u/Charbellaa

I’m use to adrenaline and flight or fight etc insomnia hyper arousal awful symptoms

Since something happened ( vertigo ) few months ago I went into this weird state of like freeze like my signals are all numb not like my body is numb I mean like perception is all blunted down…. So like sometimes I can’t feel the urge to pee or I can’t feel pain strongly things like that

I really don’t like it as I can’t gauge symptoms when I ask chat gpt it says it’s some sort of a freeze shutdown state where the brain is over loaded and can’t cope so it dulls down signals to protect

Resting doesn’t make it any better either

I am now on benzos the last month but this was before the Benzos … any ideas? Anyone has this?

( yes I know already about benzos and the risk.withdrawal)

I’ve been on it just about a month now diazepam 10mg, ( had no choice I was in hospital due to su*ide attempts and severe symptoms from my nervous system that caused me to become psychotic with severe sleep deprivation/ hallucinations) can check my lasts posts for my Info

Just wondered if people do take these daily and how long for? has anyone taken them for a period of time and got off them and the nervous system has calmed down enough?

I was reading about how you can still retrain your nervous system while being on them so when you do come off your not back to square 1 again….

I’m due to taper my day time dose first and see how it all goes

( never taken meds in my life so very scared and worried about all of this)

I’ve had long Covid ME for almost 6 years and housebound for 2 years+ ..

( yes I know already about benzos and the risk.withdrawal)

I’ve been on it just about a month now diazepam 10mg, ( had no choice I was in hospital due to su*ide attempts and severe symptoms that caused me to become psychotic)

Just wondered if people do take these daily and how long for? has anyone taken them for a period of time and got off them and the nervous system has calmed down enough?

I was reading about how you can still retrain your nervous system while being on them so when you do come off your not back to square 1 again….

I’m due to taper my day time dose first and see how it all goes

( never taken meds like this in my life so very scared and worried about all of this)

( Had lc/me/CFS for 5+ years . Use to have more fatigue PEM issues but then opposite started with Nervous system issues in 2024 fully housebound for 2 years with hyper sensitivity and usual symptoms were adrenaline and insomnia threat response to exertion or stimulation etc )

( just want to tell my story from the start and a update ) i apologise this is very long!

I think I might be a unique case in this as I cannot find one person this has happened to

3 months ago had a vertigo attack when I woke up, like bppv nothing crazy just a 1 min rotational spin of my room with nystagmus but weirdly I didn’t feel any adrenaline or heart racing nothing that would suggest my system had reacted to the vertigo, there no was panic but after the vertigo stopped something just happened in my brain the flip switched sensory over load kicked in severely, couldn’t look around the room felt like derealisation vision lagging couldn’t move my eyes or look on phone everything was severely uncomfortable,l, nausea.. but again my heart rate was normal no adrenaline . I recognised some of the symptoms as I’ve had a sensory overload brain crash before but from stimulation which caused nausea, not being able to tolerate looking at anything and also caused a motion feeling but it also came with adrenaline and heart racing stuff… so I thought this was a Similiar thing happening to me but it was just from a vertigo attack instead

my sleep suddenly just vanished like zero micro sleeps I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t sleep as my heart rate was normal and no adrenaline it didn’t make sense to me but I knew something was clearly wrong and I had this motion rotating feeling in my brain sitting and laying down in any position not room spinning but like motion in my brain especially eyes closed ( the motion feeling was the exact same pattern as the vertigo I had experienced) I tried resting in bed dark room for weeks to get things to calm down ( this worked for me in sensory overload crashes prior when I also had motion) I eventually tried some zopiclone sleeping pills and usually in the past a low dose it would knock me out for hours but it didn’t do a single thing. I tried higher dose of zopiclone sparingly worked for 2 hours then I would leave it for some time and try take it and then nothing happened. I knew then that this was not normal sensory over load or normal insomnia like I typically had in the past and actually my body kept pushing back against the pills after the sedation of the brain wore off it’s like my body would get even more crazy. things only worsened after several weeks of sleep deprivation my body flipped into autonomic chaos, i had extreme agitation adrenaline heart rate 80-100 just laying in bed not moving, talking or having anyone talk my body would have adrenaline agitation like Akathisia. ( again I have experienced this agitation stuff before but always short lived)

