I hope you get some great responses. I'm afraid I'm hooped on this topic, but could I make a suggestion? Please consider fleshing out your medical circumstances...a bit. If you feel secure enough here to do so, would you explain why you have been using Ambien in the first place, and what had worked for a while previously and then stopped working? And do you have any insight as to the decline in your sleep health from whatever took place months/years ago to now that might have resulted in your apparent regression into sleepless-unless-I-take-Ambien? Are there weighty factors that preclude 'natural' onset of sustainment of sleep for you that might just make this a swap of Problem B for Problem A?
I hope you get some great responses. I'm afraid I'm hooped on this topic, but could I make a suggestion? Please consider fleshing out your medical circumstances...a bit. If you feel secure enough here to do so, would you explain why you have been using Ambien in the first place, and what had worked for a while previously and then stopped working? And do you have any insight as to the decline in your sleep health from whatever took place months/years ago to now that might have resulted in your apparent regression into sleepless-unless-I-take-Ambien? Are there weighty factors that preclude 'natural' onset of sustainment of sleep for you that might just make this a swap of Problem B for Problem A?
I would love to flush out my system, as I am on six different meds for sleep and anxiety and depression. And honestly, I’m not sure what helps and what doesn’t. I started on Ambien about 10 years ago and had a few months here and there of sobriety and trying different sleep meds, but nothing works like Ambien. Clonazepam works for a while, but both of these are controlled substances and very addictive.
If I go to treatment, they would like me to get off these medication’s but they’re the only ones that worked for me. I appreciate your reply. I used to work for a lawyer and your verbiage reminds me of him. That is a compliment by the way. He is a very good attorney.
I would love to flush out my system, as I am on six different meds for sleep and anxiety and depression. And honestly, I’m not sure what helps and what doesn’t. I started on Ambien about 10 years ago and had a few months here and there of sobriety and trying different sleep meds, but nothing works like Ambien. Clonazepam works for a while, but both of these are controlled substances and very addictive.
If I go to treatment, they would like me to get off these medication’s but they’re the only ones that worked for me. I appreciate your reply. I used to work for a lawyer and your verbiage reminds me of him. That is a compliment by the way. He is a very good attorney.
I am truly sorry, Tricia. I am a lone male in a family with three girls and a wife, and even the dog is female. Except for a recent atrial fibrillation and mitigation event in my life, and cataract surgery, I am very healthy, stable in mood and in body mass, and am generally very contented with my lot in life. But, the women all have emotional difficulties and require one or more medications to keep their feet under them. It's rough for me as well since I have no background or experience in helping with the mitigation. It's a tough row to hoe for the ladies, as I fully understand. I hope you won't take my next comment as patronizing or pandering/woke...it isn't meant that way, but as an honest reality that I see based on my own mum, my wife, her mum, and my three girls: women are generally tougher'n tiger spit (purposefully misspelled, but you catch my drift). They do things with grace and love in a way that men can't often bring themselves to do. It pains me that so many of you suffer grievances to the point where you are all but incapacitated emotionally, including how it affects your sleep and calm.
I assume you have undertaken some form of therapy? Have you tried several, including EMDR or CBT? If you can get past the 'bother', you might find that you need less or none of the aids to sleep.
My parents had five girls, no boys, so my dad definitely knows what it’s like to have a household full of women, just as you. We all live in the Minneapolis area and are very close to each other.
I have tried EMDR But did not have much luck with it. I know that CBTI is supposed to be the gold standard for insomnia without meds. That would be my goal. It’s been a long road though on ambien and I’m just not ready to give it up yet. Even though I know it’s the right thing to do. Although I have moments of clarity to just stop taking it and just not sleep for a few days.
But my mindset is I need the medication to sleep . I want to get off of Ambien, but I also know that it would be a long tough road.
I’ve tried many things for sleep over the past ten years. I don’t sleep because I worry instead.
About many things.
The thing that has worked the best has been Benedryl. I took that for years, then decided that it wasn’t meant to be used that way.
I sleep better on weekends because I’m not worrying about the workday.
After trying lots of drugs and melatonin, I finally got around to Ambien. It made me feel terrible in the morning. Also, it didn’t restore my sleep as much as I’d hoped.
Now, I’m on Trazadone and it works great. I only take half of the dose.
