As I said in the parent post, I agree, and I am in fact tapering. I'm down to half my original dose. I'm taking it slow. This is something where you really need to listen to your body; it isn't helpful to have a set plan. You need a goal, but you also need to be flexible about it.

I tried CBT, and it didn't work. Admittedly I only tried it once. There are lots of different flavors of CBT for insomnia, and maybe if I had tried harder I could have found one that did work. The problem is finding a doctor who knows about it and will work with you, especially if you don't live in a big city.

Benzodiazepines are worrisome drugs, but I have to admit that for my insomnia, they were almost magic. Once we got the dose right it went away almost literally overnight. But then, as the OP illustrates, doctors aren't necessarily helpful in getting back off them.

> I'm taking it slow. This is something where you really need to listen to your body; it isn't helpful to have a set plan. You need a goal, but you also need to be flexible about it.

Truth!! I had to discover this for myself as well, and I'm continuing to figure it out as I go (currently lost about 50lbs in a 150lbs weight loss journey).

I'm sorry if I came across as judgemental, nor do I want to diminish your accomplishment. As someone on both sides of these drugs, it is no easy feat to make this big of a change. Kudos!!!

It sounds like the medication has done its job in that it has given you relief to get some sanity back and to focus on other options.

Stoic philosophy has a lot of overlap with CBT. It basically re-opened those cbt books for me and kept me at it.

Also true. And I've probably been heavily influenced by Stoicism as well, its hard to keep track where the lines are when there's so much overlap between the three.