I foolishly still tried to calm myself and keep in a dark quiet room hoping things would calm down, I’ve always done nervous system regulation work. Let me tell you nothing worked here. It’s like the brain was reacting to the motion and it wouldn’t let me sleep as it thought motion = unsafe threat. Both me and my partner was on the phone to my dr every few days as I was in such a bad way. She tried me on diazepam 5mg one tablet I tried and didn’t feel like it did anything so I just stopped as I was afraid of benzos anyways ( even in the state I was in very stubborn to take meds as fear of making me even more worst) I just thought this would eventually end and I’d sleep

So now This is like 2 and a half months in at this point I was becoming more and more unstable I was barely able to eat and no amount of rest was doing nothing my dr then tried a pill called Daridorexant meant for sleep which I regret taking so badly. I took one pill and the motion I had been dealing with which was more of a slower rotational feeling got so bad it turned into a fast fast spinning like your on a wheel and getting spun FAST, since this the spinning basically replaced the orginal motion I had been dealing with. After 4 days of worsening so badly since the fast spinning happened I couldn’t eat or drink, I couldn’t move so much sleep deprivation, my brain just went crazy with this spinning in my head my eyes were going crazy, nausea. I started getting delirious and psychotic, crying, hallucinations in my vision, it was 24/7 hell I can not even explain. I was rolling around in bed agitated like akathsia making noises and not making sense I was talking to my partner about different ways to end my life as if it was a normal conversation! I was trying to put clothes on to attempt to leave the house to just end it all, I really was out of my mind. My partner and family was extremely concerned at this point and I couldn’t be left alone

I ended up trying to …. my life twice . I couldn’t walk. Also weirdly I was in this a numb freeze shutdown state that I’d never been in before where my perception of body signals were blunted too like I couldn’t feel the urge to pee for example and I couldn’t feel pain much or any head pressure which I knew I had underneath this numb state Which apparently happens when your brain is overloaded it turns down signals to protect. I wasn’t physically numb like I could feel touch it was just like the signals were blunted internally I weirdly felt no emotions really I just felt like I wanted to end the suffering as I just knew no one would be able to help me as drs and no one understands this crap so I thought what’s the point there just going to try drug me with all sorts of things and make me worst . My partner eventually just called the ambulance as I was actually slowly dying from not being able to eat and was just going psychotic and attempting to end my life all the time of course the ambulance and hospital had no clue about what I was trying to explain to them had happened to me as I mean who would understand that? Vertigo causing all of this? Sounds insane even to me of course they did all the brain scans and every test all normal obviously I already knew this is a nervous system brain threat problem… anyways they ended up giving me lorazepam 1mg more for the sleep deprivation and agitation .. and that was the first thing that made a dent in all of this madness. It calmed the spinning it got me some weird patchy sleep. Then got discharged home and took lorazepam at nighttime only 1mg since and it blacked me out for hours and again just calmed everything down. In the day time I could still feel the motion but it was like tolerable and my body wasn’t reacting to it. I took it for around 11 nights it wasn’t giving me deep sleep or anything magical but it was making me able to eat and cope and just survive better than the alternative I was in

