sleeping, crippling anxiety and severe tremors. Hallucinations are also common and, in severe cases: seizures. How severe these symptoms are and for how long the person is affected depends on what sleeping pills they were taking, how many and for how long.

Sleeping pills are often used because someone is struggling with their mental health. Getting support for your mental health, while in recovery from addiction, is essential in the trajectory of recovery from sleeping pill addiction.

Addiction to Sleeping Pills and Withdrawal

Not being able to get to sleep is a real problem for many. Despite taking all the usual steps associated with getting a natural restful sleep, out of sheer desperation, sleeping pills are often used.

The problem is that, while in the short term they will do the job, continued use leads to a dangerous spiral of use and dependency.

Sleeping pills can be bought over the counter, online and on prescription from a doctor. They can appeal to people as a quick fix but it is like trying to mask the pain of an injury with painkillers: It won’t work long term and the underlying issues remain.

Sleeping pills are incredibly addictive. As with other medications that are habit forming, continued use changes brain chemistry.

Getting to sleep, and staying asleep for the whole night can feel like an impossibility. Sleeping pills will, in the short term, give you just what you are looking for. However, as with pain killers, this short term relief soon becomes very problematic.

They are highly addictive and will, very quickly, stop working meaning you have to take larger amounts in order for them to do anything meaningful.

Because sleeping pills are so easily available (GP, over the counter and, legally, from online stores) getting hooked is not difficult. They are also relatively low cost.

The pressures of life can lead people to seek a quick fix. Continued use will, rapidly, change brain chemistry as you develop a tolerance: A very bad combination. This leads to uncontrolled addiction and professional help is needed.

Coming to terms with the fact that you are addicted to something is an enormous step, but a crucial one. This is the first hurdle in the trajectory of recovery.

Withdrawal is ahead of you and the the thought of being without your little saviours can put some people into a blind panic. If you do stop taking them, without medical intervention, you will quickly develop signs of withdrawal. This can be incredibly dangerous. In some cases: Fatal.

Sleeping pills rehab

Here at Find Me a Rehab we have experienced addictions clinicians who have many decades direct experience assessing, diagnosing and treating people dependent on sleeping pills. If you need a Free Rehab Referral Service: Call. Free clinician drug advice is available to all. We never charge for advice and all calls/emails are treated in the strictest of confidence. We only give impartial, cost free advice and are not tied to any service.

Sleeping Pill Withdrawal Symptoms

The intensity of withdrawal from sleeping pills will vary from person to person and depends on many factors, not just what you have been taking, for how long and how many. However, there are some common signs:

* Rebound Insomnia

Sadly, the most prominent withdrawal side effects is insomnia. This can be more severe than the insomnia you experienced before taking sleeping pills. You may find it difficult both to get to sleep and stay asleep for the night. This will make you feel more tired during the day: A vicious circle.

2. Anxiety and Irritability

As with withdrawal from Benzodiazepines and opioids, withdrawal from sleeping pills can make you feel very anxious with associated irritability and severe restlessness. This is due to disrupted neurotransmitter activity: The brains response to altered chemistry when you stop.

* Muscle Aches and Tension

It is common for people who stop taking sleeping pills to experience physical aches and pains such as:

• Muscle aches
• Tension in arms and legs
• Stiffening of the muscles
• Tension headaches
• Jaw clenching
• Muscle cramps

* Gastrointestinal Problems

Due to the changes in brain chemistry it is common for people who are in withdrawal from sleeping pills to experience stomach cramps, loose stools, nausea and vomiting. Again, this is due to chemical changes in the brain and the readjustment.

* Cognitive Impairment

When coming off sleeping pills people often find their memory is affected. They find it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. It may be difficult to focus and there can be lapses in memory. Often people find it a challenge to process new information. Some people will try and compensate by using other drugs such as Ketamine: This will only make things worse and can be very dangerous.

* Mood Disturbances

Aside from the irritability and anxiety, it is a sad fact that coming off sleeping pills can really affect someone’s mood leading to depression. Rapid mood swings are not uncommon and there can be periods of emotional instability. Episodes of tearfulness are to be expected and often people can feel very hopeless.

* Chest pains and other smptoms

Often, when withdrawing from sleeping pills, it is common to experience chest pains as well as heavy sweating. You may see or hear things, even taste and smell things that are not real.

Withdrawal timeline

Sleeping pills rehab

There are three distinct phases of sleeping pill withdrawal. Ordinarily, the duration of withdrawal is about a week to two weeks. However, it can last for several months. Each case is different and relies on multiple factors, most noticeably what medication is taken, how much and for how long.

• Phase 1:

The initial phase lasts for between 24-72 hours. The body starts to adjust to being without the effects of sleeping pills. Getting to sleep will be very hard and cravings for the medication can be overwhelming. Extreme tiredness and being irritable are common. Muscle aches will start and there can be some tummy trouble, too. The memory can start to play tricks on you.

• Phase 2:

Form four days to two weeks the signs and symptoms of withdrawal will be at their most prominent and reach their peak. The insomnia will continue while anxiety will increase coupled with mood disturbances and physical aches and pains. The desire to overcome these symptoms can be so intense that relapse is highly likely.

Phase 3:

After around 14 days the brain chemistry will move towards the pre addiction state. Sleep should start to improve. However, there can still be periods of insomnia as well as continuing problems with memory. These can last for several months.

Sleeping Pill Detox

Coming off sleeping pills requires close medical monitoring following a comprehensive assessment with an experienced addictions clinician, such as the ones at Find Me a Rehab. A collaborative treatment plan usually includes a period of tapering down, over a period of weeks in a rehab centre.

Trying to do this alone, at home, is not only dangerous but simply won’t work. In a rehab centre, there at staff at hand, 24/7. Qualified medical and therapy staff alongside support staff, many of whom are in active recovery themselves.

Sleeping pills rehab

Here at Find Me a Rehab we have experienced addictions clinicians who have many decades direct experience assessing, diagnosing and treating people dependent on sleeping pills. If you need a Free Rehab Referral Service: Call. Free clinician drug advice is available to all. We never charge for advice and all calls/emails are treated in the strictest of confidence. We only give impartial, cost free advice and are not tied to any service.

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