Hi. I am really glad you have a doctor that can talk with you about what to expect when coming off of specific prescribed mental health medications. I encourage you to have this discussion with him. We are not medical or mental health professionals and advice given would be reckless at the very least, and could be outright dangerous.
It takes time for some of the physical withdrawal stuff to stop. Talk with your doc too, but I also had muscle spasms and it eventually subsided. Early recovery was an emotional non-stop roller coaster for me. Every feeling was magnified, I could not seem to find relief no matter how hard I tried. I could not sleep other than little bits here and there for months. And it takes time once the chemicals are out of your brain for things to balance out up there. I am telling you this because I want you to know you are not alone, that others have been there, including me…and most importantly, it does pass. I did not wake up one morning feeling super awesome and it was over. For me, I felt a little better. It became more tolerable. A little better each day once that started. Eventually that added up to a lot better. Stay in contact with other addicts, attend meetings, share what you are going through, and do not use NO MATTER WHAT. Personally, remembering how bad withdrawal was is a motivator for me today. I never want to go through that hell again, and I don’t have to as long as I don’t pick up that first one.
The sleep thing…someone told me to stop thinking about how badly I needed to sleep; to stop trying to make myself sleep. It’s not an easy thing to do, when you are so damn exhausted and want sleep so much. But the reason it helped me is that I was only making my problem worse by obsessing about it. Once I accepted that I was just not going to be sleeping much for awhile, I just made use of my time in other ways. Your body WILL sleep when it has to.
Keep the faith, you are worth it.
