I have been taking 10mg of Ambien for almost 9 years now, and have been wanting to stop taking it for a few years now. In the past I have tried to copy what methods have worked for other people, by either stopping cold turkey, or following a strict tapering schedule, only to relapse and start right back where I was. I just wanted to share what has seemed to work for me so far in hopes that maybe it can help someone else. My advice is to get a good pill cutter, stay positive, and once you make the jump to a lower dose try as hard as you can to stay with it, and not go back up.
In November 2016 I decided to try again by slowly tapering from 10mg to 7.5mg, and not moving on because of a schedule, but doing so because I was mentally ready to. The first taper to 7.5mg was the easiest for me. It took me a little longer to fall asleep, but overall I had no real problems. I stayed at this dosage for about 5 weeks until I was ready to move on again.
My next taper was from 7.5mg to 5mg, and this was the hardest one for me to adapt to, and move on from. I was on this dosage for almost 9 months, and the first two weeks of this were miserable. I would either have problems falling asleep, or at times not fall asleep at all. I would wake up with headaches and be very fatigued. However, I stayed with it, and was determined to not go back to 7.5mg. Even though the symptoms subsided, due to other things going on around me I was not comfortable with moving on so I stayed on this dosage a little longer than I had planned.
Finally, after a few months of being on the 10mg pills and cutting them in half, I asked my doctor to cut my Rx from 10mg to 5mg pills. I think that this was the best thing that I did during this process. Having the Rx cut in half was helpful for a few reasons. It not only made the pills easier to cut for future doses, but it was a sign that I was making progress, and that what I was doing was actually working.
My next taper was from 5mg to 2.5mg, and this is where I started to have to re-learn how to sleep again, and not rely on the pills to put me asleep. Instead of going to bed because it was “bedtime” I would stay awake until I got tired. I had to be sure that once I was in bed that I was not doing anything else other than trying to fall asleep, or else I would be up all night. I had to really focus on not getting up and taking another pill to fall asleep, and not becoming upset on those nights when I was not able to sleep. Overall, I do not think the pills were doing much at this point except for making me feel better mentally that I was taking something. Falling asleep was hard again, and getting up was worse. I had to keep telling myself that I would it would get better, and I just needed to stick with it.
I stayed on this dosage for a few weeks, and then made the final jump to 1.25 mg by cutting the 5mg pill in to fours. I was not taking the pills anymore to help me fall asleep, I was taking them to still have it in my system and not stop too quickly. I had tried to stop a few times during this entire process by not taking a pill for a night, and I found that after a few hours my body would start to panic, and I would become anxious. So, I wanted to keep taking it until the pills could no longer be easily cut.
After about two weeks, I decided this last weekend that I was ready to stop taking a pill all together. It has been three days now, and it has been tough, but each night gets a little easier. I am falling asleep alright, but I am not staying asleep for long. I will wake up every few hours, sometimes not able to go back to sleep, but most times I am able to after 30 minutes or so. I wake up feeling fatigued, but I seem to get over it more quickly than in the past. This morning I was sore, and had a headache for most of the morning, with what seems to be slight anxiety. I am tired, but excited that I finally seem to be winning. I anticipate this will go on for a few more days before it starts to get better.
This is what seemed to work for me. I hope that reading this will maybe give someone the boost they need to start themselves.
2-10 mg per night for 10 years too.
Hi, I am starting my first night of cold turkey from Zolpidem after 11 years of every night (never missed a night) taking one pill 10 mg. Wondering if you would like to help each other and communicate? A little scared and frustrated that it has come down to this. Would welcome anyone's email. ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** posting of private e-mails is not allowed *** *** all questions should be discussed on our website *** Please read our Terms of Use Thank you
Any chance you would like to email each other, went cold turkey tonight and I'm struggling. Would appreciate hearing about your success story. ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** posting of private e-mails is not allowed *** *** all questions should be discussed on our website *** Please read our Terms of Use thank you