Ambien Withdrawal and Headaches

[Mmw]

Exhausted, I stopped taking it about 5 weeks ago. I don't know anything about Neurontin, but I know that after a little while it does get better. I know you are miserable now, I was too. But hang in there a little longer, You will sleep on your own again in time. I was so glad when I found this website, I thought it was me going crazy. I had such bad headaches and dizzyness and cold sweats and every other symptom you read about here. I thought I had brain tumors and that I was going to die. Nothing could be as bad as taking this drug. I feel much better now and the only sympton left is the headaches. I hope that in time they will disappear too.
You will get better in time! I promise!

[Kathleen]

Exhausted, the bricks on your chest sound like anxiety which is a withdrawal symptom from that ambien junk. You'll get through it, but you might talk to your doctor as other meds can be useful to help taper you off. I'm off the ambien about a month now (used for over 4 years) and am taking over the counter sleep aids which seem to help me quite a bit. I feel better overall, not depressed anymore, and my anxiety level has gone way down. You'll get back to feeling better soon. Hang in there.

[Britgirl]

The concensus seems to be that it takes about 2 weeks for the most severe withdrawal symptoms to subside. It took about 2 weeks for me to stop shaking; for the pain in my arm to stop and for my teeth to stop feeling numb. I am taking a variety of herbal remedies to sleep, and while I don't exactly get quality sleep, I'm glad to be off Zolpidem. For anyone who is thinking of stopping the Zolpidem (Ambien), I would suggest you do so, but don't stop immediately like I did. Do so gradually, but whatever you do, stop taking it. If I knew then, what I know now, I would never have risked it. No matter how badly I sleep now, nothing would get me to use that stuff again. All I would have to do is to think back to going through those two weeks of withdrawal hell. Please, it can be done. Book yourself two weeks off work and do it.

[exhausted]

Mmw, Kathleen, Britgirl, Thanks for your replies. I did sleep off and on a few times last night ..... day 4 .... so maybe it is getting a little better. I hope I don't have to go another three nights to get a little bit of sleep on my own again!

[Ernie]

Oops, it's "Zolpidem" not "Zoldipem." My bad! But what's a little misspelling among friends ---:-)

Ern

[Susan]

I took Ambien for two and a half weeks in order to help me adjust for jet lag. It did give me a good night sleep, but I would feel edgy during the day. When I tried to quit, I could not fall asleep, so I kept taking the medication. Finally I decided to go cold turkey and accept the fact that I would not sleep. I did not sleep at all for one night, felt miserable, bad stomach, chills. Went through the next day like a zombie, no appetite, tired. But the next night, I slept for ten hours. I woke up with a bad headache, but two tylenol did the job. Slept well again the second night and I am hopeful that the medication is out of my system. I usually sleep well and have sleep difficulties only on rare occassions. So, now I know how easy it is to become dependent. I will try to find something else the next time I travel. I also took a natural medication made out of valarian and hops. I think it helped settle my stomach and get me through the second night. On the third night I did not need anything.

[Steve]

Wow - I'm also glad I found this thread. I've been taking 10mg Stilnox on and off (probably 4 times per week) since August 15 (so about 2 months) for jetlag (back and forth to the US and the UK) and stopped taking it on Sunday night as my travel has stopped for a while. I'd noticed that I'd have problems sleeping when I wasn't taking the Stilnox but assumed it was jetlag whilst overseas .. however last night I had the most extreme night terrors (never experienced that before) and today I'm quite depressed and feel detached from my body. Struggling to get through work! Have the occasional spasm in my hand, calves and jaw. Can't believe that the withdrawal effects can be this severe this quickly .. all the "official" sites for this drug mention rebound insomnia for the first night or two only, but I'll let you know how I go over the next couple of days.

I'm actually scared to take even a reduced dose to ween myself off so would prefer a few days of this to an extended Stilnox experience.

