Ambien and melatonin

[Gretta96]

I saw this on ehow...anyone use melatonin to stop ambien?  You take 9mg melatonin with the lowest dose of ambien for a week, the next week, 6mg everyday, with lowest dose of ambien every other day...eventually you end up only taking 3mg of melatonin.  
I guess I'll give it a try... I'll let you know if it works.

[VICourageous]

I use the Melatonin now and then..In my 7m from 3 meds I was on..I could not take the Melatonin with any Meds..No Scrip, OTC , Anything...I had to use it alone..I would have a adverse reaction if I did not..Now I sleep like a baby with out anything...
vickie

[Gretta96]

FYI-tried taking 9mg of melatonin with 5mg of ambien-not good!  I think the melatonin kept me awake.  Going to just cut my 5mg ambien in half and then stop.  I'll probably take some Tylenol pm too.  That seems to work better than melatonin, at least for me.

[YesLife4Me]

I wouldn't stress too much about it.  If I think about how I am not falling asleep as quickly (like on the ambien) then I don't fall asleep.  Nyquil always did the trick for me along with a couple melatonin when I had no ambien.  You could try that.  Valerian Root I hear works good for others.  

[Gretta96]

YesLife-
I haven't abused ambien, I only take one (5mg) a night, but I've been taking one almost every night for 6 months.  I guess I've heard the horror stories about not sleeping for 3 days and I didn't want to go through that.  Maybe I won't have a problem.  It is not a benzo, it is a hypnotic.

[YesLife4Me]

I've never had a problem dropping Ambien either.  I never take more than 2 per night, but still, the worst symptoms I had were restless sleep for a couple nights.  Maybe a headache and stiffness from the poor sleep, but that's it.  Then back to normal with just a couple melatonin after that.  Although I'm not sure how that works when someone has abused it severely since it is a hypnotic.  Is it classified as a benzo?  

[Gretta96]

Thanks for the feedback Evolver and Back2Me.
I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.  

[Back2Me]

I can drop Ambien like an ugly woman. Seriously though I have taken it for the past 15 years or so mostly on. At least 6-7 years at a pop and can stop it with very mild consequences. Some lack of sleep and maybe some headaches and neck/back pain but really nothing. Try OTC Advil pm or something maybe.

[EvolverU]

Hi Gretta,

All I can say is that when I dropped my detox sleep meds over a month ago, I used liquid plant-based Melatonin and made areal difference for me. I went from 1.5 to 2 hrs, of sleep (22 days) to 4 + hrs. a night, though I didn't use it the way you mentioned. Now I'm out of it and using this pill (synthetic) form that my boyfriend brought home which doesn't work well at all for me. Hope this helps. Good Luck!