@arachel, @tennbee, others, my two cents worth: After weaning the Effexor go for weaning the Ambien. I've been on klonopin and Ambien for 25+ years and they have brought me to a very deep and dark hole. I'm trying very hard now to dig my way out. I weaned off the Ambien easily by going straight to the klonopin. But both were making me feel horrible once I hit 65 yrs! There are lots of other sleep therapies out there and yes I'm still searching. But right now a good night 's sleep is worth sacrificing. Best of luck in your decision.
I feel awful after a few sleepless nights. Right now I’m on .5 Ambien and supplement with Doxicycline which seems to work most nights, I’m 70 and feel I’ve been on Ambien for so many years that I would just be substituting one med for another.
I have been on ambien for over 20 years and my husband says at night I get up and take more as he has lately been monitoring my sleeping pill. I was unaware that I was taking more and don’t remember. I take 10 mg and he informed me last night I took a total of 4 at different times of the night (he just started keeping count of the pills) told him to hide them and tonight will be my first night just taking 1. I know I need to do this but I also know tonight will be hard! I am 63, retired and have never been addicted to anything. It is hard for me to shut my mind down as I lay in bed thinking of what all I need to get done the next day. I am a very focused and results driven person. I am embarrassed that I have allowed this to happen to me. It gives me hope to see others have gotten off this drug! I wish you all continued success and strength! Thank you for letting me join this group!
I have been on ambien for over 20 years and my husband says at night I get up and take more as he has lately been monitoring my sleeping pill. I was unaware that I was taking more and don’t remember. I take 10 mg and he informed me last night I took a total of 4 at different times of the night (he just started keeping count of the pills) told him to hide them and tonight will be my first night just taking 1. I know I need to do this but I also know tonight will be hard! I am 63, retired and have never been addicted to anything. It is hard for me to shut my mind down as I lay in bed thinking of what all I need to get done the next day. I am a very focused and results driven person. I am embarrassed that I have allowed this to happen to me. It gives me hope to see others have gotten off this drug! I wish you all continued success and strength! Thank you for letting me join this group!
I've never had the problem that some have said of getting up and doing things during the night and never been tempted to abuse the 1 nightly. Since Ambien(Zolpidem) is a controlled drug, I couldn't get more than 30 in 30 days if I wanted them.
@arachel, @tennbee, others, my two cents worth: After weaning the Effexor go for weaning the Ambien. I've been on klonopin and Ambien for 25+ years and they have brought me to a very deep and dark hole. I'm trying very hard now to dig my way out. I weaned off the Ambien easily by going straight to the klonopin. But both were making me feel horrible once I hit 65 yrs! There are lots of other sleep therapies out there and yes I'm still searching. But right now a good night 's sleep is worth sacrificing. Best of luck in your decision.
I have been on ambien for over 20 years and my husband says at night I get up and take more as he has lately been monitoring my sleeping pill. I was unaware that I was taking more and don’t remember. I take 10 mg and he informed me last night I took a total of 4 at different times of the night (he just started keeping count of the pills) told him to hide them and tonight will be my first night just taking 1. I know I need to do this but I also know tonight will be hard! I am 63, retired and have never been addicted to anything. It is hard for me to shut my mind down as I lay in bed thinking of what all I need to get done the next day. I am a very focused and results driven person. I am embarrassed that I have allowed this to happen to me. It gives me hope to see others have gotten off this drug! I wish you all continued success and strength! Thank you for letting me join this group!
Sorry to hear this - I have tried for past 6 months to reduce my 10 year use of Ambien. I am down to 5 mg. per night - just can't get to sleep without it.......Have decided to just forget trying to get off of it because I do much much better not worrying about the consequences and I love taking it and going to sleep. Maybe someday someone will have the answer on how to get off of this. And yes, I have memory issues but not sure it is from ambien use or something else but need to sleep. ......other than that have no issues with taking daily.
Sorry to hear this - I have tried for past 6 months to reduce my 10 year use of Ambien. I am down to 5 mg. per night - just can't get to sleep without it.......Have decided to just forget trying to get off of it because I do much much better not worrying about the consequences and I love taking it and going to sleep. Maybe someday someone will have the answer on how to get off of this. And yes, I have memory issues but not sure it is from ambien use or something else but need to sleep. ......other than that have no issues with taking daily.
Thanks, Lisa. I'll take a look at the links you suggested. I appreciate the information.
Right now I will continue taking the ambien since I am in the process of weaning off of Effexor. I don't think my body could handle withdrawal from two different drugs at the same time. I do, however, plan to do something about the ambien. I am going to see the sleep specialist tomorrow and see if he has any input on the matter. I'll certainly check back with any progress.
I am replying to my post from Feb. 2018. It is now May 2019. The Effexor experiment failed miserably. I am now back on Effexor. Now I am cutting back on Zolpidem instead. I've cut my 10mg in half and so far the 5mg has been ok. I definitely notice a difference though. I wake up after about 3 hours and toss and turn the rest of the night. It's been 10 days. I'll try this for another week or so then reduce that dosage by half. I do not want to be reliant on drugs to exist. I'll report back soon.
I am a brand new member. I would like to try to wean off of Ambien which I have been taking for over ten years. I started on it when my menopausal symptoms greatly interfered with my sleep. I do not have depression or anxiety but I have insomnia. I have finally admitted to myself that I am physiologically addicted and intend to cut down and go off very, very slowly. I am reading a good book called The Sleep Book by Dr. Guy Meadows. Not finished yet but highly recommend. I believe that my fear about not getting enough sleep combined with having to take more and more of the meds to get an effect are my problem.
