help for ambien user

[mich955]

Help!!!!!  I am out of my ambien, wow!  this is a real addiction, I feel really sick, don't know what to do.

[ILADVOCATE]

If you have a valid prescription or refill take it to a pharmacy that's open 24/7. There should be one in your neighborhood or nearby. If not call your psychiatrist and have them call in a refill. Even though its a holiday they'd understand why you would page them in an emergency like this. And if none of that works go to a local outpatient walk in clinic and make sure to show them to old vial to prove that you are prescribed Ambiem. You are right to be concerned as you could get withdrawal symptoms and those are the best steps to take.

[mich955]

Thank you so much for your reply!   I wasn't sure if anyone would see the posting, this is my first posting.  

I take several ambien a day, so my dr. will not prescribe more.  I have been honest and tell her that I don't sleep.  I am very much addicted.  I don't know where to turn.  30 for a whole month is just not enough.

Today I filled a perscription for Lunesta, Very expesive $ 154.  it really don't like it.  I have taken 3 tonight and I am still awake.  It doesn't have the same feeling as ambien.

I crave the ambien all day, Dr's don't seem to want to help.  It is pretty sad when I am trying to think of ways to find a drug dealer.  This is so not me.  I am pretty straight laced middle aged women who has never had a problem with any drug.

I think I may end up killing myself over this.  I don't know what else to do, I am deparate.  getting off of the ambien seem imposible to me at this point.  Why are medical Dr.s not aware of how bad this can be??????

[ILADVOCATE]

If you've built up a tolerance to Ambien then withdrawing from it would be the best thing. You may need to go to a recovery group. You did not willfully abuse it but one can build up a tolerance to it. Lunesta has a slight potential of a person building up a tolerance to it. The sleep aide Rozerem is safe and effective and works to adjust the sleep cycle and has no potential of addiction. If that is a problem for you you might want to ask your psychiatrist about that. Always tell your psychiatrist the exact truth but if you have physical withdrawal symptoms they need to know as those are always of concern.

[Paxiled]

My own opinion, for whatever it's worth, is that drugs for sleep are a bad idea.  They are at best habit forming, at worst addictive, and wear off over time.  I would always try natural remedies such as melatonin or homeopathy first or a sleep disorder clinic and therapy rather than get the bad sleep one gets on medication.  A cure is better than medication, and if you can't find one, the medication will always be there as a last resort.

[ILADVOCATE]

Yes I would agree in general. I did finally get my own sleep adjusted as mood stabilizers were. However, Rozerem being clinically related to melatonin is the safer of the two choices as it works in the same manner but is FDA approved. It is non addictive because it is not related to a benzo (which Lunesta is) but for me it did appear to wear off over time. That much is true. I had it prescribed to take "as needed" but don't have to anymore. I tend to be concerned about some natural remedies (the ones I take were approved after research by my providers) as they are unknown quantities and not always safe. I also remember valerian for example kept me up the whole night. I try to stick with FDA approved medications whenever possible though with some of the treatments I am on there is clinical research behind them even though they are not approved yet. With sleep herbal tea can be of help for some people though.

[jakegorzen]

Just because the FDA "approves" something, doesnt mean its "Good"

FDA is very much corrupt, and as you can see by SO MANY MEDS that they once approve.....then pull...???????

The valarian keeping you up is just a Paradoxical reaction "as seen in MANY FDA approved drug".
There are som many more out there that CURE the problem......but sadly pulled because the FDA cant controll it, and market it as a "Drug"..then loose money.

I read about the Rozerem, and yeah it looks to be allot better of a choice then ZDrugs or Benzos..thats for sure.
Not trying sound like a @ss but, sometimes I hear to much "Stock" being put into the FDA.

[nursegirl6572]

You should not be taking "several" Ambien a day....as I'm sure you already know.  How much are you taking?  Also, you need to be VERY careful about taking an excess of any of these types of meds (Lunesta included).  We had a poster not too long ago who was desperately trying to get a night's sleep...and after mixing a few meds, and alcohol, she accidentally OD'ed and died.  It was very tragic.

My advice is...be honest with yourself, and if you think you have an addiction problem (which it sounds like you do from a few of the comments you made)...then seek some recovery.

Also...you mentioned suicide.  If you are seriously contemplating this...you need to get yourself help ASAP.  Suicide is a LONG term (irreversible) solution to a short term problem.  

I know you are hurting right now...but it won't be like this forever.  Getting more Ambien isn't the answer either unfortunately.....b/c it isn't going to fix your long-term problem, and you will have to face this eventually.

You may also try posting on the addiction forum..there are some wonderful, helpful people there.  You can come out on the other side of this...it's just going to take some time, some uncomfortableness, and some work.

[nursegirl6572]

Oh, and one more thing I wanted to address...

"Why are medical Dr.s not aware of how bad this can be?????? "

Of COURSE medical doctors are aware of the potential problems with these meds...which is why number 1....they are really only meant to be used for a short period of time...and 2....each medication comes with an educational monograph with each med you get from the Pharmacy.

Also, remember that when a doc prescribes something, they expect that you take it as prescribed...they don't expect that you'll take 2, 3, 4 times as many (or more) a day as you are supposed to.  That's part of your "contract" (pt-doc relationship).....to be honest with the doc, and to follow his/her directions.

So, while I sympathize with your problem....it isn't fair to blame this on your doctor, it really isn't.

[Paxiled]

Not trying to convince you of anything, but FDA approval means nothing at all.  All the FDA does is read studies performed by pharmaceutical companies, which leave out much of the negative data.  FDA does none of its own independent research.  If FDA approval meant something, hundreds of thousands wouldn't be dying every year from prescription drugs, and God knows how many more suffering from their "side" effects.  Now, I take prescription drugs, so don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing for their abolition.  Melatonin is actually quite well researched, as it is natural to the body and the research was done by university researchers.  They were never able to kill a rat with it.  What you'll find is that pharmaceutical companies will take natural remedies and try to make a patented product that does the same thing, and they wouldn't be doing that if the natural remedies didn't work.  That's how Vioxx came about; pharma was trying to mimic herbs such as turmeric and ginger which are cox 2 inhibitors, but don't adversely affect the stomach lining.  So far, pharma has completely struck out on this one, as all their efforts have led to drugs that still eat away the stomach lining, damage the liver, and somehow managed to add in heart disease.  The funniest one is statins, which were developed to mimic the action of mushrooms and red yeast rice used in traditional Oriental medicine by a researcher in Japan.  Then they successfully sued to prevent the sale of red yeast rice, a centuries old fermented food that naturally contains statins, as violating the patent on statins.  Now, you do whatever you wish -- I'm not here saying I know what's best.  The fact is, natural remedies are usually not as strong as pharmaceuticals, work more slowly, and often don't work at all because we all digest them differently, but the same is true for pharmaceuticals.  If you just consult the statistics at the CDC, you'll find that natural remedies cause very little harm compared to the massive damage done by approved pharmaceuticals.  And remember, aspirin kills about fifty thousand a year, and it doesn't have FDA approval, either.  What we need is independent research, but good luck finding the will to fund it.