[Steve]

Quick update - during the day, the agitation and panic attacks reduced and eventually wore off. Headache and neckache stayed through the day and evening. Getting to sleep was difficult that night, had two bursts of about 90 mins between 12am and 6am then got a couple of hours from 8-10am (late for work, but such is life).

On the third day, things seems to have settled down, but I have the head-cold so feel a bit out of it regardless. Feel pretty much back to normal, albeit stuffed up with the cold.

Never again!

[Lee Owen]

clugent wrote:

SOME GOOD NEWS!
Today marks my 45th day of discontinuation from Ambien. My overall condition is vastly improved. The funny tickling-creepy-skin sensation (paresthias) is gone; the neck-pressure symptom affects me only rarely and never becomes severe; my ears still ring, but the intensity is down to about 1/4 as severe; I still have night sweats, but they seem to last only the first two hours of sleep; the actual night terror attacks are gone, entirely gone (yippie!). I now sleep between five and six hours each night, although I will wake up two to three times during these periods, usually I'm awake no more than 15 minutes before I drift off again. I still feel a little sleep deprived each morning, but 5 to 6 hours of sleep is so much better than my usual 2 to 3 hours that I will not yet complain (at the height of my withdrawal I would sometimes go 36 hours without any sleep).
My general mood is good throughout the morning, and I'm able to exercise on a regular basis, but toward the late afternoon, usually starting around 3 PM, I'll drop into a mild depression, and even have some low level withdrawal symptoms like increased tintinitus, a feverish feeling over most of my body -- and my work productivity drops significantly. This slump period hangs on until 6 PM or even as late as 7, when it suddenly lifts and I become almost "jolly." The rest of the evening moves smoothly until 10:30 PM when I actually start feeling very tired and sleepy. I drop fairly quickly into sleep at 11 PM, and usually get a two or three hour initial block of restful sleep before my first wake up (sometimes with night sweats).
Five months ago, when I decided to drop the Ambien, I was somewhat worried when I spoke with fellow zolpidem-addicts who reported that their WD distress has continued unabated for longer than a year after discontinuation (protracted withdrawal?). But I was also encouraged by others who said that the process of "normalization" seemed to take about 30 to 60 days after discontinuation. Four long-term Ambien users who failed to get off the stuff, mentioned that they had real crises that started in the second week of discontinuation, and two others mentioned that they made it to the 30th day before collapsing into reuse. For those trying to get off Ambien, it looks like, if you can tough it out for two months, you'll have a very good chance of staying off Ambien permanently, and returning to an acceptable level of functionality.
It is VERY difficult, but you can get off this poison, even if you've been using it for years! Best of luck to all of us!

Congratulations! I've been a user for almost 4 years, tried to get off it cold turkey twice, made it four nights each time without sleeping at all! Couldn't go the fifth night, started A again. Have tried all types of homeopathic remedies, acupuncture, herbs, to no avail,although a few times in the past year I have gotten sleepy on my own. Don't know what caused it. Fortunately I have not experienced the other withdrawal symptoms you all have described. Do any of you have experience with the Sleep Tracks CD's or "The Road Back" website? The CD's claim to reprogram your brain with the proper sleep wave. The Road Back folks have a program of nutritionsl supplements and tapering plan. It sounds reasonable, but they do not specifically mention Ambien. Instead, they focus more on benzodiazepines. Is anyone involved in a lawsuit against the Ambien makers?

How did you get past the 4th nite of sleeplessness without going crazy?

[Kaimee]

I don't take ambien very often but when i do i use way more than perscribed and go into that whole hypnotic thing. I havn't taken any ambien in 3 months now. I do take phenegrins(for nasuea)
Klonopins and Zanax. Yesterday my doc prescribed me some ambiens and like always i ate a handfull but felt absolutley nothing not even tired. Has anyone heard of any of these other drugs interacting with it. I asked the pharmacist and he said the opposite should happen Any feedback?

