withdrawals from Cymbalta and Ambien

If you are suffering from ambien ( or zolpidem tartrate) withdrawal, I can tell you I've been there.  Who knew what was in store when my dr. decided to put me on ambien nightly for chronic insomnia?

Last night was my FIRST night completely free from Ambien.  It took me since January to gradually taper down to almost nothing and last night finally, none.

It has been a journey, one that my doctors would never have predicted, I'm sure.  In January, when I first split it in half and had WILD anxiety, the doctor wanted to put me on additonal meds since he did NOT make the connection.  I was so grateful to find online support to realize what was going on and to TAPER GRADUALLY until this point.

Today, I am grateful to have slept last night without Ambien.

It is worth it.

I hear shaving the tablets down with a razor is a good way. each night only shaving a little more off then the night before.

this drug should not be used . After using 5 mg per day for one month it stopped working dr gave me 10 mg and i stopped cold turkey after one pill. Withdrawals are killing me . Anxiety is unreal. Cold sweats. Heart skipping beats. Do not take this drug . Go without sleep.

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Hi M.J.,
I have been taking Ambien for 89 days, I have one pill left and my refill of 9- will be ready tomorrow. I thought about going cold turkey after last nights episode. I made my husband three sandwiches at 1:00am, the normal time and then at about 1:30 I took my ambien 10 mg and the last time I looked at the clock it was 2:03am, my memory was wiped out after that, the dangerous thing is, I went back into the kitchen, turned a burner on the stove on (Electric) stove and I laid out some bread to make more sandwiches, egg sandwiches, I am allergic to eggs and then I walked out of the kitchen and got on my computer. stood up to do something and I fell, My husband jumps out of bed and he picks me up and he sets me back in my chair and I told him I was o:k so he goes back to bed and when he got up at 4:30 this morning I was slouched down in my chair and he got me up and walked me to the bed and made sure I was in the bed before he left for work. He told me this morning about 10:00 that I turned the stove on, Thanks God I did not put a pan on the burner, he ask me why I was going to make egg sandwiches when I was allergic to them. I had No answer for him because I do not even remember doing any of it. I decided after the conversation that I would just quit ambien cold turkey until I started reading articals like yours and some others. I know now that I will not be able to do that. I am going to follow your advise and wean myself off the ambien, Thank You so much

I took ambien every night for 5 years. I decided on my own to stop after seeing negative information about effects on the news and when I needed to provide additional personal information to get last prescription. All prescripriptions were provided by same physcian. I did not take another ambien after receiving last prescription, which  I did not use. Stopped cold turkey 4 months ago. Never discussed stopping with physician or anyone. Had no side effects, withdrawals, nervousness, hallucinations or problems sleeping when stopped. Did not lower dosage or wean myself off. Just decided to stop and did. Made up my mind and that was the end of my ambien usage.

I cannot believe that this is the cause of my problems!  I have had a horrible week and it is because I stopped ambien cold turkey last Wednesday.  I told the doctor that it wasn't working and had taken 50 mg that Tuesday night (my dose was 10 mg) and I still didn't sleep.  Used to sleep pretty good until I came back from Iraq.  Now the doctor's have done more harm than good.  I can remember my night terrors like they were real.  One night I dreamed of bugs and woke up kicking and screaming for them to get off of me.  Another night I had a dream I was a firefighter and I was on a ladder that was about as tall as a five-story building and there were two other fire-fighters on the ladder with me.  Where does my mind get this stuff??  I am a grown man, 20 years of military, transitioning out now and under a lot of stress.  As you can see, it is the middle of the night.  Tried to go to sleep around midnight, but as soon as I turned off the lights, the terror began.  I am scared to go to sleep!!!  I was having some of the physical side effects of ambien (heart palps, shaky hands, anxiety, and I even wrote a suicide note, but deleted it because I thought I was going crazy) , and to say the least, my wife was concerned about me taking it.  The doctor switched me over to a different drug (Doxipin) and it didnt help.  I felt even worse the next day.  I hope I can tough this out and not have to go back on ambien!!!  This is some evil stuff!!! 

BE WARNED... STAY AWAY FROM THIS DRUG!!!  Don't let your doctor put you on this stuff. 