I’ve tried many things for sleep over the past ten years. I don’t sleep because I worry instead.
About many things.
The thing that has worked the best has been Benedryl. I took that for years, then decided that it wasn’t meant to be used that way.
I sleep better on weekends because I’m not worrying about the workday.
After trying lots of drugs and melatonin, I finally got around to Ambien. It made me feel terrible in the morning. Also, it didn’t restore my sleep as much as I’d hoped.
Now, I’m on Trazadone and it works great. I only take half of the dose.
Susan, if you'd like some personal experience shared by me, I am not a great sleeper in terms of duration. I sleep well enough, just not long enough. And, I seem to drift toward shorter durations over time unless I 'whack it' with a good night or two. I use melatonin and zopiclone sparingly....like about once, maybe twice a week....at most. I tough it out the rest of the time. This way, the two keep their potency for my system to react to. Our bodies are designed to habituate, to adapt, to stressors and other influences (it's formally called the hormetic effect). Our bodies will adapt to drugs the same way, and the drugs soon lose their efficacy. We must increase the dosage or find a substitute that actually does the same thing for us in the way we need it to (those last seven words are important). So, I tough it out for two, three, four nights, and then take the relief. Amazingly, this has worked rather well for me. In fact, I haven't resorted to a zopiclone, usually a 1/4 pill works well enough, for well over a year.
About your overactive brain/imagination (only you know the balance that exists there between your ears 😉 , I hope you don't need some advice at your stage of life about dealing constructively with real and imagined fears. Leaving aside those imagined, which is a whole nuther problem and way of treating, the real fears must be faced and dealt with with the same determination that you use to tackle spring cleaning; purposefully, determinedly , and ruthlessly. Get them behind you!!
I’ve tried many things for sleep over the past ten years. I don’t sleep because I worry instead.
About many things.
The thing that has worked the best has been Benedryl. I took that for years, then decided that it wasn’t meant to be used that way.
I sleep better on weekends because I’m not worrying about the workday.
After trying lots of drugs and melatonin, I finally got around to Ambien. It made me feel terrible in the morning. Also, it didn’t restore my sleep as much as I’d hoped.
Now, I’m on Trazadone and it works great. I only take half of the dose.
Susan, if you'd like some personal experience shared by me, I am not a great sleeper in terms of duration. I sleep well enough, just not long enough. And, I seem to drift toward shorter durations over time unless I 'whack it' with a good night or two. I use melatonin and zopiclone sparingly....like about once, maybe twice a week....at most. I tough it out the rest of the time. This way, the two keep their potency for my system to react to. Our bodies are designed to habituate, to adapt, to stressors and other influences (it's formally called the hormetic effect). Our bodies will adapt to drugs the same way, and the drugs soon lose their efficacy. We must increase the dosage or find a substitute that actually does the same thing for us in the way we need it to (those last seven words are important). So, I tough it out for two, three, four nights, and then take the relief. Amazingly, this has worked rather well for me. In fact, I haven't resorted to a zopiclone, usually a 1/4 pill works well enough, for well over a year.
About your overactive brain/imagination (only you know the balance that exists there between your ears 😉 , I hope you don't need some advice at your stage of life about dealing constructively with real and imagined fears. Leaving aside those imagined, which is a whole nuther problem and way of treating, the real fears must be faced and dealt with with the same determination that you use to tackle spring cleaning; purposefully, determinedly , and ruthlessly. Get them behind you!!
Gloaming,
That is good advice- thank you!
I tell my clients this everyday as I’m a psychotherapist. I don’t always take my own suggestions.
Also, I love that you said ‘nuther.’
No one likes to be dependent on medication. However we have to carefully, with our physicians, determine what we need to be healthy and have a good quality of life. I have to take 3 medications to keep my blood pressure in the normal range and that’s fact. I also have a lifetime of insomnia. I started treating it medically in my 40’s. Started with ambien and later switched to Xanax then Klonopin. Klonopin was very effective for me and I never developed tolerance. 1mg at bedtime consistently resulted in a solid nights sleep. However, as I approached 65, doctors would no longer prescribe it, so I did a slow taper, followed by 9 months of terrible insomnia. I tried CBT-I and it was hell. There are very strict guidelines about not being in bed for more than 20 minutes if awake. I was up and down all night every night. No matter how exhausted I was, I kept getting more agitated and anxious. The doctor was willing to let me try Vistoril and Remeron and neither worked. I eventually got a referral to a sleep medicine doctor and she affirmed to me that not sleeping is harder on our bodies and minds than taking a sleep aide and Lunesta works well for me to shut off my thoughts and allow me to sleep. For me, it only lasts about 4 hours, so when I wake around 3, I take a half pill and sleep the night. Discuss your reasons for wanting to get off ambien with your doctor. Some of us just need help and accepting that.