[Clugent]

Lee Owen, thanks for the congratulations! I've just now passed 145 days without Ambien. It feels grand. I still have periodic bouts of insomnia, getting less than three hours of broken-sleep per night, still have some days when the withdrawal symptoms return at a low level (creeping-skin sensation, confused-rushing thinking, flu-like symptoms, heats and chills, mild paranoia, agoraphobia etc., etc -- LOL) but largely I have "normalized." It seems it is going to be a protracted recovery in my case, but even on my bad days now, I feel 10 times better than I did when the withdrawal was at its height.

I approached Ambien discontinuation on the same clinical basis used for the withdrawal of any potent drug -- taper down slowly. A Cold Turkey quit can actually be very dangerous, seizures, enhanced WD agonies, and usually sets you up for failure and relapse. I took about 4 to 5 weeks to gradually drop from 10 mg to 4 mg, just cutting my pills into smaller and smaller chunks. Finally I ground the things up, and separated them into 10 small piles, about one mg. each. A crude process, but it worked. The rough times really started at 4 mg and lower. I took almost 10 more weeks to gradually drop down to 1 mg per day. Then I started skipping days, 1 mg every two day; then 1 mg every three. At this point, I was soon able to "step-off" the drug entirely. WD symptoms remained nasty, but tolerable, for the next 45-50 days when it suddenly got much, much better. Now, this last night, I fell asleep at 10:30 PM, and did not wake up until 5:30 AM, WONDERFUl!

Everyone's body/ brain is different, and some lucky individuals who have used Ambien regularly for years, found that they were able to taper down to zero in just two or three weeks, and then went through another two or three weeks of gradual recovery to become "normal" once again. How much time you will need for a sane and safe taper is something you'll have to learn by simple experience. But, I think the key to a successful withdrawal is to move slowly through your cuts, listen to your body, don't try to rush through this tapering process; be willing to take a moderate level of pain over a long period of time rather than a sudden Cold Turkey descent into absolute hell.

Best of luck in getting off this poison!

__________

I have not heard anything recent about a class action lawsuit, but I think there is a discussion thread on this forum that has some old information. A "Google" search, Ambien + Lawsuit, might reveal more?

[Clugent]

Lee Ownen, this is a repost of my message in answer to yours,seems there is a periodic glitch in the Topix Forum system and some messages disappear? Maybe the first copy will show up again later as a double post?

__________

Lee Owen, thanks for the congratulations! I've just now passed 145 days without Ambien. It feels grand. I still have periodic bouts of insomnia, getting less than three hours of broken-sleep per night, still have some days when the withdrawal symptoms return at a low level (creeping-skin sensation, confused-rushing thinking, flu-like symptoms, heats and chills, mild paranoia, agoraphobia etc., etc -- LOL) but largely I have "normalized." It seems it is going to be a protracted recovery in my case, but even on my bad days now, I feel 10 times better than I did when the withdrawal was at its height.

I approached Ambien discontinuation on the same clinical basis used for the withdrawal of any potent drug -- taper down slowly. A Cold Turkey quit can actually be very dangerous, seizures, enhanced WD agonies, and usually sets you up for failure and relapse. I took about 4 to 5 weeks to gradually drop from 10 mg to 4 mg, just cutting my pills into smaller and smaller chunks. Finally I ground the things up, and separated them into 10 small piles, about one mg. each. A crude process, but it worked. The rough times really started at 4 mg and lower. I took almost 10 more weeks to gradually drop down to 1 mg per day. Then I started skipping days, 1 mg every two day; then 1 mg every three. At this point, I was soon able to "step-off" the drug entirely. WD symptoms remained nasty, but tolerable, for the next 45-50 days when it suddenly got much, much better. Now, this last night, I fell asleep at 10:30 PM, and did not wake up until 5:30 AM, WONDERFUl!

