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Temazapam or ambien withdrawals


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I was on 10mg of ambien for years until a month ago it stopped working. Went to my doctor and started 30mg temazapam probably 7 to 10 days after my last ambien. No sleep for over a week until I started the temazapam. I tried stopping around 8 pills in and when I would get around the 24 to 36 hour mark major symptoms like numbness and weakness in my legs teeth and mouth would even feel funny and just all around sickly feeling like the flu. Over the years I stopped ambien a couple of times but I don’t remember experiencing these kinds of symptoms. So am I withdrawing from the long term ambien or the very short term ( up to 22 doses now) of the temazapam? Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you.
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Hello, VEGERs.

 

To help us help you, we need a concise summary of your Z-drug and benzodiazepine use. I’ve skimmed your posts and assembled a draft timeline below.  Is this correct?  If not, what should be changed?

 

Took 10mg of Ambien for 10 years, no problems until mid-June 2022 when it stopped working

Quit Ambien cold turkey

After 7 - 10 days, took 30mg of temazepam; stopped after 8 days, felt sick after 24 - 36 hours

Reinstated 30mg of temazepam for 14 days

Took one 10mg Ambien plus 30mg of temazepam for 1 day

 

If the above is correct, then it sounds like you were physiologically dependent on the Ambien, reached tolerance to it, and are now experiencing withdrawal symptoms from quitting it abruptly. 

 

Was the temazepam helping you?  If so, why did you try to stop it? 

 

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After I resumed the temazapam after dose 8 it was almost 2 weeks of use before I tried to stop it again because of just the shitty way it would make me feel the next day even though I was getting sleep on it. I then tried again to quit taking it and the same nasty symptoms appeared. I resumed it for a few days until my doctor suggested I try the ambien 1 more time so I did just that last night. I took 15 mg of ambien by itself I did not combine it with the temazapam. Slightly relaxed me but did not sleep.
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Will resume the temazapam tonight and figure tomorrow where I want to go from here as far as trying to taper off of this. I have 8 30mg and 15 of the 15 mg temazapam that the doctor prescribed for me to taper with but after reading about the Ashton method I do not see how I am going to properly do this. My doctor will not listen about Valium substitution to taper.
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Forgot to mention the dry cough I have developed over the last w weeks as well. It seems related maybe not
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Thanks Libertas for helping with VEGERs medication details, I've added it to their signature. 

 

And thank you VEGERs for starting this thread, I'm glad you're going to resume the Temazepam for now until we can get this figured out.  Its late here but I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully I or other members can help you with a plan. 

 

Is your throat really dry, my mouth and eyes were and I've heard other members talk about how dry and sore their throat is, does it feel like that?

 

 

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One reason you may feel poorly the next day after taking the temazepam is that 30mg of temazepam is equivalent to 30mg of Ambien per Ashton (you had been taking 10mg of Ambien). You may be over-dosed.

 

Also, temazepam has a much longer half-life than Ambien.  Per Ashton, 8 to 22 hours for temazepam compared to 2 hours for Ambien.

 

So, one option to consider would be to reduce your temazepam dose to see if a lower amount will help you sleep but without the icky feeling the next day.

 

Two last questions … if you decide to continue on the temazepam and are able to stabilize on it, would your doctor be willing to continue prescribing it so you could complete a symptom-guided taper?

 

Or, if you decide to reinstate on the Ambien, would your doctor be willing to increase your dose to (hopefully) resolve drug tolerance and then continue prescribing so you could complete a symptom-guided taper?

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Thanks for adding VEGERs signature, Pamster.

 

VEGERs will correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the last three lines should now be:

 

Reinstated 30mg of temazepam for 14 days; tried to stop again, felt sick after 24-36 hours

Took 15mg of Ambien (no temazepam) for 1 day; felt relaxed but did not sleep

Jul 23: Reinstating 30mg of temazepam

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When do you expect to speak with your doctor again?

 

I want to apologize, i mistakenly mentioned in another thread that 10 mgs Ambien was roughly equivalent to 30 mgs Temazepam, that was incorrect, Libertas is right on this.

