Ambien CR and Daily Headaches

[Maureen]

I have been having daily headaches for about a month now. I take Ambien as well as Requip and after looking at these sites I don't know which one to stop first. There are more comments about requip causing constant headaches so I think I will start there and then decrease ambien to 1/2 tab for a week and then off it. Do you think that is a good idea?

[jhow]

I wake up with a headache everyday and have been on Ambien about 4 months 12 mg a night. I am trying to wean off the meds, get your Dr. to give you a new prescription of 6.5 mg and try to wean off them. I am trying to wean off, they are addictive, ask your Dr. how much you should take to try and get off of them. I haven't been able to yet, but I haven't tried too heard either. I would rather have sleep and deal with the headache since right now I am unemployed.

[CCH]

I have had migraine headaches since starting Ambien. I thought at first it was my usual algeries but the headaches went away when I quit taking the Ambien. It has only been 4 days but so far no headache. What is worse, not sleeping or having a migraine? I'll take a few hours less sleep. Would be nice to find an alternative to Ambien though.
CCH

[jcommerce]

Wow is all I can say. I wish I'd stumbled upon this thread 4 months ago. I, like so many others on here, have had completely unbearable, debilitating, demoralizing, CONSTANT and what are simply the most painful headaches I've ever had over the last 4 months. I have tried too many things to mention (neurologists, MRIs, CT Scans, Drugs, Accupuncture, Chiropractors, etc. etc. etc.)

I have been on nightly Ambien for over 2 years and when my headaches started 4 months ago, Ambien was the first thing I suspected. I off it for about a week figuring that a week would be ample time to see if my headaches improved, which they did not. On top of this, my doctors said that they doubted it was the Ambien and that it was ok for me to continue its usage.

Last night was night #1 of no Ambien and what I hope is the start of a new chance at life for me. I still have a headache today and I realize it may be many weeks before I begin to see relief. I also realize that it may be false hope that the Ambien is the cause, but it certainly seems the most likely and explainable cause.

If it ends up that Ambien is indeed the cause, it will have left a wake in my life that nearly cost me my 10 year relationship with my girlfriend, my 10 year career, and 4 - 5 months of my life that I want back. I hope that it is the cause so it's not my sanity that I lose next.

I will try to leave more updates in the coming days and weeks and hope to hear from more of you along the way.

I feel for all of you and the pain you're suffering. I truly could have never imagined it until it happened to me.

[jcommerce]

Well, it's day 3 of no Ambien and I still had very bad headaches today. I didn't expect to feel better immediately and figure it will be weeks before I can report any real progress. I figure 2 years of buildup from what I now believe to be a very powerful and destructive drug will take time to be purged from my system and for normalcy to be restored. I still believe Ambien to be the cause of my pain and I will try to give another update in a few days.

[CMC]

Good going jcommerce! Please know that your posts here will help others. I've read them all many times over as I'm going crazy with withdrawals from Ambien. It sucks but the forum helps to get your mind off the crazy feelings.

[Lg Gonza]

jcommerce wrote:

Well, it's day 3 of no Ambien and I still had very bad headaches today. I didn't expect to feel better immediately and figure it will be weeks before I can report any real progress. I figure 2 years of buildup from what I now believe to be a very powerful and destructive drug will take time to be purged from my system and for normalcy to be restored. I still believe Ambien to be the cause of my pain and I will try to give another update in a few days.

jcommerce, we would like to hear from you. how are you doing!just remember that AMBIEN is the cause of all our Problems/side effects in few more weeks you will feel Better,Just keep trying Hard,you will get there. Keep giving us more updates,we would Like to hear from you GOOD LUCK.

[Jake]

Hey guys, long update for you all.
I went to a new neurologist last week and I think I'm going to like her a lot more. She is open to the idea that the Ambien may be the cause of my pain and she's willing to be "passive" early on. She has scheduled me for 2 more MRIs (neck and spinal) as well as a Spinal CT scan and a "gulp" lumbar puncture (aka spinal tap). She did not prescribe me with any drugs and is willing to wait 3 more weeks to see if I improve from being off Ambien. If in 3 weeks I am not improved, she said we will then go into "aggressive" mode and I will be admitted to the hospital for 4 days for extensive testing and steroid injections. I'm obviously praying it's the Ambien.
I reluctantly flew back east over the weekend for a wedding in Atlanta. The rehearsal dinner was on Friday night and on Friday afternoon/evening I hit full rock bottom. I think it had to do with the fact that I had flown that day and the cabin pressure aggravated my headaches. Upon arriving at the hotel, I seriously thought I might die. It was THE worst pain I've ever experienced in my whole life (and believe me, I've experienced some intense pain in my life....ever heard of a sinus wash?). I actually was driven to tears. I am a 34 year old male and I cannot remember crying from pain since I was about 10 years old. The worst of it lasted about 30 minutes and I was very close to having my girlfriend drive me to the ER. I now have a new 10 (maybe 11) rating on the 1 - 10 scale. But then it started to subside and I actually got to the point where I was good enough to go to the dinner. This was a good thing because it was a full southern style BBQ with fried chicken, ribs, buttermilk biscuits, cornbread, etc.
Saturday and Sunday were better days. I still had headaches but I was able to attend the wedding with the help of some ibuprofen and Sunday was fairly mild with the headaches only reaching a 4 on the 1 - 10.
Today is Monday and I'm having subtle headache surges, but they are manageable. I'm not sure if I hit the darkest before the dawn over the weekend or if this is just a normal fluctuation I'm going through. I'm guardedly optimistic that I'm on the upswing and hopefully on track to putting this behind me.