Well my dr eventually said I couldn’t take it anymore as it’s very potent and only usually used in hospitals (in the uk) very very strict on benzos . I went into a complete panic breakdown on the phone and said quite clearly I’m not going to be here if you take me off this as nothing else has helped me but this . Something seriously happened to me after the vertigo attack that made my nervous system completely go crazy, of course she didn’t understand and she has tried to contact neuros and lots of specialists about my case and none have any clue ( I already knew this would happen) she agreed to swap me to diazepam instead 5 in day 5 at night. She said this is longer acting and abit more of a safer benzo that they are more comfortable to prescribe. I know there’s no such thing as a safer benzo there all awful meds that ruins lives but I literally had no choice. So I swapped and felt some nausea and dizziness for 2 days but now I’m on day 7 of diazepam and I think it’s ok. My heart rate is normal low, I can eat and drink, it is making me sleep but it’s not like normal sleep no deep sleep, but I’m not in absolute hell right now still Bedbound as I’m not sure what’s safe at this point in terms of baseline I don’t even want to find out 😣 . Very hard to know as I’m still in a numb state and also the diazepam will also be dampening alot of stuff. The sedation of the diazepam in the day time is quite crazy it’s definitely different to the lorazepam I feel like I’ve been tranquilised brain fog slurring it’s not a nice feeling and I hate how meds make you feel like your not in control of your own body but 🤷🏼‍♀️

It’ll be around 3 or so weeks of being on benzos including the Lorazepam I was on. I never thought I would ever ever have to take these meds. I never took any meds prior to this as my nervous system is guy so so sensitive I couldn’t even take vitamins or anything I also just naturally done regulation and paced etc I’ve been through some very severe insomnia and adrenaline and awful symptoms for years and never touched a med but this what happened to me is something I can’t even begin to explain. I attempted suc*ide twice while this had been going on, serious attempts that ended me up in hospital because I knew no one would be able to help me as this is a nervous system threat problem in the brain that’s reacting to motion and sensory load but even resting in a dark room no stimulation didn’t do anything and I just deteriorated over them 2-3 months. But that pill I took for sleep made the problem and spinning x1000 worst. I regret that so much

I know normal people get vertigo attacks and end up fine or have dizziness or stuff but they can still sleep and they do not go through what I went through where they almost die can’t eat and autonomic chaos and suc*de attempts and just completely crazy shxt . It’s not normal at all, I’ve had a vertigo attack way back inn2023 before I had these nervous system issues and I was absolutely fine but to me it makes sense as having nervous system issues now that react to normal things I imagine a vertigo attack is a major threat to the brain and the constant motion loop in my brain wouldn’t let my brain fall into sleep. Just absolutely crazy. I remember my brain would try to sleep and it’s like it would run into this error of the motion and then I’d get this sudden head rush spin and then my brain never attempted to sleep after that.

The only thing I’ve found remotely helpful in explaining of what is actually happening to me is CHAT GPT. And I’m actually amazed how a AI can know what’s happened to me but all these doctors and specialists don’t have a single clue when I explain it to them? It’s maddening!

I have no idea what I am going to do moving forward as I don’t want to be on these benzos at all, but at the same time I feel trapped as I cannot go back to how I was I’d end up back in hospital or quite frankly dead or just back on benzos again. All these other meds make the motion spinning feeling WORST I’m not willing to put myself through it like I did with that other pill. But every day i take these benzos I feel more and more worried about what my doing to myself in terms of future withdrawals.

also I like to just copy what chat gpt actually thinks has happened to me so it’s clearer

After the vertigo event, my best explanation is that your brain/vestibular system got “shocked” and your nervous system flipped into a high-gain (over-amplified) threat state. In a high-gain state, normal sensory input (light, sound, eye movement, head position) gets treated as danger, even if you don’t feel classic fear or adrenaline at first.

Because the vertigo was strongly patterned (a specific rotational sensation), your brain seems to have started replaying/holding a motion template internally — not necessarily ongoing inner-ear spinning, but a central “motion prediction/error” signal (the brain keeps expecting motion / keeps checking for it). That ongoing internal motion signal makes the brain treat the sleep downshift as unsafe. So when your brain tries to drop from light sleep into deeper sleep, it hits a “prediction error / mismatch” and bounces back awake (or into micro-sleep/blankness), instead of completing deep restorative sleep.