I am in my bed and scared to death.  The light is on and I keep getting up to check if someone is here when I hear the house creak. I am hot then cold, my legs and back muscles keep twitching.  CRAZY!!!  AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

 

I wrote down every side effect I was having going cold turkey off ambien 10 mg nightly for 2 years. It was hurting my stomach so much I couldn't take the pill anymore . So I had no choice but to cold turkey. 30 symptoms here goes: Tongue burning,roof of mouth burning,hands,leg,feet,head,throat,ears tingling,swollen glands,stomach is killing me even after I eat, nausea,back burns so back, shower water hurt,joint in hip hurt..hard to walk,butt nerves hurt,shaky,fatigued,eye ache,shoulder pain,sad,sweating,hearts pals,diarrhea,skin sensitivity,memory loss,hair on legs hurt sinus dripping, hysterectomy old incision hurts. If this doesn't make you stay away from it nothing will.

aviatorrie1 wrote:

Guest wrote:

My doc's ambien taper program has been going on for 3 weeks now. I have 2 weeks left. The fun includes abdominal pain, cramping, dry throat, dizziness, teeth grinding, tingling scalp, headaches, buzzing in the ears, low energy, depression, not to mention lack of sleep when I'm on the low dose night. Doctors feel it's useful in some cases. But I'm here to say that Ambien is a disaster to get off of.

I wrote down every side effect I was having going cold turkey off ambien 10 mg nightly for 2 years. It was hurting my stomach so much I couldn't take the pill anymore . So I had no choice but to cold turkey. 30 symptoms here goes: Tongue burning,roof of mouth burning,hands,leg,feet,head,throat,ears tingling,swollen glands,stomach is killing me even after I eat, nausea,back burns so back, shower water hurt,joint in hip hurt..hard to walk,butt nerves hurt,shaky,fatigued,eye ache,shoulder pain,sad,sweating,hearts pals,diarrhea,skin sensitivity,memory loss,hair on legs hurt sinus dripping, hysterectomy old incision hurts. If this doesn't make you stay away from it nothing will.

Passion Flower 700 mg (2 pills) helped with insomnia and back pain. It actually took the back pain away but it was back early am.

Hello,

Wanted to update everyone on my withdrawal. It will be two weeks this coming Wednesday and I am still having the shakes, headaches, anxiety, but not anymore night terrors. My doc gave me Trazodone with a self-dosage range from 25 mg to 200 mg. So far, I have been taking about 100 mg a day/night. It is still quite difficult for me!! Ready to get back to normal!!

Were you able to successfully wean off of the Ambien? I need to stop it, also. I am a little worried about starting the process.

Oh my God.... Why would you do that to your Mother.Rather then take your mothers medication and flush it,why didnt you sit down and talk to her about your concerns while on Ambein.I have been on Ambien for 4 1/2 yrs and I am in the process with my doctor to quit taking it.If my daughter took it upon her self to flush my medication ,I'm afraid that I would have to bend her over my knee.

OH Snap !!!!! Now I am really scared about the process of getting off Ambien.I have been on Ambien for 41/2 years.Thank you for posting this because I will know what to look for.I am manic bi-polar so I will be working closely with a mental health specialist.Wish me luck.I will keep this post up dated.

Look, if you wright down every bad thing you feel for two years, you will surely find yourself with quite a list. I understand that withdrawal symptoms are different for everyone but when I read about Ambien being comparable to opiates, I have to believe that those folks have never been through opiate withdrawal. There is no comparison to the agony that is opiate withdrawal and Ambien. That is like comparing a Howitzer to a slingshot.

I am on day 8 of quitting Ambien. Is it fun? No... But it is certainly manageable. I have been on a 12.5CR and 10 reg nightly for over 3 years. I'm having sleeplessness (then again, I had that before and about at the same level as it is after a week off of the drug). I'm having some twitching and shakes but it is fairly benign. If anything, my symptoms feel like what you would get pulling a few all nighters in collage. I am certainly feeling better a week into it. Obviously, some folks have it worse and I do feel for them. I just don't want those of you who want to get off this drug to be scared by people that put every bad feeling for years on it.