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604266 tn?1236358985

Ambien side effects

Hi doc,

First a little background, three years ago I was on ambien nightly for five years. Over that five year period I had never experienced any amnesia of hallucinations and rarely wen to bed right away as I had to wait until I was unafraud to close my eye.
So three years later I'm ready to deal with my aduse issues so they put me back on ambien..
Well this past week I was sexually assaulted walking down my driveway(which is more like a road). I had taken ambien exactly 5.5 hours beore hand.
I decided to help out my husband as he does most of the house work, taking the grabage down so he wouldn't have to when he got up at 4am.
That's when it happened. The right people get involved at the ER.
I had to call my psy NP who has been seeing me for four months and knows little about me as she never spoke to any of my past treating therapists or docs. Basically I saw her about 5 times.
And without her even asking me what happened she preceded to tell me that the assult was all in my head because I had taken an ambien 5.5 hours before.
So I got very upset as to me she wasn't just invalidating this crime against me she was invalidating my who history of abuse. I got so upset that I called the ivestigation off because I felt so disgusting for having let the police into this anyhow.

But as I said I have never had any of those reactions that are common with ambien. Not once.
So now I feel horrible. She was the first person I ever admitted anything to and now I've closed myself back up again and don't ever want to talk about any of it again.
She kept trying to treat me as a therapis but her advice always left me feeling awful about myself. Like saying there was something wrong with me as a child about the abuse and my asking her a question I dare not say and her shrugging her shoulders and saying Times up.
So what am I supposed to do when it took me five years to talk about it to begin with. How can I trust another professional again?
Thanks, amp
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
Dr Gould's response actually made sense.

When I had issues with a previous T, trying to find that validation, etc was a waste of time, space and energy.
Trying to force something that didn't feel right to me was wrong.
I was discharged during a time of crisis and while it hurt I was probably better off for it.

This reinforces for me that I shouldn't be accepting therapy from this last T.
Do what you feel is best for you.  Best doesn't always have to be right either.

J
Helpful - 0
242532 tn?1269550379
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I am sorry to hear about your experience with the therapist. I encourage you to find another therapist. The topic you need to talk about is extremely sensitive and you must find someone you can trust and work with again....it is critically important to work on this, so get up your  courage and remember that therapy is a personal art form, and you need to find the right person for you...he or she is there.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi Amph
I'm sorry this has happened to you.  
It was obviously a good time to ask your question.

Even if your T did think those things, perhaps it would have been more appropriate if she had of kept them to herself.

You sound like me when I've become angry with the mhs -no, I don't want to see you, no, I don't want help, etc, etc.
Cutting off our nose to spite our face doesn't help our situation (even if it does feel empowering for a short while).

Sometimes when you stop a medication and then start again you can get different side-effects (from the ones you experienced previously).

It's understandable that you'd feel hurt and betrayed.
You will talk about it again, but when you feel ready.

It sounds like there needs to be a lot of work done on repairing the relationship.  That is, if you choose to continue working with her.
I expect you feel hurt and angry and a lot of other emotions but sometimes people don't communicate well and sometimes stuff is taken out of context.  Perhaps your T didn't know how to react to you because of your history??
My T was strong on boundaries but that didn't stop her from giving an additional five minutes if that was going to be benefit therapy.  Maybe she was uncomfortable with the question or the feelings that evoked in her?

Haven't you trusted again by asking and sharing?

Sometimes you need space and sometimes you just need to return and sort it out.
Besides the things you mentioned, were you working OK together before her comments?
What do you feel is the right decision for you?

Ambien is the same as zolpiderm or zopiclone, isn't it?  (?Spelling)
My GP gave me zopiclone (and lorazepam) tablets which I've been using.  It was probably inevitable given I've crashed and feel in perpetual crisis.
Anyway, there are times I remember things and times when I don't.  Unless there is evidence to the contrary we probably don't even consider anything out of the norm has happened.

I'm really sorry you've experienced this.  I also really hope you're getting the support (and validation) you need.

Hugs (I hope that's not too personal) and best wishes
J

I hope this makes sense, I've been interrupted lots.
Helpful - 0
604266 tn?1236358985
Oh also, I know the half life of ambien is so short infact 4 hours or even 3.5 right? Maybe not exactly. But I can remember everything. I did dissasociate at the end when they wer edoing the things to me I can;t say. And I only remember small pieces of that.
But also I had been involved with putting someone in jail and went undercover with a wire and he had found out it was me and he is known for getting rvenge and having :people" watch his victims.
Helpful - 0

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