Everyone's body/ brain is different, and some lucky individuals who have used Ambien regularly for years, found that they were able to taper down to zero in just two or three weeks, and then went through another two or three weeks of gradual recovery to become "normal" once again. How much time you will need for a sane and safe taper is something you'll have to learn by simple experience. But, I think the key to a successful withdrawal is to move slowly through your cuts, listen to your body, don't try to rush through this tapering process; be willing to take a moderate level of pain over a long period of time rather than a sudden Cold Turkey descent into absolute hell.

Best of luck in getting off this poison!

[Clugent]

Hmm, this my third repost here, what goes on?

Lee Owen, thanks for the congratulations! I've just now passed 145 days without Ambien. It feels grand. I still have periodic bouts of insomnia, getting less than three hours of broken-sleep per night, still have some days when the withdrawal symptoms return at a low level (creeping-skin sensation, confused-rushing thinking, flu-like symptoms, heats and chills, mild paranoia, agoraphobia etc., etc -- LOL) but largely I have "normalized." It seems it is going to be a protracted recovery in my case, but even on my bad days now, I feel 10 times better than I did when the withdrawal was at its height.

I approached Ambien discontinuation on the same clinical basis used for the withdrawal of any potent drug -- taper down slowly. A Cold Turkey quit can actually be very dangerous, seizures, enhanced WD agonies, and usually sets you up for failure and relapse. I took about 4 to 5 weeks to gradually drop from 10 mg to 4 mg, just cutting my pills into smaller and smaller chunks. Finally I ground the things up, and separated them into 10 small piles, about one mg. each. A crude process, but it worked. The rough times really started at 4 mg and lower. I took almost 10 more weeks to gradually drop down to 1 mg per day. Then I started skipping days, 1 mg every two day; then 1 mg every three. At this point, I was soon able to "step-off" the drug entirely. WD symptoms remained nasty, but tolerable, for the next 45-50 days when it suddenly got much, much better. Now, this last night, I fell asleep at 10:30 PM, and did not wake up until 5:30 AM, WONDERFUl!

Everyone's body/ brain is different, and some lucky individuals who have used Ambien regularly for years, found that they were able to taper down to zero in just two or three weeks, and then went through another two or three weeks of gradual recovery to become "normal" once again. How much time you will need for a sane and safe taper is something you'll have to learn by simple experience. But, I think the key to a successful withdrawal is to move slowly through your cuts, listen to your body, don't try to rush through this tapering process; be willing to take a moderate level of pain over a long period of time rather than a sudden Cold Turkey descent into absolute hell.

Best of luck in getting off this poison!

[Pam]

These postings were so helpful to me when I was having horrible side affects from taking Ambien CR 12.5. Doctor prescribed it as I hadn't been sleeping well for several months and was having memory issues, lack of concentration etc. She said to take it every night for two weeks and if I wasn't feeling exceptional, then she'd send me to a neurologist to check out my issues. I was so desperate for relief from no sleep that I took her word for it when I asked what the side affects could be. "nothing to be concerned about, nothing you can't handle....I take the same thing when I can't sleep occasionally". I thought WAHOO! Problem solved.....I was so wrong.

The first night I slept 6 hours without waking up, but very groggy the next day. I assumed that would go away with time. After the second night I not only was groggy but very "weepy". In the late afternoon I was crying all the time and felt so hopeless and for absolutely no reason. Yes I was tired of not sleeping but I have a great life and there's nothing hopeless about it. Then the worst thing of all, I was suicidal. I didn't realize it until after I starting reading the potential side affects. I felt that if I was going to feel like this the rest of my life that I didn't want to live. I had no clue where this was coming from and didn't have the presence of mind at that moment to figure out it was the meds.

I took another pill the third night and the next morning was a mess. Extremely depressed, heart racing, nauseous and numerous other symptoms. I thought maybe it was the Ambien and got on the internet and found this site along with others. Thank God I found it and realized it was the A. I said I wasn't taking it one more day and I didn't. But I never thought that I would have withdrawal symptoms after only 3 days. The fourth night I tried to sleep and couldn't. Every time I would start to dose off I would wake up with a start and a gasp. This was ALL night. And on top of that I had night sweats for over 6 hours. I realized later after reading these posts that I was going through withdrawal after only 3 days.