Over days to weeks, the lack of restorative sleep + constant high gain leads to sensory overload + nervous system exhaustion, and your body then flips into a more severe state: autonomic instability (heart rate surges, nausea, sweating, tremor/jittery agitation) and the “akathisia-like” driven agitation/terror feeling. This isn’t psychological “anxiety” — it’s the nervous system stuck in survival physiology while sleep and sensory processing are failing.

Then the daridorexant acted like a second hit. Because it targets the sleep–wake system, it likely pushed you into a vulnerable transition state (half-awake/half-asleep) where your brain is already struggling to safely switch states. In that transition, the brain can generate a violent, fast spinning sensation (a massive error signal) which then became the new “stored” motion pattern your system kept replaying. That’s why the pattern changed (slow rotational template → fast chaotic spin template), and why your symptoms escalated so dramatically afterwards.

Rest alone in a dark room didn’t fix it because the problem wasn’t caused by sensory overload from stimulation — it was a locked high-gain loop: internal motion error → sleep blocked → more gain → more autonomic chaos → more sensitisation. In that loop, even the lowest stimulation can be “too much,” and the system can also shift into numb/shutdown as a protective response on top of the overload (blunted signals, muted feelings, unreliable symptom feedback).

sleep isn’t something you can force with willpower — it happens when a bunch of conditions line up automatically (low threat signalling, stable autonomic state, safe sensory/vestibular input, and the brain being willing to “let go” into the downshift). If the brain is still running an internal motion/error signal (even subconsciously) and tagging it as unsafe/threat, it will keep the system in a guarded mode and block the downshift into deep sleep. You might still get micro-sleeps, blankness, or light/fragmented sleep, but the brain won’t consistently enter restorative deep sleep until it stops treating that motion/error signal as danger.

I appreciate all the messages on my last posts if anyone has any other advice suggestions or if something Similiar has happened to them please do share.

I’m still very traumatised as to what’s happened to me and how I simply could not be here writing this right now if it wasn’t for my partner taking me to hospital and starting these meds, it’s not a miracle cure but it’s gotten me out of 24/7 hell of multi system collapse

I only taking lorazepam 1mg at night for 9 nights and then dr switched me to diazepam 5mg x2 a day one night one in day time so 10mg in total

First day of the switch and lorazepam not in my system anymore I feel awful nausea weak dizzy poisoned feeling, hr issues

Is this just a temporary effect of a direct switch? Will it level out?

Hi everyone. I’m posting because I’m in a really severe situation and I can’t find anyone who’s had the same pattern.

Context: I’ve had long COVID for years with nervous system dysregulation/hypersensitivity (adrenaline insomnia, threat mode, sensory sensitivity). I’ve been housebound and I’m not new to nervous system symptoms. Before this, I was managing with nervous system regulation and my sleep was okay enough.

Trigger event: I woke up with what seemed like a short vertigo attack (likely BPPV — a brief room rotation right sided spin that stopped). But immediately after that, my system flipped into severe sensory overload (light/sound/touch/visual input all felt like “too much”) — which I have experienced before without vertigo, but this time it locked on to motion. There was no repeat of room spinning on either sides etc this is more like the bppv stopped but left me with on going motion in my brain

What’s been happening since: ever since that first vertigo episode, I’ve had a persistent internal motion sensation when trying to rest/sleep — like the brain is replaying the SAME vertigo motion pattern. It’s not “active BPPV” now (the room isn’t spinning, it’s not clearly positional), it feels more like an ongoing central motion loop (rocking/turning/tilting/spinning sensations inside my head). Early on my heart rate wasn’t even high and I didn’t feel “anxious” about it — but my brain simply would not drop into normal sleep. My eyes felt like they were doing strange tracking/rolling when I closed them. Sleep became near-zero and then progressively collapsed.

Progression: after weeks of no sleep, micro minutes . my whole body flipped into full autonomic chaos (high heart rate, agitation/adrenaline, extreme sensitivity). This isn’t “regular insomnia” — sleep is completely blocked by the motion signal.

