What about Ambien Addiction?

[ilvmakindolls]

Hello again everyone!  Boy it has been a very long day for me.  I woke up yesterday morning a little after seven a.m. and have been awake since...unable to sleep.  I have been off the Oxy's for almost a full well but ran out of my Ambien on Saturday.  I am thinking the new insomnia has more to do with the Ambien than the Oxy's.  I was taking 1 sometimes 2 Ambien a night to fall asleep....until last month when I tried the Ambien CR which didn't seem to work as well so I was taking about 3 of them a night just to fall asleep and I was still only sleeping a few hours before waking again.  Then, last night I just couldn't fall asleep and I had the runs all night long and was vomiting.  Is there a withdrawal period for Ambiens?  If so, are these some of the symptoms associated with it?  I have just not felt good at all today and it is hard enough fighting with the Oxy withdrawals to have to worry about now withdrawing from the Ambiens as well.  I put a call in to my physcians office to ask them, but have not yet heard back since my normal Dr. isn't in the office today.  Anyone have any idea about Ambien addiction?
Thanks in advance and God Bless!  I will also do more research on this site to see what I can find.  

[janet19]

Again no one mentioned that we should not take more then prescribed of our medicines. That is how we became addicted in the first place. By getting of oxys then not taking the ambien as prescribed is still bringing that addiction back. We know not to substitute one drug with another. Wow I said that and I have done the exact same thing. Because we are addicts we cannot used medicine as prescribed. So we are not safe with any other medicine even if not our drug of choice. I took ambien and at times took 2 instead of 1 and did it quite often. just like my Drug of choice. sorry did not mean to upset anyone just to point out our choices. Good luck with your insomnia and hope it works out soon. As you can tell it is 5am and I am not in bed either. It is that dam insomnia. lol........

[ilvmakindolls]

Thank you very much!  I was looking and did see there is a difference in the Ambien with not using Benzos (?) so I feel a lot better.  God Bless!

[worried878]

Amjbien is not a benzodiazepine...and it is not physically addictive...kin to lunesta in chemical make up...neither r known to be physically addictive like narcotics or benzodiazepines.  Lunesta and ambien are chemically similar to benzos but not the same/they r not classified as benzos
Anything someone uses for sleep can be addictive,,often mentally only unless it is in a the narc, benzo, barbituate groups etc.
Even benadryl taken every night can be mentally addictive and if a person takes it regularly, it is often hard to sleep without it.  Benadryl is in most OTC sleep meds like tylenol pm and nyquil.  It is not known to be physically addictive tho

Large doses of tramadol or benzos can cause seizures if stopped abruptly and best to do under a drs care.  Ambien and lunesta are not known to have a seizure risk if stopped...but if ur dose was huge, the possibilty would be there as with many drugs the brain becomes accustomed to.  We are all different tho and some are more prone to seizures than others/but not common with cessation of ambien.  
You state you took 1-2, sometimes 3....that could be 15 mgs if it were 5 mg tablets or 30 mgs if were 10 mg tabs....neither is an extraordinary dose but it is good u r getting off.  the risk of any side effects from stopping goes down with everyday u r away from the drug...ie if u were to have seizures it would usually be in the first few days without the drug

Good luck...there r much more natural ways to sleep...the health pages r full of info!
Keep posting

[ilvmakindolls]

Wow, now I am worried.  I had no idea I could have a seizure or anything like that.  I just figured I would have worse insomnia and withdrawals like when I was coming off the oxycodones.  I did get a couple hours of sleep last night but it was difficult and I don't feel very rested.  Since it has been Saturday, do you think I am out of the "seizure" dangerzone?  I am going to call my Doctors office first thing in the morning...but that is like 6 hrs. from now.  I did go through a whole night of vomiting and diarraeh last night and yesterday I felt awful....still have a low grade fever but a lot better than yesterday.  I am a bit of a hypochondriac which I have controlled and have kept in check for years...but hearing this has extra anxiety added to my already fragile state of mind and I am just really scared.  Trying to take some deep breaths and relax a bit...but it is hard to do.
Thanks for your help and God Bless

[chronicmistake]

Tram is correct!!

[LeaAnn807]

Ambien is VERY addictive, and it has some of the same WD symptoms as opiates if not a little worse.  If you have taken it for a while at high doses, you can actually have a seizure coming off of it.  It isn't a benzo, but it works on the GABA receptors in the brain.  

You for sure need to talk to your doc!