1st off I have been taking 5 mg of zolpidem for probably 4 years. I cut the 10 in half. At this dose am I better off going cold turkey and dealing with my 2 am wake up and 4 hours of sleep or is it better to cut a half in half and slim down. After reading through some of these posts and replies I realize a lot of people have more of an addictive personality and considering zolpidem is all I take at 66 years old I am wondering if I have put myself in that category. Never had a drug problem and take ambien for the specific purpose of being able to fall back to sleep after waking up. Insomnia has been a problem since my mid 30's.
1st off I have been taking 5 mg of zolpidem for probably 4 years. I cut the 10 in half. At this dose am I better off going cold turkey and dealing with my 2 am wake up and 4 hours of sleep or is it better to cut a half in half and slim down. After reading through some of these posts and replies I realize a lot of people have more of an addictive personality and considering zolpidem is all I take at 66 years old I am wondering if I have put myself in that category. Never had a drug problem and take ambien for the specific purpose of being able to fall back to sleep after waking up. Insomnia has been a problem since my mid 30's.
I also have been trying to wean off Ambien but at 70 years old with lots of health issues and anxiety, finding it very difficult!
I also have been trying to wean off Ambien but at 70 years old with lots of health issues and anxiety, finding it very difficult!
the 10mg is way too much for me…low tolerance to meds…that's why I cut it in half…..I probably have a few weeks of progression before I can get off of zolpidem. I am semi retired but still work and never had blood pressure problems but I have a feeling breaking off the helper will put me in to a different category. I have set December as my stop working date and once I am done working I will definitely be more prepared to deal with the insomnia.
My husband is 65 and has Lewy Body Dementia. His geriatric psychiatrist is taking him off of Ambien after 2 years, since it appears it is not working. He is now on a low dose, 12.5 of Seroquel for anxiety and to help him sleep more sound. Do I wean him off the 5 mg. or cold turkey the Ambien?
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tennbee
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I also have been trying to wean off Ambien but at 70 years old with lots of health issues and anxiety, finding it very difficult!
How long have you been taking Ambien(Zolpidem)? I'm 73 and have been taking 10 MG for 4 years. I started off on the .625 ER in 2011 then graduated to 5 MG because of cost. Total I've been taking it for 9 years. I've been successful a few times when I tried to cut the 10 MG in half but always gradually go back to the full dose. My doctor doesn't seem to have a problem with me taking it as I'm in fairly good health for my age.
clutch
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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.
@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.
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@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!
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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.
tennbee
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@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.
Is klonopin something like xanex?
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.
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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.
I feel the same way
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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.
@sndishpr
@humanehuman I substituted 50 mg. Trazodone for the Ambien right off the bat. However I also took .5 mg Xanax, and 2 Benadryl with the Trazodone. Took a few nights for it to start to work. I was thrilled to be off Ambien. I worked wth a sleep therapist and my PCP, and eventually eliminated all but the Trazadone. I was down to 12.5 mg Trazodone, but was sleeping poorly. I’m back to 25 Trazodone and sleep better, but still get up for a short period at night, Still working with sleep therapist. Don’t see a weight gain,
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