I couldn't get hold of my doctor even after 3 days (that's another story), but did speak to my pharmacist who said that it could stay in my system up to two weeks. I can tell you that my last recognized symptom was 10 days after the last pill!

This is the Devil's drug. I feel so blessed that I didnt' take it any longer than I did and my heart goes out to all of you who are struggling with trying to get off of this awful, awful medication. You can do it!!!

[suzyQ]

I took Ambien for a few weeks in attemps to get thru Ultram withdrawal(swaeting spells, insomnia & restless legs.) The Ambien worked great to put me to sleep & for the most part I did not feel groggy in the am like I did with over the counter sleep aids. However, I did wake up a few times with some chest pain & a racing heart. That was enough to scare me. I went off the Ambien cold turkey without side affects.

[Matt721]

34 year old male here who was on Ambien (for sleep issues obviously) for about 40 days. I have been reading alot online today about it, here and other sites and promptly flushed the remaining pills down the drain. No terrors, sweats or headaches (even on the nights I tried to get off them, which yes I've already tried and was wide awake for two nights in a row). When you sleep with someone you have the added guilt of keeping them awake with your tossing/turning and general anxiety. I see alot of people asking the question if after side effects go away will sleep come back....I'd like to see/hear opinions or experiences on that. I would've thoutht that the human body would get to a point where it needed sleep regardless of what the brain wanted and it would crash out for 6-8 hours and then hopefully do so regularly. I may be off my gord here and by no means am I challenging anyone's claims. Just looking for guidance, wisdom, etc.

Thanks in advance

[Mmw]

Natural sleep does come back eventually. It did for me. I still have bad nights but I also have good nights. Your body will eventually take the sleep it requires. Either way I feel better even with less sleep than I did on Ambien.

[Matt721]

THanks Mmw

So in your opinion/experience insomnia is something that never fully goes away? Last night was one of those bad ones by the way. Gonna try and sleep on the bus which is a whole hour.

[Matt721]

Britgirl wrote:

The concensus seems to be that it takes about 2 weeks for the most severe withdrawal symptoms to subside. It took about 2 weeks for me to stop shaking; for the pain in my arm to stop and for my teeth to stop feeling numb. I am taking a variety of herbal remedies to sleep, and while I don't exactly get quality sleep, I'm glad to be off Zolpidem. For anyone who is thinking of stopping the Zolpidem (Ambien), I would suggest you do so, but don't stop immediately like I did. Do so gradually, but whatever you do, stop taking it. If I knew then, what I know now, I would never have risked it. No matter how badly I sleep now, nothing would get me to use that stuff again. All I would have to do is to think back to going through those two weeks of withdrawal hell. Please, it can be done. Book yourself two weeks off work and do it.

Hi Britgirl
Two weeks huh? Great here I was thinking I would be right in a few days. Its remarkable to me how long the body can go without proper sleep and still function. I work for the govt. and take public transit so maybe I can slip by while I ride this coaster. Like you and many others I'm seeking info, comfort, and resolution by both kicking the meds and visiting this site. I was only on for about 40 days and decided that I didn't want to be addicted or dependent on something. Haven't had any of the real bad symptoms described here (night terrors, headaches,sweats,etc)but sure didn't want to start. What else have you done to help your sleep pattern return to normal?

[Mmw]

Matt721 My problems with Ambien didn't happen right away, I was on it about 9 months total. Horrible headaches, nausea, dizzyness, neckpains and nightsweats etc. didn't start untill several months into it, and then it took a while for me to realize what the problem was. Ambien would help me fall asleep but only for a few hours. I figured I could do that without drugs. I learned a lot from others on these forums. My only symptom left is the headaches, but they are much less severe then before. I quit cold turkey (which they tell you not to do) I picked a long weekend (labor day) and like I said, I have good nights and bad nights, but still feel so much better then with Ambien.