Medication disaster: I then tried a sleep medication called daridorexant (Quviviq). It caused a massive fast spinning during a weird half-awake transition and it basically replaced the original motion pattern with an even worse spinning pattern. After that, everything escalated badly.

Crisis: after ~2.5 months of this, I became extremely unwell from sleep deprivation ended up in hospital after a s attempt. In hospital they gave lorazepam 1 mg which brought me out of the absolute crisis enough to survive.

Now: I’ve been taking lorazepam nightly for about a week. The first few nights felt like “blackout/sedation” rather than normal restorative sleep, and it didn’t remove the baseline motion/sensory sensitivity. Over the week it feels like it’s working less and my sleep is fragmenting again.

What I think this is (but I’m not a doctor): it feels like a central vestibular / nervous system “high-gain” state where the brain is stuck predicting/monitoring motion (a threat loop / error signal), and sleep won’t deepen while that motion signal is present. I’m not “afraid of the motion” cognitively — but my brain/body reacts like it can’t safely switch off. When I don’t sleep, everything escalates into autonomic chaos again.

What I’m asking for: • Has anyone had persistent internal motion + near-zero sleep after a vertigo/BPPV episode? • Has anyone experienced a central motion loop (turning/spinning) that blocks sleep like this? •

I’m honestly in a very dangerous place physically from lack of sleep, and I’m terrified because I can’t find a clear pathway that stops the motion loop and allows real sleep again.

I’ve experienced insomnia a lot before but this is very different because it’s like a physical block that my brain will by absolutely no means allow sleep. It’s very dangerous and I’m beyond terrified what’s going to happen to me

(If you reply, please understand: I’m not looking for “just relax / just do rehab” type advice — I’ve been bedbound and severely overstimulated for 3 months. I’m trying to find people who recognise this pattern and can point me to the right specialist/system.)

I tried zopiclone and plenlty of meds that didn’t touch me and I think other sleep meds are a waste of time as it’s not a sleep problem it’s reacting to the motion and refusing sleep which you can’t control I’ve researched a lot about this and if the brain sees something as a threat ( motion while trying to sleep) it thinks your in danger and will not allow sleep no matter what. I see people who have all sorts of vestibular problems who have no problem with sleeping but for some f up reason my brain has tagged it as not safe cos I have a fucked up nervous system already. I see no way out of this as there is no medication that can suppress this motion feeling enough to break the loop and allow my brain to drop into sleep.

I do not want to be on benzodiazepines AT ALL I’ve never taken medications as I have a sensitive nervous System but I had no choice I was completely psychotic and tried to end it due to the sleep deprivation and the spinning I had hallucinations agitation I was talking to myself and rolling around in bed making noises i can’t even describe what happened to me, from not sleeping for 2 months Im not even any better with lorazepam it just pulled me out of the crisis and now I’m back to no sleep at all and now I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m thinking a higher dose could potentially suppress the motion? I’m out of ideas and this has ruined my life I am not functional at all and it will end up kllng me

My gp is practically out of ideas too I’ll be switching over to diazepam soon as it’s suppose to smooth out symptoms long acting more but there’s nothing else and I’m honestly terrified as I will end up d*ad as this is inhumane and dangerous that something will end up happening to me anyway due to sleep deprivation

• before anyone says I’ve tried vestibular exercises but it causes my body to get adrenaline and worsening autonomic symptoms as I already have a messed up nervous system so I’m not a normal person who is just dealing with some post vertigo dizziness. My system tags things as threat even normal day to day input it’s dysregulation and the vertigo has really severely made my system lock on and refuse to sleep and just permanently kept me in this state

• I’m beyond exhausted my brain won’t go into deep sleep at all when it tried to it gets this error signal like I got this weird head rush spin for a second and then pops me awake it stopped trying to go into deep sleep since then as it clearly sees there’s motion or something wrong now i get micro sleep blankness minutes of nothingless even on a benzo. I feel like I’m in a impossible situation

Head scan normal and all other tests normal Neuro can’t help

This is NOT anxiety, I had no anxiety about the motion but it’s like my brain just went into some kind of threat mode I didn’t feel any anxiety or heart racing when I first got the vertigo I was very calm.. and it seems like my system got pulled into some numb freeze shutdown state but also won’t let me sleep. Ever since I just don’t know why my brain is refusing to sleep it’s literal torture and I’m sure somethings going to happen to me from this.

