Posted by 4WD on February 8, 2006, at 21:40:38
In reply to Ambien/Zolpidem Addiction???? HELP!!!!, posted by TwstedPrixie on February 8, 2006, at 17:22:00
> Hi
> I've been using Ambien/Zolpidem for about 8 months now, since I've always had problems trying to fall asleep. I don't consider myself a chronic insomniac...
> I'm rather scared, because I have found myself taking this everyday & making sure that I do not run out of it! I have tried to stop but when I do I WILL NOT sleep. Maybe I'm trying to stop cold turkey and that's not the best way to do it. I must admit that I do like the effects of dis-connecting from the world for a couple of hours...but again I'm worried & I know that can't be good for you! I 've had spells of temporary "memory loss" to the point where I nearly have to sit for 30 mins to try and remember what in the world I ate or said that night...My husband swears I'm addicted to it and thinks I'm going to go crazy if I don't stop. Is he right?
>
> I have never posted here before and I was kind of hoping that someone can help me by telling me how to get off Ambien? I would like to stop or at least not feel like I have to be dependent on it.
>
> PLEASE, PLEASE....someone give me some advice! How can I stop Ambien/Zolpidem from running my life?
> Thanks,Hi,
I think your addiction or dependency is at least partly psychological. I'm sure you have developed some degree of physical dependency on Ambien after taking every night for 8 months. To deal with that, you just need to cut down the dosage slowly. You will have rebound insomnia, it's unavoidable. Your body is not used to going to sleep without help and it will take a while to get used to it. Just accept that for a while, you will have a lot of trouble falling asleep but it *will* eventually pass.
The psychological part of it might even be harder. I got so used to the idea of taking a med for sleep that even now, 20 years later, I can develop a psychological dependency in as little as a couple of days. If I take an ambien _for just one night, I will be afraid I will be unable to sleep the next night without one! And the fact that I'm worried about it makes it come true to some extent. I can really psych myself out about it. So I just don't allow myself to use sleep meds. And now I fall asleep naturally and easily. (Cymbalta really helped me in that department. When I was on Prozac I had terrible insomnia. Some insomnia on Celexa and Effexor, etc. but on Cymbalta, I could fall asleep in 15 minutes at night. I'm no longer on it but it seems to have changed something in my brain and I no longer have trouble falling asleep. It's one of the greatest gifts I've ever received.)
Try just to relax about it and accept that you are going to have a hard time sleeping for a while. When you are lying there trying to go to sleep, try not to worry about it. Remind yourself that you are getting rest just by lying quietly and that when your body is ready, it will sleep. It's a temporary situation and you will get through it.
Marsha
>
>
poster:4WD
thread:607613
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060205/msgs/607746.html