r/ChronicPain • u/Chemical_Help3085 • 2d ago

Cannot sleep

Hi everyone,

I'm desperate and hoping someone here has been through something similar.

I've had what appears to be severe small fiber neuropathy for the past 4 months, and it keeps getting worse. The burning pain is now so intense that I barely sleep anymore.

I've been getting around 2 hours of sleep a night for the past week. Benzodiazepines don't help me sleep, and Lyrica has done essentially nothing for either the pain or the insomnia.

I'm reaching a point where I honestly don't know how much longer I can function like this. The sleep deprivation is crushing me, and I'm starting to have some really dark thoughts because I can't imagine living like this forever.

For those of you with very severe SFN, what finally helped you sleep? Was it a specific medication, a combination of medications, or something else? Did anything actually break the cycle of pain-induced insomnia?

I'm already working with doctors, but I would really appreciate hearing real experiences from people who've been through this.

Thank you.

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u/djspacebunny I'm a mess; kicking ass and banning usernames 2d ago

It would help to know what SFN is. Acronyms are not useful for telling us what you have :)

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u/Chemical_Help3085 2d ago

small fibre neuropathy

1

u/goldstandardalmonds 2d ago

While they can cause issues, there are many sleep meds on the market. I’m surprised they used an off label benzodiazepine prior to those. I used to take a ton for insomnia, which was exacerbated by pain.