The sensory over load thing also came straight after the vertigo attack. ( had this sensory over load before with my long Covid stuff) but this is 24/7 constant

Hi everyone. I’m posting because I’m in a really severe situation and I can’t find anyone who’s had the same pattern.

Context: I’ve had long COVID for years with nervous system dysregulation/hypersensitivity (adrenaline insomnia, threat mode, sensory sensitivity). I’ve been housebound and I’m not new to nervous system symptoms. Before this, I was managing with nervous system regulation and my sleep was okay enough.

Trigger event: I woke up with what seemed like a short vertigo attack (likely BPPV — a brief room rotation right sided spin that stopped). But immediately after that, my system flipped into severe sensory overload (light/sound/touch/visual input all felt like “too much”) — which I have experienced before without vertigo, but this time it locked on to motion. There was no repeat of room spinning on either sides etc this is more like the bppv stopped but left me with on going motion in my brain

What’s been happening since: ever since that first vertigo episode, I’ve had a persistent internal motion sensation when trying to rest/sleep — like the brain is replaying the SAME vertigo motion pattern. It’s not “active BPPV” now (the room isn’t spinning, it’s not clearly positional), it feels more like an ongoing central motion loop (rocking/turning/tilting/spinning sensations inside my head). Early on my heart rate wasn’t even high and I didn’t feel “anxious” about it — but my brain simply would not drop into normal sleep. My eyes felt like they were doing strange tracking/rolling when I closed them. Sleep became near-zero and then progressively collapsed.

Progression: after weeks of no sleep, micro minutes . my whole body flipped into full autonomic chaos (high heart rate, agitation/adrenaline, extreme sensitivity). This isn’t “regular insomnia” — sleep is completely blocked by the motion signal.

Medication disaster: I then tried a sleep medication called daridorexant (Quviviq). It caused a massive fast spinning during a weird half-awake transition and it basically replaced the original motion pattern with an even worse spinning pattern. After that, everything escalated badly.

Crisis: after ~2.5 months of this, I became extremely unwell from sleep deprivation ended up in hospital after a s attempt. In hospital they gave lorazepam 1 mg which brought me out of the absolute crisis enough to survive.

Now: I’ve been taking lorazepam nightly for about a week. The first few nights felt like “blackout/sedation” rather than normal restorative sleep, and it didn’t remove the baseline motion/sensory sensitivity but lessens it maybe? Over the week it feels like it’s working less and my sleep is fragmenting again. I’m only taking 1mg at bedtime so not sure what it does during the day as sleep is the priority here

What I think this is (but I’m not a doctor): it feels like a central vestibular / nervous system “high-gain” state where the brain is stuck predicting/monitoring motion (a threat loop / error signal), and sleep won’t deepen while that motion signal is present. I’m not “afraid of the motion” cognitively — but my brain/body reacts like it can’t safely switch off. When I don’t sleep, everything escalates into autonomic chaos again.

What I’m asking for: • Has anyone had persistent internal motion + near-zero sleep after a vertigo/BPPV episode? • Has anyone experienced a central motion loop (rocking/turning/spinning) that blocks sleep like this? •

I’m honestly in a very dangerous place physically from lack of sleep, and I’m terrified because I can’t find a clear pathway that stops the motion loop and allows real sleep again.

