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Lunesta for Sleep. Anyone With Experience With It?

Posted by dfb @dfb, Feb 2, 2024

In the never-ending quest to overcome the sleep disturbances that have been with me since I was prescribed Venlafaxine (I've been off Venlafaxine for three months), my provider has proscribed Lunesta.

I hate taking more medication. But I need to sleep. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to treat depression and anxiety if I'm not sleeping.

I'm going to give it a shot. I'm curious if anyone else has been on it.

Mirtazapine did not help me at all.

Thank you, for your comments.

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Profile picture for margaretallen
margaretallen | @margaretallen | May 9 6:11pm
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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Thanks yes I'm taking it slowly. So far so good

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Profile picture for margaretallen
margaretallen | @margaretallen | May 9 7:00pm
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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@lacy2 I just joined yesterday

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kawanhee | @kawanhee | May 10 6:40am
In reply to @margaretallen "@frouke Thanks I actually talked to my pharmacist and got some help it should only take..." + (show)
Profile picture for margaretallen @margaretallen

@frouke
Thanks I actually talked to my pharmacist and got some help it should only take a week or two if this dosage

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@margaretallen I was on it for anxiety then relied on it for sleep. Did a VERY slow taper and finally off it in six months. Good luck

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kawanhee | @kawanhee | May 10 6:43am
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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I was on Ativan for over two years and am now using 7.5 mg of mirtazapine for sleep. All my doctors are comfortable with my taking it indefinitely

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1 reply
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margaretallen | @margaretallen | May 10 8:03am
In reply to @kawanhee "I was on Ativan for over two years and am now using 7.5 mg of mirtazapine..." + (show)
Profile picture for kawanhee @kawanhee

I was on Ativan for over two years and am now using 7.5 mg of mirtazapine for sleep. All my doctors are comfortable with my taking it indefinitely

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@kawanhee how many mg were you on that's a long time.

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2 replies
Profile picture for margaretallen
margaretallen | @margaretallen | May 11 7:00am
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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@lacy2 not sure. I'm trying to taper off now.

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Profile picture for margaretallen
margaretallen | @margaretallen | May 11 7:06am
In reply to @margaretallen "@kawanhee how many mg were you on that's a long time." + (show)
Profile picture for margaretallen @margaretallen

@kawanhee how many mg were you on that's a long time.

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@margaretallen so no Ativan? I am taking point 25. Seems to work for me

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berekann | @berekann | May 11 8:37am
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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I’ve taken Ativan for about seven months now and I’ve had to increase my dose a little bit to 1 mg. Sometimes that doesn’t work and I need another .5 mg - can I possibly building up tolerance already? Has anyone successfully switched to another sleep med without tapering, just alternating days? I first took it for anxiety, but that’s pretty much gone. It’s just the insomnia.

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Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator
Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | May 11 10:09am
In reply to @gmamrj "I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for..." + (show)
Profile picture for gmamrj @gmamrj

I have withdrawn from .5 mg of Ativan a night that I have been taking for 6 years.It has been 12 days since my last .125mg of Ativan. This is a nightmare. I can’t sleep. Lucky to get 3 hours a night and that is in segments. I might mention that I am 82 years old.PCP has prescribed Vistaril. 50 mg before bed. Not working.Now he has prescribed Lunesta which I haven’t tried yet.Which is worse .25 mg of Ativan a night or Lunesta????I am at wits in. Not able to function.

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@lacy2 - if you scroll up to the top of the page, you will see the original question/comment that started the discussion you are participating in. In this case, it would be https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ativan-withdrawal-3/.

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gunshy | @gunshy | May 12 6:58am
In reply to @lisalucier "@lacy2 - if you scroll up to the top of the page, you will see the..." + (show)
Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier

@lacy2 - if you scroll up to the top of the page, you will see the original question/comment that started the discussion you are participating in. In this case, it would be https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ativan-withdrawal-3/.

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@lisie
In relation to Aivan, has any one switched to it from clonzapam to do the Ashton Method of tapering off?I wonder if this is "solving" one problem and creating another as it sounds like it is very difficult to get off Adivan too?

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