need help getting off ambien

[dale49]

Hello all,
My name is Dale. I'm 51 years old
I've been taking ambien shortly after June 10th of 2000. I remember the date because I suffered my 1st heart attack on that date at the age of 39. I was having trouble sleeping after that due to stress about my heart problems etc.
At the time I had 4 young children ages 3,5,7 and 14 and my wife was suffering from depression. I remember talking to my doctor and him telling  me how my heart needed the rest and for me at the time he felt that was most inportain thing. He started me at 5mg.
After about a month or 2 he moved me up to 10mg.
At the time I really didn't know all the side effects. If I had realized the long term effects it would have on me there is no way in hell I would have ever started on it. I would have taken the chance of my heart not getting the rest my doctor felt it needed by me taking this med.
As anyone that has taken ambien even for a short time could amagine I could fill a book with all the mishaps I have had while under the influrence of this drug. Yes i've driven, yes i've crashed, i've fallen asleep nude on my couch not knowing how I got there. Wandered into the street.
Argured with my wife, teens ect and wonder why they were upset with me the next day. Well my 14 year old is now 25 and moved on with his life. My 3,5 and 7 year olds are now 14, 16 and 18. My wife still suffers from depression and my teens are a handful to say the least. I own a small landscaping business and my wife is a Rn that works 3rd shift 7pm - 7am.
Something happened today that made me realize more than ever before I need to get off the med today. It's been 11 years and i have never, not even one day gone without it. I called my doctor and asked him whats the best way for me to go about getting off ambien? He told me to just stop taking it. I won't sleep I explained. I tried cough and cold medicines, etc in the past and nothing worked. Tonight is the night, I doubt i'll sleep at all for days but this is something I have to do. I have to be here for my kids. To many things can and do happen when i'm unconscious from midnight to 6am everynight. This is my 1st time on this site or any chat site for that matter. If anyone has any advice for me in the coming days I would really appreciate it.

[Dmason282]

Dale I'm not sure if I have any answers and I'm not sure how your situation turned out but I wondered if you could help me??
Can anyone please give me some advice!!! I have been on Ambien for almost 14 years and I have recently starting getting circles (red) on my lower legs and itching uncontrollably at night. Recently I found out my blood pressure is high so they gave me a med for that also. For the past 14 years I take 12.5 Ambien, Benadryl, cholesterol, blood pressure med and restless leg med before I go to bed. So the itching just recently started about a month ago and the red circles about 2 months now..
I have taken Ambien or Lunesta for 14 years straight and I'm scared to death to stop...... ALSO, over the past few years I have days where I struggle even with the Meds to sleep.....:( It seems like maybe I have developed a tolerance to these sleep Meds. Question????
Has anyone noticed that since they switched to generic SLEEPING PILLS it just doesn't seem to work as effectively?????? BOTTOM line I'm scared to death to stop and all the doctors just want to to do is KEEP sending me for sleep studies. I have done so many sleep studies that I just think there trying to make money and NO ONE HAS ANSWERS. CPAP machines are a joke and it's impossible to sleep with them on for me. These sleeping PILLS HAVE effected my relationships and it seems like I can't find any answers...
ANY ADVICE????

[Danny111]

Hi Dmason,

You've posted a question on a very old thread.  If you repost it as a new question you'll probably get a better response.  Also the site has been very slow lately.  So try to be patient.  I don't have any experience with sleep meds so I can't give you a response that will help much except to ask if you've tried a slow taper?

[mono1971]

after a stressful experience in my like, had hard trouble with sleeping.  Dealing with a divorce, husband leaving me for someone else.  told dr having trouble sleeping, he gave me 30 day supply of ambien., i used it all.  went one month without it.  went again to get it, another 30 day supply, and next month went through another 30 supply of ambien.  im taking 1 tablet 10 mg zolpidem, for 2 months straight.  Dealing with stress of  a divorce,   Now I want to stop,  didnt take 1 pill for one day, didn't sleep, felt restless, anxious, heart beat fast time to time, have a dr appt in the morning, hope he doesnt tell me to do cold turkey.  I do have health issues.  

[Pat1956100]

Aaron you have posted on a really old thread.  Scroll up to the top of the page and hit the orange button that says Post a question.  Then ask for the help that you need.
You will receive lots of support.
I have no experience with ambien but many members do.

[aaronkmp]

Thanks for all the help guys.

