Today! 6 months clean from Hydrocodone / 6 days free from Ambien

[Addict63]

When I joined this site in Feb. I was in withdrawal from Vicodin ES. That was the drug that had my complete undivided attention at the time. It had become time to quit because I had been abusing Vicodin and my back pain had finally become something I could begin to live with.

I had also been on Ambien (Z-Drug) for about 8 months at the time. My doctor gave it to me to help with sleeping on Vicodin. I soon noticed memory loss and an ear buzzing, but thought it was the hydro. My Ambien script was for 10MG a night. I mostly took 7.5MG. I thought Ambien was a wonderful invention. I could sleep well, and wake up without a hangover. Eventually I knew in the back of my mind that if I stopped I’d have a hell of a time getting to sleep, but thought it wasn’t really harming anything.

When I went into hydro withdrawal I increased my Ambien up to 10MG a night.

Once I got past Hydro WD I decided to drop back down to 7.5MG of Ambien, contemplating quitting it. I quickly went into full Ambien withdrawal, with very little sleep. It was a total nightmare. Marked short term memory loss, anxiety riddled, confusion and heart racing, ears ringing and buzzing, spiking BP, intense breathing difficulties, moody, too weak to do anything, complete lack of ambition, depression, teeth and jaw pain, and the panic feeling that I need more Ambien to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay.

Through Google research I discovered what kind of REAL trouble I was in. All the symptoms were CNS driven. Coming off Z-Drug is exactly the same as coming off of a benzo-something like Xanax. A long, slow and careful taper program with medical assistance and monitoring from my Doctor, or risk permanent damage to my CNS.

This has taken me 4 months to complete. When I stopped Ambien  6 days ago I still continued sleeping with Melatonin, SleepMD and a small amount Valerian Root. I feel 100% better, but I will soon need to pick out a 2-week period in my life and completely stop the natural OTC sleep aids I'm taking, letting my body catch up with natural sleep.

The reality: When we take something for sleep, It WILL eventually need to be paid back, with interest.

It feels good to be free and back among the living! I also hope anyone searching the internet looking for Ambien information finds this post.

[dreday17]

ive been taking hydros for three years heavy talking about 4 to 5 a day green footballs w/o a script. got into some trouble in was placed on probation i had no choice but to quit cold turkey. the first in second day is like a living hell but remember every day after the first 2 or 3  day you will  feel better. the withdrawl syptoms wont be so bad.then after that first 7 to 10 days you should be back to your self it took me about 15 days but you will feel so much better without that mess. p.s. you will save a lot of money i was spending about 100.00 dollars a week to get it on the streets.  good luck

[Addict63]

Thanks gizzy!

[gizzy32]

Well done on your clean time, life is so much better without drugs:) Keep working it

[Addict63]

Thanks worried878 and gnarly!

[gnarly_1]

HEY DUDE congrats on your clean time 6 mo is great and also with the amben to
now your drug free you should strt to feel amazing soon good luck and God bless...Gnarly

[worried878]

Congrats on ur clean time!
6 months is great
keep moving forward...u deserve every second of that precious clean time addict63 (:

[Addict63]

Thanks Sara and Tram! You were both here and gave me hope when I got here.

Brightfuture, nothing to be scared about. Take it one day at a time, kicking one drug at a time. When you look at my story, one drug led to the other. But I'm here to tell you it all can be reversed and you can get your life back. My taper wasn't really tough, it just took a period of time. I kept thinking: "well, if I wasn't on the taper what would I be doing? I'd be using lots of Ambien for sure. And I'd be using more and more to get the same effect".  The time it took really wasn't killer at all. 4 months is nothing when there's a bright light getting closer every day . During the taper I went on a vacation at the coast, doing a sport I'm into. I worked, had family events, and I was able to sleep every night throughout the whole taper. I stopped 6 days ago and I haven't really had any WDs to speak of. You can do this too. You can do anything you want to do. Just as long as you don't do it alone. Get all the support you can find.

[LeaAnn807]

AWESOME!  I am so happy you are free of both drugs.  Way to go!!! : )

[brightfuture]

Wow that really stricks home but I take a lot more ambien, I am coming of vics once again and use ambien more to help sleep.  I find that xanex or valuim actaually helps me sleep more when having opiate wd.  That scares me to know that I will now suffer from the other crap too. I thought if i beat the hydros I would be good.
Good for you for staying clean so long!  Thanks fo rthe info

[dominosarah]

Congrats on your clean time and for sharing the info on Ambien~~sara