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.
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?
Liked by hutch1
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.
@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.
Liked by tennbee
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!
Liked by sandij (Sandi James), tennbee
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.
Liked by tennbee
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,
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor, humanehuman