Ambien Withdrawal and Headaches

[Mmw]

Judy I have been off for 3 weeks now. And they were hell! I am finally starting to get some sleep on and off every other day it seems. On the nights I sleep I feel great the next day. I had the same thoughts and blamed a lot of my symptoms on menopause, but when I stopped the ambien most symptoms have disappeared. The sweating and freezing, the bad neck aches, headaches, dizzyness, nausea, anxiety etc. I still have the headaches, mostly at night and I don't know how long it takes to get rid of them, but I will never take this stuff again. Even with hardly any sleep, I still feel better then with Ambien. I feel like I was slowly being poisened. I have hope again that someday I will feel good again. Hang in there! I am!

[judy]

Mmw wrote:

Judy I have been off for 3 weeks now. And they were hell! I am finally starting to get some sleep on and off every other day it seems. On the nights I sleep I feel great the next day. I had the same thoughts and blamed a lot of my symptoms on menopause, but when I stopped the ambien most symptoms have disappeared. The sweating and freezing, the bad neck aches, headaches, dizzyness, nausea, anxiety etc. I still have the headaches, mostly at night and I don't know how long it takes to get rid of them, but I will never take this stuff again. Even with hardly any sleep, I still feel better then with Ambien. I feel like I was slowly being poisened. I have hope again that someday I will feel good again. Hang in there! I am!

I can't believe you metioned neck aches! I have had horrible pain in my neck. I just thought it was me. Seriously, I put the rest of that stuff in the toilet. NEVER again. I can't believe these people that take this stuff for years. Not me. I am so glad I found this site because I was about to go to my dr for menopause symtoms. Now I know that is not what it was. I am hanging in there and I slept last night. Thank God. Jude

[Mmw]

The neck aches and headaches and dizzyness is what got the ball rolling. I hurt so bad I couldn't see straight. I felt horrible all day. I started to think I had a brain tumor or something it was so bad. Went to a chiroprator for months with no relief. He could not figure out why it wouldn't straighten out. Referred me to a massage therapist who also does cranial sac. She just happened to look in her "pill" book and it mentioned side effects of headaches dizzyness etc. It never occured to me that that small little half a pill of Ambien I started taken months before could be the culprit. From there I started my search on the internet on Ambien related problems. And I think I had them all, except for the night driving.(as far as I know. My husband works nights) But I decided to stop taken them over 3 weeks ago and I am gradually getting better. I think I still have a ways to go with the headaches, but I am starting to get some sleep on my own. My neck pains are almost gone and I have hope that I will be ok again

[Kathleen]

I'm back on this site to tell my friends recovering from ambien that I have made it two weeks and feel better now and am sleeping with the help of a half a unisom.(I hope they are safer to use nightly because they work pretty well.) Since being off ambien, I am less forgetful, calmer, and feel much more in control of my emotions and stress level. For the two and half years I was taking ambien, I felt as though I was in a fog much of the daytime, lost confidence in myself and couldn't remember things well. I also felt a high amount of anxiety during the daytime which was foreign to me and lead me to believe that I was losing it! Sometimes I even experienced difficulty following conversations or comprehending what I was reading at the time. Where they side effects, I'd say yes based on how I'm feeling now being off the medication.
I am so happy to hear that you're all getting through and are looking forward to a better future.

[Mmw]

Almost 4 weeks without Ambien and I am feeling so much better. I am starting to sleep without it again and the only side effects left are the headaches. But they are getting less and less each day. There is life after Ambien!

[Susan]

Karen wrote:

<quoted text>
Shakes, sweats, night terrors. I never stopped. I did get off for a whole month once by dousing myself full of Valerian root and Melatonin. Took one Ambien one time again and was hooked right back in.
I am off it completely now after landing in ER 3 times in a 10 month period of time because I was acting psychotic from it.
Read my other posts... there are lots of them in the Topix Ambien pages. My M.D. prescribed one of the oldest sleeping pills around (Dalmane) and I was off (no longer desiring or craving) Ambien within 2 days. No withdrawal, no psycho stuff anymore. Everything is well with me now. Except it will take many years to undo all the damage that using Ambien has done financially, physically, emotionally, and relationship wise.
Tell your doc you want off but don't think you can do it without something else. On that note... shun Sonata, Lunesta, Rozerem, etc.,. They don't have the "umph" that Ambien has and they don't work (at least they didn't for me... not at all. Waste of $$$.
Good luck to you. Please keep us posted. I'm in here all the time as I'm finally free of the Ambien monkey on my back and want to help and warn others.
Karen

Karen thanks for your post regarding successful withdrawl from Ambien. I have been on Ambien for 3 years now. I have gained 30 lbs and have just recently noticed the severe day time memory loss. Did your memory return to normal after quit taking Ambien?

