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← Return to Weaning off zolpidem (Ambien)
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I too have taken ambien for maybe 20 years now but generally not the full dose of 10 mgs. I have weaned myself down to about 2 mgs per night as more than that triggers Periodic Involuntary Limb Movement (PILM) which won't allow sleep even with the ambien. However, I cannot get below the 2 mgs. I am able to get to sleep on most nights without ambien but wake up 2, 3 or 4 hours later and am wide awake and unable to get back to sleep. I would love to no longer need ambien to sleep. I would be willing to just tough it out if I knew that after a week or so I could sleep through the night but I cannot find any medical literature indicating that to be the expectation. I fear I am stuck with Ambien for the rest of my life.
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degarden_girl, I too thought I was stuck on Ambien....but talked to my doctor about wanting off it because it would only give me 3-4 hours of sleep and then bad anxiety during day...... my doctor gave me a medication that would take care of both my issues, sleep and anxiety.....plus the new med would substitute for the Ambien so I could quit the Ambien immediately....no tapering..... my new medication is Lorazepam, which is a benzo which some people think is very bad. Quite the opposite for me. Takes care of both my sleep issues and my anxiety issues and I usually (95% of time) only take 1mg at night. Lifesaver for me!!