Who here has gotten off completely and how long did it take? Thanks in advance.
New member here. Age: 59. I started taking ambien to relieve Jet Lag on overseas business trips 10 years ago. I travel so much I ended up taking 10mg a day for a few years straight. I decided to quit back in October & did cold turkey. I chose to quit when I had 5 days in a row off from work. I had two nights of bad sleep and a week or so of very strange dreams. Also for the first few weeks I made myself get up at 5:30 am every morning no matter how much sleep I got. That seemed to do the trick for me as waking up at 5:30 is as much a "habit" as popping an ambien at night. Otherwise, since then, my sleep pattern has been pretty good. To be honest I'd forgotten what normal sleep was like. I have taken on three occasions since I quit, all for jet lag only. Each time it was easy to go back to normal. As a tool for brutal jet lag the drug is great but for sleeplessness I'm not so sure. Ambien sleep is so different from normal sleep (at least for me) that I wonder what the negative effects of long term use might be. I can 100% relate to the fear of not sleeping. I had gotten programmed to the feeling that ambien gave me as a precursor to sleep. For me, at least, the issues were totally in my mind. There was no physical reason for me not to sleep. I hope it's going well for you. Also, I started an ambitious hiking/ walking program when I quit which also helped a lot.
@debbier no need to feel embarrassed, ambien is a hypnotic, so theres no telling what you will do or say after you've taken it. I have many experiences where packages showed up at my door after I had unknowingly placed orders online. That's one of the reasons I decided I needed to stop taking it.
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I feel awful after a few sleepless nights. Right now I’m on .5 Ambien and supplement with Doxicycline which seems to work most nights, I’m 70 and feel I’ve been on Ambien for so many years that I would just be substituting one med for another.
I have been on ambien for over 20 years and my husband says at night I get up and take more as he has lately been monitoring my sleeping pill. I was unaware that I was taking more and don’t remember. I take 10 mg and he informed me last night I took a total of 4 at different times of the night (he just started keeping count of the pills) told him to hide them and tonight will be my first night just taking 1. I know I need to do this but I also know tonight will be hard! I am 63, retired and have never been addicted to anything. It is hard for me to shut my mind down as I lay in bed thinking of what all I need to get done the next day. I am a very focused and results driven person. I am embarrassed that I have allowed this to happen to me. It gives me hope to see others have gotten off this drug! I wish you all continued success and strength! Thank you for letting me join this group!
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2 ReactionsI've never had the problem that some have said of getting up and doing things during the night and never been tempted to abuse the 1 nightly. Since Ambien(Zolpidem) is a controlled drug, I couldn't get more than 30 in 30 days if I wanted them.
Is klonopin something like xanex?
Sorry to hear this - I have tried for past 6 months to reduce my 10 year use of Ambien. I am down to 5 mg. per night - just can't get to sleep without it.......Have decided to just forget trying to get off of it because I do much much better not worrying about the consequences and I love taking it and going to sleep. Maybe someday someone will have the answer on how to get off of this. And yes, I have memory issues but not sure it is from ambien use or something else but need to sleep. ......other than that have no issues with taking daily.
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1 ReactionI feel the same way
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1 ReactionYes same benzodiazepine family. Xanax has a much shorter half-Life though.
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1 ReactionI am replying to my post from Feb. 2018. It is now May 2019. The Effexor experiment failed miserably. I am now back on Effexor. Now I am cutting back on Zolpidem instead. I've cut my 10mg in half and so far the 5mg has been ok. I definitely notice a difference though. I wake up after about 3 hours and toss and turn the rest of the night. It's been 10 days. I'll try this for another week or so then reduce that dosage by half. I do not want to be reliant on drugs to exist. I'll report back soon.
New member here. Age: 59. I started taking ambien to relieve Jet Lag on overseas business trips 10 years ago. I travel so much I ended up taking 10mg a day for a few years straight. I decided to quit back in October & did cold turkey. I chose to quit when I had 5 days in a row off from work. I had two nights of bad sleep and a week or so of very strange dreams. Also for the first few weeks I made myself get up at 5:30 am every morning no matter how much sleep I got. That seemed to do the trick for me as waking up at 5:30 is as much a "habit" as popping an ambien at night. Otherwise, since then, my sleep pattern has been pretty good. To be honest I'd forgotten what normal sleep was like. I have taken on three occasions since I quit, all for jet lag only. Each time it was easy to go back to normal. As a tool for brutal jet lag the drug is great but for sleeplessness I'm not so sure. Ambien sleep is so different from normal sleep (at least for me) that I wonder what the negative effects of long term use might be. I can 100% relate to the fear of not sleeping. I had gotten programmed to the feeling that ambien gave me as a precursor to sleep. For me, at least, the issues were totally in my mind. There was no physical reason for me not to sleep. I hope it's going well for you. Also, I started an ambitious hiking/ walking program when I quit which also helped a lot.
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4 Reactions@debbier no need to feel embarrassed, ambien is a hypnotic, so theres no telling what you will do or say after you've taken it. I have many experiences where packages showed up at my door after I had unknowingly placed orders online. That's one of the reasons I decided I needed to stop taking it.
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