I’ve experienced insomnia a lot before but this is very different because it’s like a physical block that my brain will by absolutely no means allow sleep. It’s very dangerous and I’m beyond terrified what’s going to happen to me

(If you reply, please understand: I’m not looking for “just relax / just do rehab” type advice — I’ve been bedbound and severely overstimulated for 3 months. I’m trying to find people who recognise this pattern and can point me to the right specialist/system.)

I tried zopiclone and plenlty of meds that didn’t touch me and I think other sleep meds are a waste of time as it’s not a sleep problem it’s reacting to the motion and refusing sleep which you can’t control I’ve researched a lot about this and if the brain sees something as a threat ( motion while trying to sleep) it thinks your in danger and will not allow sleep no matter what. I see people who have all sorts of vestibular problems who have no problem with sleeping but for some f up reason my brain has tagged it as not safe cos I have a fucked up nervous system already. I see no way out of this as there is no medication that can suppress this motion feeling enough to break the loop and allow my brain to drop into sleep.

I do not want to be on benzodiazepines AT ALL I’ve never taken medications as I have a sensitive nervous System but I had no choice I was completely psychotic and tried to end it due to the sleep deprivation and the spinning I had hallucinations agitation I was talking to myself and rolling around in bed making noises i can’t even describe what happened to me, Im not even any better with lorazepam it just pulled me out of the crisis and now I’m back to no sleep at all and now I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m thinking a higher dose could potentially suppress the motion? I’m out of ideas and this has ruined my life I am not functional at all and it will end up kllng me

My gp is practically out of ideas too I’ll be switching over to diazepam soon as it’s suppose to smooth out symptoms long acting more but there’s nothing else and I’m honestly terrified as I will end up d*ad as this is inhumane and dangerous that something will end up happening to me anyway due to sleep deprivation

• before anyone says I’ve tried vestibular exercises but it causes my body to get adrenaline and worsening autonomic symptoms as I already have a messed up nervous system so I’m not a normal person who is just dealing with some post vertigo dizziness. My system tags things as threat even normal day to day input it’s dysregulation and the vertigo has really severely made my system lock on and refuse to sleep and just permanently kept me in this state

• I’m beyond exhausted my brain won’t go into deep sleep at all when it tried to it gets this error signal like I got this weird head rush spin for a second and then pops me awake it stopped trying to go into deep sleep since then as it clearly sees there’s motion or something wrong now i get micro sleep blankness minutes of nothingless even on a benzo. I feel like I’m in a impossible situation

Head scan normal and all other tests normal Neuro can’t help

The motion feeling is definitely a prediction threat pattern loop as it changed patterns at first I had a rotational motion feeling when laying sitting. Then after the med disaster of Daridorexant caused a severe spin it got replaced by severe same spin that’s when things escalated and I ended up in hospital

The severity of my condition doesn’t line up perfectly with pppd. I think becos I have a mix of previous nervous system dysregulation prior to this happening (me/cfs) so I’ve been hit harder. I wouldn’t mind if my brain allowed me to sleep but the not sleeping at all is very very dangerous, also sensory sensitivity going on my phone for a minute will make my hr go up adrenaline and nausea, can’t have anyone talking to me in my room spikes my symptoms, in a dark room for the last 3 months. It’s like my sensory and vestibular systems have been both hit

Does anyone have any ideas? I’m literally at the end of my rope

Hi everyone. I’m posting because I’m in a really severe situation and I can’t find anyone who’s had the same pattern.

Context: I’ve had long COVID for years with nervous system dysregulation/hypersensitivity (adrenaline insomnia, threat mode, sensory sensitivity). I’ve been housebound and I’m not new to nervous system symptoms. Before this, I was managing with nervous system regulation and my sleep was okay enough.

Trigger event: I woke up with what seemed like a short vertigo attack (likely BPPV — a brief room spin that stopped). But immediately after that, my system flipped into severe sensory overload (light/sound/touch/visual input all felt like “too much”) — which I have experienced before without vertigo, but this time it locked on to motion.