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About a month for routine thyroid blood work will be the next visit. And thanks for the dosage clarification👍
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You are most welcome, VEGERs.

 

It sounds like your doctor would benefit from additional information about benzodiazepine discontinuation.  I wonder if he would respond favorably to a deprescribing guidance document written by prescribers for prescribers?

 

The document (linked below) was developed by the Benzodiazepine Action Work Group of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention. (Please note the authors were very careful to distinguish between ‘drug abuse’ and ‘drug dependence’ in the document.)  It has now been endorsed by the two major advocacy groups for improving benzodiazepine prescribing and deprescribing practices in the US (the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and the Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices).

 

The document is up-to-date, well-written, concise, and evidence-based.  Several members have shared it with their prescribers with positive results.

 

Link:

Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidance Document (January 2022)

https://corxconsortium.org/wp-content/uploads/Benzo-Deperscribing.pdf

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5 solid hours of sleep it was nice but I long for getting it the old fashion way. It’s been so many years since I’ve slept without meds I’ve forgotten what’s it’s like.
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I learned to survive on e to 5 hours of sleep with ambien all those years. I adapted to it and was able to function job, family everything but then it stops working and you literally can’t fall asleep for over a week then the panic and anxiety really start to creep in. It snowballs on you fast. I always hear people at work say they are tired because they only got 6 hours of sleep and I think to myself how wonderful2 hours would be.
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So I need to make sure if I decide to taper off the temazepam can the capsule be emptied out and divided into separate doses in another capsule? Or do I need to dissolve it into 300ml water and then divide that 30 mg dose into smaller doses? I’m unsure about this process even though I have read and watched videos.
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It sounds like you've decided to stick with the Temazepam, hopefully someone will stop by to help you fine tune the mechanics of titration.  I'll keep an eye on this thread to make sure that happens.  You can manage both dry and liquid tapering with your capsules, which one feels right to you?

 

Are you going to discontinue the Ambien or keep taking it and if so, at what dose?  Whatever you decide to do it would be a good idea to get on a steady dose of whatever you plan to take, the same dose, at the same time every day. 

 

I know what you mean about natural sleep, the chemical sleep wasn't satisfying, I too was able to function but I didn't feel that deep rested feeling the morning, I'd pop out of bed like I hadn't even been asleep.  Now that I've learned how to sleep on my own, the feeling I have each morning is delicious, and I can yawn again.  When I was on Ambien, I couldn't yawn, and I desperately wanted to.  I hope you can feel this in the future.

 

 

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No more ambien for me. I have empty gelatin capsules but no scale to measure once I empty out a 30 mg capsule. I read somewhere that you can’t do that anyway because it’s not the same as splitting a tablet? Don’t know if that is true but if it is the same I could just divvy it up into smaller amounts or just dissolve in water or milk. What would you recommend? I would like to start a dose of around 20mgs if I could.
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Im paying attention to when my symptoms begin, I took the 30mg last night at 10:45 slept until around 4. Got up at 5 and was fine and felt great until about 1pm and that slow but steady wave started creeping in. Right now it’s 8:00 and I feel the tingling in my calves just weirdness throughout.
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As I said I don't have taper experience but I've read that using a liquid is easier than dry so I'd probably go with that.  We can help you figure out your method and taper rate.

 

It sounds like you're dealing with interdose withdrawal, even though Temazepam has a longer half life than Ambien, its still a lot shorter than other benzo's.

 

I would suggest dosing at least twice a day but of course, this will interfere with your sleep but insomnia is pretty much going to be your constant companion until you're off the drug and recovered.

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When you originally tapered from your klonopin about how many days did your acute symptoms last?

 

Not sure if you're asking me this question, I quit cold turkey and I was able to return to work full time after 3 weeks, so I'd say my acute was probably about 2 weeks.

 

Have you watched any video's about liquid titration? 

 

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I have and am considering it, however I think my doctor might prescribe me a compounded version of temazapam which would make it much easier to taper.
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