[aaronkmp]

I want to ge off of all sleep meds. I am on ambien but the side effects are really bad, just read above. I am also coming off of suboxone. Should I switch over to Lunesta until I am off the sub, then go cold turkey off the lunesta? Sound good? Aaron

[bonsjean]

dale..how are you doing as of today with getting off ambien?

[babemoly]

Ive been taking ambian for at












least 12 yrs. as a child i couldnt sleep, i think it was because i was afraid to go to sleep. i believe that followed me into my teens and adult life. I so want to stop the ambian but i guess its anxiety my heart  races and it all scares me. any advice?

[tooter212]

Why don't these Pharmacists tell people when the keep getting refills what they are up against ? I sometimes think they are just pill pushers themselves! As you can see, I'm having a bad time. 10 days off hydrocodone. Again, the Pharmacists kept refill them every month for 2 yrs.  I know it comes with info. but I trusted my dr and didn't read it till it was to late. Keep coming back this site will get you through. God Bless

[judymike2000]

My husband has been on Ambien CR 12.5 for over 6 years along with Abilify 10 mg.  He is 55 years old.  His hands and feet now have small tremors, he has trouble swallowing certain foods, He has been on any where between 25mg - 20 mg Ambien, and now at 12.5.  His short term memory has been affected.  I have read him your entire posts and he wants off this medication. I worked in pharamcy for nearly 20 years as a tech and kept begging him to get off.  I kept telling him, he would be another Michael Jackson. Well last week, he took double his dose and didn't notice he did it. He would come downstairs and take more, or take other things with it.  He always would say it isn't working.  I told him he as addicted and has been for years.  Last night 1st night without Ambien but an over the counter sleep aid.  He didn't sleep and struggled at work all day with concentration .  Hope he can make it though the next week. Thank you Dale for your words of encouragement.

[tooter212]

Hi Stell, I read Gale's post also. Boy did that help me! Just 9 days! and half of them not that bad! Hang in the Stell and keep us posted. God Bless

[stell62]

I am going to try to get off of ambien, I have been taking it for many years. I have horrible headaches and I know Ambien is the cause. I know that I am writing this a couple of years from when you posted so I don't know if you will see it, probably not but I am so glad to see that you are returning to your sleep schedule, it gives me hope!

[justme1119]

You are awesome!  I've been reading your posts since they began as I am getting off of Norco for the last 14 days.  You have made a good decision for you and your family and you won't regret it.  Also gives me hope that I can do the same soon and won't die from it.  When I tell my story it all sounds surreal now.  I had no idea!  I got on methadone, low dose, then needed ambien to sleep.  My true love is Norco, so got it prescribed for break through pain.  I got off the methadone first.  It's been 95 days!  So the next stop is getting off of the ambien.  I may have to do it sooner than I want to, since I took a lot of it for the first couple days going off of the Norco.  Have to get off of the clonodine too.  Jee Wiz, was I on a lot of crap or what!

[dale49]

Hello Everyone,
I Guess this is the end of my thread in regard to my addiction to ambien. I slept about 7 hours last night and close to that the couple nights before. I did expect much worse than I got in trying to beat this addiction. I knew in my heart that it didn't matter. The day I decited I was done with ambien I was. My heart would'nt allow me to hurt myself and my family anymore.  I hit rock bottom. I did something stupid. Something to stupid to mention on here. I didn't hurt anyone, mainly just myself.
Now I feel I took something that could have been a very negitive moment in my life and turned it into a positive. I am off the drug and moving on to more positive things in my life. Thank you all for your words of encouragement. May god bless each and everyone of you for yoyr help. Dale.

[dale49]

Hello all,
Slept 5 hrs last night from about 5am to 10am. Still having trouble falling asleep at a decent hour. It's after 4am as I sit here on my computer typing this. I'm a littly flustrated as I wish I could fall asleep a few hrs eariler. I gotta get the kids up for school in 2 hrs and that won't be any fun on a hour or 2 sleep. I'm lucky I have a job where I make my own hours so I will be able to lay down after getting them off to school. Don't get me wrong I am thrilled at the fact that I am off ambien. I'm sure with time I will get my system back to falling asleep at a decent hour. Getting tired, Goodnight all, Dale.

[lucyred68]

have you thought of trying suboxone? it has worked for me, and I was in the same boat as you, and have successfully come off of the pain meds with no withdrawals.  talk to your dr. about it.

