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Weaning off zolpidem (Ambien)

Posted by lusia @lusia, Dec 9, 2017

taking 5mg ambian for 20 years can melatonin help to ween me off

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hikeswiss | @hikeswiss | Jun 2, 2019
In reply to @bernese53 "I have been taking 10 mg of Ambien for the last ten years. I have tried..." + (show)
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I have been taking 10 mg of Ambien for the last ten years. I have tried melatonin but it did not work for me. I understand that it is important to be under a doctor's supervision when you cut back on Ambien. Anyone here who has been successful in terms of cutting back/quitting Ambien?

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I was prescribed Ambien in 1992 15-mg at bedtime due to a number of Neurologist-diagnosed sleep disorders. Over the years I lowered the dose to 2.5 mg (half a 5 mg tablet). Recently I started taking 1 mg of Melatonin after having stopped the Ambien. This was over 2 months ago and I seem to be sleeping quite well. Considering that I had been taking this medication every night for over 25 yrs I was surprised at how well I am sleeping without it.

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lillee | @lillee | Jun 3, 2019
In reply to @hikeswiss "I was prescribed Ambien in 1992 15-mg at bedtime due to a number of Neurologist-diagnosed sleep..." + (show)
Profile picture for hikeswiss @hikeswiss

I was prescribed Ambien in 1992 15-mg at bedtime due to a number of Neurologist-diagnosed sleep disorders. Over the years I lowered the dose to 2.5 mg (half a 5 mg tablet). Recently I started taking 1 mg of Melatonin after having stopped the Ambien. This was over 2 months ago and I seem to be sleeping quite well. Considering that I had been taking this medication every night for over 25 yrs I was surprised at how well I am sleeping without it.

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I have a big insomnia problem. I haven't slept 8 hours in years. I have tried Ambien and it works at times but it seems to make my mind wonder even worse. I do believe you can become addicted to it. My friend has a huge addiction to it but there are a lot of sleeping meds that are so much worse. I tried a new drug called belsomra , I think that's how it's spelled. and it worked great, but my insurance won't pay for it yet.

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lillee | @lillee | Jun 3, 2019

I am new here also. My name is Kathryn I am a double amputee after 98 surgeries from a car accident and I have lupus. My car crash was a result of not sleeping. I had been up for 3 days and feel asleep. Thank God I was the only one hurt. I have a lot of pain issues but like I said my sleep problem started before my accident. If anyone has any advice on sleeping well or any good experiences with meds or etc. please share with me. When I was in my 20's it wasn't this bad I am in my 40's and just adopted my God daughter I have had for over 3 years now and need to know how I can get a good nights sleep.

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lillee | @lillee | Jun 3, 2019

My daughter is 4 years old and very active so I really need sleep lol

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Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Jun 3, 2019
In reply to @lillee "I am new here also. My name is Kathryn I am a double amputee after 98..." + (show)
Profile picture for lillee @lillee

I am new here also. My name is Kathryn I am a double amputee after 98 surgeries from a car accident and I have lupus. My car crash was a result of not sleeping. I had been up for 3 days and feel asleep. Thank God I was the only one hurt. I have a lot of pain issues but like I said my sleep problem started before my accident. If anyone has any advice on sleeping well or any good experiences with meds or etc. please share with me. When I was in my 20's it wasn't this bad I am in my 40's and just adopted my God daughter I have had for over 3 years now and need to know how I can get a good nights sleep.

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Oh, @lillee - being up for 3 days without sleep sounds so hard.

One discussion on Connect you may want to check out is https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/josephene-i-am-having-terrible-insomnia-as-well-nothing-seems-to-help/, where members offer some suggestions on getting some sleep.

@hikeswiss - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. When you went off of the Zolpidem (Ambien), did you experience any symptoms from the reduction?

@korykong - how is your sleep going lately now that you're a bit out from tapering off the Zolpidem (Ambien)?

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debbier | @debbier | Jun 11, 2019
In reply to @tennbee "I've never had the problem that some have said of getting up and doing things during..." + (show)
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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.

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I used my husbands ambien! ;(

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tennbee | @tennbee | Jun 11, 2019
In reply to @debbier "I used my husbands ambien! ;(" + (show)
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I used my husbands ambien! ;(

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Were you out of your own?

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tennbee | @tennbee | Jun 11, 2019
In reply to @hikeswiss "I was prescribed Ambien in 1992 15-mg at bedtime due to a number of Neurologist-diagnosed sleep..." + (show)
Profile picture for hikeswiss @hikeswiss

I was prescribed Ambien in 1992 15-mg at bedtime due to a number of Neurologist-diagnosed sleep disorders. Over the years I lowered the dose to 2.5 mg (half a 5 mg tablet). Recently I started taking 1 mg of Melatonin after having stopped the Ambien. This was over 2 months ago and I seem to be sleeping quite well. Considering that I had been taking this medication every night for over 25 yrs I was surprised at how well I am sleeping without it.

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Are you off Ambien completely now?

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Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Jun 11, 2019
In reply to @tennbee "I've never had the problem that some have said of getting up and doing things during..." + (show)
Profile picture for tennbee @tennbee

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.

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@tennbee - is the Zolpidem (Ambien) working okay for you still? You mentioned you don't have the side effect of getting up and doing things in the night. Do you experience other side effects at all?

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tennbee | @tennbee | Jun 12, 2019
In reply to @lisalucier "@tennbee - is the Zolpidem (Ambien) working okay for you still? You mentioned you don't have..." + (show)
Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier

@tennbee - is the Zolpidem (Ambien) working okay for you still? You mentioned you don't have the side effect of getting up and doing things in the night. Do you experience other side effects at all?

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I don't have any side effects that I've directly attributed to the Zolpidem. I do think the 10MG dose might be a little to much for my 74 year old body to process.

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