No one likes to be dependent on medication. However we have to carefully, with our physicians, determine what we need to be healthy and have a good quality of life. I have to take 3 medications to keep my blood pressure in the normal range and that’s fact. I also have a lifetime of insomnia. I started treating it medically in my 40’s. Started with ambien and later switched to Xanax then Klonopin. Klonopin was very effective for me and I never developed tolerance. 1mg at bedtime consistently resulted in a solid nights sleep. However, as I approached 65, doctors would no longer prescribe it, so I did a slow taper, followed by 9 months of terrible insomnia. I tried CBT-I and it was hell. There are very strict guidelines about not being in bed for more than 20 minutes if awake. I was up and down all night every night. No matter how exhausted I was, I kept getting more agitated and anxious. The doctor was willing to let me try Vistoril and Remeron and neither worked. I eventually got a referral to a sleep medicine doctor and she affirmed to me that not sleeping is harder on our bodies and minds than taking a sleep aide and Lunesta works well for me to shut off my thoughts and allow me to sleep. For me, it only lasts about 4 hours, so when I wake around 3, I take a half pill and sleep the night. Discuss your reasons for wanting to get off ambien with your doctor. Some of us just need help and accepting that.
con123,
I have taken Xanax for sleep in the past, too. It worked well. I’ve had a prescription for .25mg Xanax for 20 years.
I don’t take it every day. I do take it when I fly, sleep in strange places, have a panic attack, etc.
I do not wish to get into a debate here about Xanax. However, I have discovered that it has other uses. Pain management, for one.
If the Tylenol doesn’t quite do the job, one .25mg Xanax
Does.
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I hope you get some great responses. I'm afraid I'm hooped on this topic, but could I make a suggestion? Please consider fleshing out your medical circumstances...a bit. If you feel secure enough here to do so, would you explain why you have been using Ambien in the first place, and what had worked for a while previously and then stopped working? And do you have any insight as to the decline in your sleep health from whatever took place months/years ago to now that might have resulted in your apparent regression into sleepless-unless-I-take-Ambien? Are there weighty factors that preclude 'natural' onset of sustainment of sleep for you that might just make this a swap of Problem B for Problem A?
I would love to flush out my system, as I am on six different meds for sleep and anxiety and depression. And honestly, I’m not sure what helps and what doesn’t. I started on Ambien about 10 years ago and had a few months here and there of sobriety and trying different sleep meds, but nothing works like Ambien. Clonazepam works for a while, but both of these are controlled substances and very addictive.
If I go to treatment, they would like me to get off these medication’s but they’re the only ones that worked for me. I appreciate your reply. I used to work for a lawyer and your verbiage reminds me of him. That is a compliment by the way. He is a very good attorney.
I am truly sorry, Tricia. I am a lone male in a family with three girls and a wife, and even the dog is female. Except for a recent atrial fibrillation and mitigation event in my life, and cataract surgery, I am very healthy, stable in mood and in body mass, and am generally very contented with my lot in life. But, the women all have emotional difficulties and require one or more medications to keep their feet under them. It's rough for me as well since I have no background or experience in helping with the mitigation. It's a tough row to hoe for the ladies, as I fully understand. I hope you won't take my next comment as patronizing or pandering/woke...it isn't meant that way, but as an honest reality that I see based on my own mum, my wife, her mum, and my three girls: women are generally tougher'n tiger spit (purposefully misspelled, but you catch my drift). They do things with grace and love in a way that men can't often bring themselves to do. It pains me that so many of you suffer grievances to the point where you are all but incapacitated emotionally, including how it affects your sleep and calm.
I assume you have undertaken some form of therapy? Have you tried several, including EMDR or CBT? If you can get past the 'bother', you might find that you need less or none of the aids to sleep.