[Jake]

p.s.- thanks to all the well wishes and I hope you are all seeing improvement or, at least, have hope. That's all we can have.

I will post more updates over the next few days.

My best to all of you.

[jcommerce]

p.s.s. Jake = jcommerce

[CMC]

Hi again Jake. I have never experienced the headaches either on or coming off Ambien but have no doubt that those mean little pills can cause a lot of pain... if not in the head than in... As said above, please remember that the withdrawal is really nasty and seems to be prolonged so I'm not sure about 3 weeks being enough or not. Just know that you will anxiety and try to remember that it's not you going crazy (I have to remind myself every few minutes...).

[jcommerce]

Thanks CMC. Update - well, here I am at 2 weeks off of Ambien and the headaches are as bad as ever. I'm beginning to have my doubts that it's the Ambien, but I know I must remain optimistic. It's hard to do so with this pain though. I would have hoped to be at least 50 percent better at this point, which I'm certainly not.:(

[Tommi]

sue wrote:

i want to get off ambien cr because i believe that it causes my heart to beat faster and causes anxiety does any one else experience these side effects.

I have been taking ambien for a couple of weeks and have been feeling a tightness in my chest similar to the panic attacks I felt a few years ago when my mother was ill. I really have no other reason to have so much anxiety. My friends who have taken it say they never experienced rapid heart beat. So I've been online to see if anyone else has had this experience. I was glad to read your post. I'm going to try to stop taking it. It's making me crazy in the daytime.

[Tommi]

Oops! I guess I did this wrong. Please check the other post. Just wanted to say that you're not alone. I'm feeling a tightness in my chest and anxiety and have ruled out all other possibilities other than the ambien.

[jcommerce]

Update - 3 weeks off of the Ambien and I unfortunately can't say that I'm seeing any signs of improvement in my headaches. I'm still awaiting the results of the neck and spinal MRIs and CT scans I had last week and just got my appointment scheduled for my lumbar puncture (spinal tap) this Friday...Gulp! I don't know how much longer I can take having these headaches...it has been 5 months now and I think depression is starting to set in. I'm missing out on the Summer and my life in general. I'm basically a shell, a ghost of my normal self. Life sucks right now. I haven't given up on the possibilty that it could be Ambien, but after 3 weeks, I really expected to see some hint of improvement. Several prior posters said it takes 4 - 5 weeks, but were those of you who said that feeling significant improvement at 3 weeks??

[jcommerce]

Update - 25 days off of Ambien. Had the lumbar puncture (spinal tap) Friday morning and it was a piece of cake. There was absolutely no pain involved. The doc simply gave me a shot of deadening agent in my lower back, which was nothing more than a slight prick. About 30 seconds later, I asked how long it would be to take effect so he could do the puncture and, to my surprise, he said that it was already in! Unfortunately, the pressure released by the lumbar puncture did nothing to help my headache. In fact, I believe it worsened them (90% chance of headache side effect from lumbar puncture for 2 - 3 days following procedure). I have a horrible headache today as I'm writing this.

Oh well, will have to await the results of this and the MRIs and CT scan I had last week. Until I can find an answer, life continues to be a constant, daily struggle where I wonder how much more I can really take.

[TROY]

MY GIRLFRIED HAS BEEN TAKING AMBIEN FOR 1 WEEK NOW,AND I SEE A BIG CHANGE IN HER ANXIETY GETTING VERY BAD.SHE ALSO IS VERY EMOTIONAL.WILL NOT BE TAKING ANY MORE PILLS.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDIND FINDING SOMEONE THAT GROWS A 100% IDICA STRAIN AND SMOKE BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP AND I GUARNTEE YOU WILL HAVE THE BEST SLEEP EVER.ANOTHER REASON TO LEGALIZE.

[kellie]

I have a burning headache now that I've started ambien.(about a month ago). However, I've had headaches associated with a bulging disc in my neck for year. Physical therapy helps a lot. It gets better, then I don't go, and it eventually comes back,b ut I would encourage everyone with headaches to visit a PT for neck stretches and therapy. It really does help relieve the pressure. Also, put two tennis balls in a sock and tie it off. Lay on the floor with the balls pressing against the Occipital bone on your skull (right about where your hair starts on your neck)Lay there for 5 mintues and that tension will be relieved. Good, non toxic relief!

[Marcel]

It took a while to figure out what was causing the headaches and this site confirmed it. I have been taking Ambien CR for about three months starting in April. I stopped three days ago and the headaches started to ease. I will never take Ambien again. I have been taking Maxalt to for relief and it helps. It also raised my blood pressure roughly 25 points which alerted me that something was wrong. Hopefully I can purge this crap from my system and live a normal life. I take Benicar for blood pressure medication and it helped rid me of my migraine problem then along came Ambien and they started up worse than ever.

[nancy]

I stopped taking ambien because I too was getting severe headache and not only that but pain on oneside of my head. Very scary. I stopped taking the pills and started exercising. I am so tire by the time I go to sleep that I sleep like a baby. I moved my computer and Tv to another room as well. Anyone reading this should try it.