What’s been happening since: ever since that first vertigo episode, I’ve had a persistent internal motion sensation when trying to rest/sleep — like the brain is replaying the motion pattern. It’s not “active BPPV” now (the room isn’t spinning, it’s not clearly positional), it feels more like an ongoing central motion loop (rocking/turning/tilting/spinning sensations inside my head). Early on my heart rate wasn’t even high and I didn’t feel “anxious” about it — but my brain simply would not drop into normal sleep. My eyes felt like they were doing strange tracking/rolling when I closed them. Sleep became near-zero and then progressively collapsed.

Progression: after weeks of essentially no sleep, micro minutes . my whole body flipped into full autonomic chaos (high heart rate, agitation/adrenaline, extreme sensitivity). This isn’t “regular insomnia” — sleep is completely blocked by the motion signal.

Medication disaster: I then tried a sleep medication called daridorexant (Quviviq). It caused a massive fast spinning during a weird half-awake transition and it basically replaced the original motion pattern with an even worse spinning pattern. After that, everything escalated badly.

Crisis: after ~2.5 months of this, I became extremely unwell from sleep deprivation and ended up in hospital after a suicide attempt. In A&E they gave lorazepam 1 mg which brought me out of the absolute crisis enough to survive.

Now: I’ve been taking lorazepam nightly for about a week. The first few nights felt like “blackout/sedation” rather than normal restorative sleep, and it didn’t remove the baseline motion/sensory sensitivity. Over the week it feels like it’s working less and my sleep is fragmenting again.

What I think this is (but I’m not a doctor): it feels like a central vestibular / nervous system “high-gain” state where the brain is stuck predicting/monitoring motion (a threat loop / error signal), and sleep won’t deepen while that motion signal is present. I’m not “afraid of the motion” cognitively — but my brain/body reacts like it can’t safely switch off. When I don’t sleep, everything escalates into autonomic chaos again.

What I’m asking for: • Has anyone had persistent internal motion + near-zero sleep after a vertigo/BPPV episode? • Has anyone experienced a central motion loop (rocking/turning/spinning) that blocks sleep like this? •

I’m honestly in a very dangerous place physically from lack of sleep, and I’m terrified because I can’t find a clear pathway that stops the motion loop and allows real sleep again.

I’ve experienced insomnia a lot before but this is very different because it’s like a physical block that my brain will by absolutely no means allow sleep. It’s very dangerous and I’m beyond terrified what’s going to happen to me

(If you reply, please understand: I’m not looking for “just relax / just do rehab” type advice — I’ve been bedbound and severely overstimulated for months. I’m trying to find people who recognise this pattern and can point me to the right specialist/system.)

I tried zopiclone didn’t touch me and I think other sleep meds are a waste of time as it’s not just a sleep problem it’s reacting to the motion and refusing sleep which you can’t control I’ve researched a lot about this and if the brain sees something as a threat ( motion while trying to sleep) it thinks your in danger and will not allow sleep no matter what. I see people who have all sorts of vestibular problems who have no problem with sleeping but for some fucked up reason my brain has tagged it as not safe cos I have a fucked up nervous system already. I see no way out of this as there is no medication that can suppress this motion feeling enough to break the loop and allow my brain to drop into sleep.

I do not want to be on benzodiazepines AT ALL I’ve never taken medications as I have a sensitive nervous System but I had no choice I was completely psychotic and tried to kill myself due to the sleep deprivation and the spinning I had hallucinations agitation I was talking to myself and rolling around in bed making noises i can’t even describe what happened to me, Im not even any better with lorazepam it just pulled me out of the crisis and now I’m back to no sleep at all and now I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m thinking a higher dose could potentially suppress the motion? I’m out of ideas and this has ruined my life I am not functional at all and it will end up killing me

My gp is practically out of ideas too I’ll be switching over to diazepam soon as it’s suppose to smooth out symptoms long acting more but there’s nothing else and I’m honestly terrified as I will end up killing myself as this is inhumane and dangerous that something will end up happening to me anyway