[my_mayberry]

it's in a class called the 'z-drugs' and they all work similar. the variance in how they work is similar to the variance in how different benzo's work...although, if i remember right, all the z-drugs have a similar half-life.

often people think that drugs in the same drug class should all pretty much be the same, but it usually is based on individual reponse to a drug. in my experience, people who don't respond well to ambien may respond better to sonota or lunesta. you might want to start your own thread if you feel you might need more help.

dale:
finally 6 hours of sleep! i was gonna say if you didn't finally get a decent amount...then you are pushing the limits of whats healthy. they say no one ever dies from lack of sleep, but there are many things we do during sleep that can't be done by just resting our eyes. cholesterol starts to go way up due to lack of sleep and blood pressure can also be affected. two things you aren't wanting. i'm glad you finally got what i would consider enough sleep to really feel slightly rejuvinated!

hopefully tonight will be even better for you

[selfinduced]

Hi There. You story has many parallels with mine. Just wanted to say the ambient DOES not help you detox from opiates. I guess if taken only at night for 3 days. it may lower the anxiety, but I tried to do it around the clock and it backfired. Brought on more anxious feelings and had to then wean that! Are you weaning off opiates now? Keep posting

[Not_again_mom]

I'm so sorry about all of your sleeping problems here. I was taking Ambien for quite awhile and my dose was the 12.5. I think thats what actually got my family freaked out that I was strung out on drugs. I'd talk to them at night after I'd taken my Ambien and then have zero recollection of our conversation. They wouldn't believe that was possible even tho my husband confirmed my idea. I eventually went into the hospital to "detox" off of a prescribed Fentanyl patch and heavy doses of other pain meds for an incurable, chronic condition. Anyway, almost a year later and I'm back in almost the exact same boat. Exactly. I'm taking Ambien again, only on a much smaller dose because I KNOW what happened on that high dose. I'm TRYING to be careful. And now I'm having physical addiction again to the pain meds but still no relief of my pain. Taking the pain meds wasnt even worth it!! I mean it helped for such a short while and then it stopped working. It didnt take any time before i needed a bigger and bigger dose to give any relief and i just have to stop before it gets out of control. My husband knows as of this morning but I can't tell anyone else. I too have children and have to do this on my own. I've seen mention of using Ambien to stop opiates. I've never thought of that. No! I'm not gonna try it!! I suppose you would sleep thru withdrawal or something. I hope I can read more about your success. Today was my first time on this site and it was great to see you sharing your story. Thanks.

[ricart70]

Lunesta is eszopiclone.It is different than ambien even though they were released at around the same time.I think that in my experience ambien is milder.
@dale..awesome that you are getting good sleep.I bet that sleep is worlds different than the ambien sleep.You are sleeping more than me now.way to go

[dale49]

Hello all,
I slept from 4am to about 10am stright through without waking up at all. It took a week but i'm sleeping again without ambien.
I fell like a new person. Good luck to all and thanks again to everyone for taking the time to help. Dale.

[dale49]

It's almost 3am and yes i'm wide awake. I've slept about 13 to 14 hours in the past week. Thank God for spell check or you would see by my spelling how tired my mind is by looking at the spelling of my words. My eyes are tired, my body is tired and no doubt I will be sleeping within the next hour or so. I just want to post this before falling asleep. I have no doubt I will sleep tonight. Looking foward nto it. I'll let u all know3 how I did tomorrow. goodnight, Dale.

[dale49]

Hello lulu,
I wish I had answers for you but I am unfamilar with zoplicone. I do wish you the best in the future. The thing I regret most about taking ambien without a doubt is the lost of memories. I doubt i'll evetr get them back. You don't realize how inportain your memories are while under the influence of these drugs but as you get older you do. I wish the best for you in the future. Dale

[lulu747]

Dale-I am glad you are safe and finally getting some sleep no matter how little(:  I have been on zoplicone 7.5 mg for almost 8 years due to insomnia and serious auto-immune disorders that get worst if I don't sleep.  I am wondering if there is a difference between the two (I'm in Canada) I've never experienced any strange side effects except the few times I stupidly took a pill after a couple glasses of wine.  Does anyone know if there is a difference between zoplicone and ambien?

[dale49]

Hello all,
Fell asleep about 3am last night. Up at 6am got the kids off to school, laid down and fell back to sleep for another 3 hours. 6 hours in one night, I feel great. Off to work. Dale.