Thanks for your compliment.
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Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionMy parents had five girls, no boys, so my dad definitely knows what it’s like to have a household full of women, just as you. We all live in the Minneapolis area and are very close to each other.
I have tried EMDR But did not have much luck with it. I know that CBTI is supposed to be the gold standard for insomnia without meds. That would be my goal. It’s been a long road though on ambien and I’m just not ready to give it up yet. Even though I know it’s the right thing to do. Although I have moments of clarity to just stop taking it and just not sleep for a few days.
But my mindset is I need the medication to sleep . I want to get off of Ambien, but I also know that it would be a long tough road.
Truly appreciate your reply and suggestions.
I’ve tried many things for sleep over the past ten years. I don’t sleep because I worry instead.
About many things.
The thing that has worked the best has been Benedryl. I took that for years, then decided that it wasn’t meant to be used that way.
I sleep better on weekends because I’m not worrying about the workday.
After trying lots of drugs and melatonin, I finally got around to Ambien. It made me feel terrible in the morning. Also, it didn’t restore my sleep as much as I’d hoped.
Now, I’m on Trazadone and it works great. I only take half of the dose.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionSusan, if you'd like some personal experience shared by me, I am not a great sleeper in terms of duration. I sleep well enough, just not long enough. And, I seem to drift toward shorter durations over time unless I 'whack it' with a good night or two. I use melatonin and zopiclone sparingly....like about once, maybe twice a week....at most. I tough it out the rest of the time. This way, the two keep their potency for my system to react to. Our bodies are designed to habituate, to adapt, to stressors and other influences (it's formally called the hormetic effect). Our bodies will adapt to drugs the same way, and the drugs soon lose their efficacy. We must increase the dosage or find a substitute that actually does the same thing for us in the way we need it to (those last seven words are important). So, I tough it out for two, three, four nights, and then take the relief. Amazingly, this has worked rather well for me. In fact, I haven't resorted to a zopiclone, usually a 1/4 pill works well enough, for well over a year.
About your overactive brain/imagination (only you know the balance that exists there between your ears 😉 , I hope you don't need some advice at your stage of life about dealing constructively with real and imagined fears. Leaving aside those imagined, which is a whole nuther problem and way of treating, the real fears must be faced and dealt with with the same determination that you use to tackle spring cleaning; purposefully, determinedly , and ruthlessly. Get them behind you!!
Be thankful that trazodone works. I’m happy for you that you didn’t have to go down the Ambien route.
Gloaming,
That is good advice- thank you!
I tell my clients this everyday as I’m a psychotherapist. I don’t always take my own suggestions.
Also, I love that you said ‘nuther.’
No one likes to be dependent on medication. However we have to carefully, with our physicians, determine what we need to be healthy and have a good quality of life. I have to take 3 medications to keep my blood pressure in the normal range and that’s fact. I also have a lifetime of insomnia. I started treating it medically in my 40’s. Started with ambien and later switched to Xanax then Klonopin. Klonopin was very effective for me and I never developed tolerance. 1mg at bedtime consistently resulted in a solid nights sleep. However, as I approached 65, doctors would no longer prescribe it, so I did a slow taper, followed by 9 months of terrible insomnia. I tried CBT-I and it was hell. There are very strict guidelines about not being in bed for more than 20 minutes if awake. I was up and down all night every night. No matter how exhausted I was, I kept getting more agitated and anxious. The doctor was willing to let me try Vistoril and Remeron and neither worked. I eventually got a referral to a sleep medicine doctor and she affirmed to me that not sleeping is harder on our bodies and minds than taking a sleep aide and Lunesta works well for me to shut off my thoughts and allow me to sleep. For me, it only lasts about 4 hours, so when I wake around 3, I take a half pill and sleep the night. Discuss your reasons for wanting to get off ambien with your doctor. Some of us just need help and accepting that.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reactioncon123,
I have taken Xanax for sleep in the past, too. It worked well. I’ve had a prescription for .25mg Xanax for 20 years.
I don’t take it every day. I do take it when I fly, sleep in strange places, have a panic attack, etc.
I do not wish to get into a debate here about Xanax. However, I have discovered that it has other uses. Pain management, for one.
If the Tylenol doesn’t quite do the job, one .25mg Xanax
Does.