[Jen]

Despite all the work I've done on myself, I had my first "nervous breakdown" at the tail end of on of my work days last week. I've been struggling with mood issues, night time panic/anxiety attacks, and I finally figured out everything was more intense the days after I didn't take the ambien to help me sleep.
I can't afford weeks, much less a day of these kinds of withdrawal symptoms. I teach high school...special education. I can't afford to be irritable, moody, depressed, unable to cope...I can't afford to lose sleep and go through night terrors because I have classrooms full of challenging kids who need me to be positive and on top of everything at all times.
What do I do to get off ambien and still find a way to sleep? I've been an insomniac for over half my life and ambien was the only thing that really helped me sleep.
What works?

[seasea]

Hello,
I had the same problems with withdrawl from Ambien -- I used valerian and the emWave PSR www.emwave.com or www.heartmath.com After learning how to use the emWavePSR, I tried it to specifically stop taking Ambien and start getting back to normal. Frist, I used the emWave in conjunction with improved sleep habits and Valerian. Now, I use emWave without any drugs and am getting better sleep every night. It took nearly 5 sleepless nights but it worked! It is great!!
good luck to all

[mickey]

ok, this is year two for me. I can't function the next morning at work if i don't take it. I have gotten up in the morning with a plate of food in the bed with me. Absolutely no memory of any of it. when i've felt brave i'll bite the pill in half and try to sleep on that. I have no idea what it's doing to me inside.. does anyone know

[mickey]

also bought a sleep number ... still sleepless without a A any suggestions

[mickey]

what are night terrors, maybe ive had them and just didnt know it

[paul]

I began ambien because of diabtic foot pain about a month ago. It works. But I wanted to get off it asap because of day-next wobbliness.I had half my 10g dosage in a one night hospital stay on my diabetes pain. I skipped ambien last night and took Valerian around 1am. I slept for about three hours,had a pleasant and familiar dream. Trying no ambien again tonight, with Valerian as a back up. Anyone out there who kicked ambien use after about a month of useage?

[Mmw]

I stopped taking it about 5 weeks ago after using it for about 9 months. I was rough the first few weeks, but I am finally getting some sleep on my own. I have good days and bad days, but then again so does everyone. I still get the headaches, but they are getting less severe. I hope that in time they will disappear again.

[Lori]

I am on day 3 with all the symptoms here. I kicked a hospital enduced dilaudid habit cold turkey and it was HELL. They gave me no warning once I was dischared. I was smart enough to recognize the symptoms , which are the same for ambien but more intense. It took around 10 days to detox off that garbage. That's what gave me the idea to get off my 10 year ambien habit. The same withdrawl symptoms returned except now my hands shake. My fear is the length of time. I knew dilaudid was only a week. I hate the thought of months of this. I too want to hear a happy story. Anyone off it and fine?

[Maggie]

I stopped taking it a week ago because I would black out after even a couple drinks. It is awful stuff and the first week or so without is exhausting. I am just hoping/guessing it gets better. But we have to fight back.

[eater]

i wanted to give you all a report since i have started my cut back off of ambien.
i had cut back from 10 to 5 for two weeks. i just two days ago cut back to 2.5. this process sucks but i do see light at the end of the tunnel.
after being on 2.5 for around 10 days i am then getting a tiny dose of ambien from a compound pharmacy for a few more days and then i will be done. the important thing is not to do this cut back fast.
stay tuned.

[rox660]

I'm not sure what happened to my post of last week - it appeared only for a few minutes. I will restate it. I had severe insomnia and dependent on Ambien. I went to a sleep study overnight. I was told I had no real reason for the insomnia, (i.e., no sleep apnea), so the Dr. said to raise the head of my mattress by putting a rolled up blanket underneath it and miraculously I started sleeping better. My regular bedtime was at 10:00 p.m. and he told me to change my behavioral sleeping pattern and stay up until midnight or 1:00 a.m. for awhile and then gradually reduce it to 11:00 P.M. I am sleeping a lot better and not taking ambien anymore due to these two simple changes. Raising the mattress worked the first night.

[Donna]

I have been taking Ambien for about a year. I started feeling suicidal, with black outs and anger. Looking back I have been acting confrontational for a few months. This is my third day. I of course feel terrible. My ear hurts, my head hurts and I am so tired, but I have come this far, I only hope I can fix some of the relationships I have screwed up lately and didn't even realize it was me not them.

[Mmw]

Hang in there Donna, it does get better. It takes time. My only symptom left after 5 weeks off Ambien is the headaches. I am starting to sleep on my own on and off and I have hope that I will get better again

[exhausted]

I had no idea Ambien could have this effect until I stumbled onto the website. I have been on & off it for three years.

I stopped cold turkey (CR 12.5mg) two nights ago and have not slept other than .... maybe 45 min each night.

Has anyone had success using Neurontin during the withdrawal to maybe get some sleep.

I am misearble....I have never been this depressed. I feel like I have bricks sitting on my chest. I have other health issues and don't know what is causing what at this point because of what I read about Ambien.

So, anyone use Neurontin with success. Also, any suggestions on this feeling of bricks on my chest and difficulty breathing?

Thanks