Insomnia

[Pokey]

HI- I am brand new to this forum, but insomnia is not something new to me. I have been battling it for years. Just a little history. I have been tapering off xanax since January using a protocol where you cross over to valium to get off. I determined that xanax was a culprit in creating my insomina rather than solving it and once I crossed over to valilum things got considerably better. I am now down to 4mg of valium and hope to be off completely by January. Until recently I was sleeping very well, even taking afternoon naps which I hadn't been able to do for years. But I have not been able to hold to this peace and sense of well being due to sleeping well. What's going on now is what made me seek out a forum like this.

I have a heart condition for which they recently prescribed me verapamil. Before that I was on Altace, an Ace Inhibitor which I tolerated well, slept just fine, but it did not manage the problem I have. I won't delve into my cardiology. I have been on verapamil 2 weeks now and my sleep has been getting progressively worse. At first I thought it had to do with my coming off the valium becuase every time I make a cut in the valium it boogers up my sleep a little bit. But since starting the verapamil its way worse than that. Night before last I awoke at 2:30 and slept fitfully the rest of the night. Last night (this morning) I awoke t 2:30 a.m. again and could not get back to sleep at all, I finally got up at 5 a.m. I've had about 8 hours of sleep in the last 48 and I start falling apart pretty quick when I don't sleep. I can't manage to go to work today. Can't sleep, but can't keep my eyes open to drive the 20 miles to work.

I read about the side effects of verapamil, one of course is insomina. Being that it is the only likely drug that can take care of my partiuclar heart problem naturally insomnia would be the side effect I get. The only other option is a beta blocker and I can't tolerate beta blockers or surgery. I am hoping the insomnia from the verapamil will dissipate with a little bit of time, but I can't put up with it very long. Have any of you out there had similar issues with verapamil and did your insomnia resolve itself, if so how long did it take? Thanks. POkey