No Ambien for two months.

Dear forum!

 

It's only been two months since I last took Ambien (zolpidem). Nevertheless, I would like to post something positive today.

 

I've been taking Ambien for 15 years (5mg) and cut back fairly quickly (not recommended of course - just my way). In the last two years of taking it, I have repeatedly had strange symptoms such as dizziness, benzo flu, tension all over my body and rare but strange anxiety and panic attacks that I have never had before. I've been to a cardiologist to get my heart checked, spent a lot of money on massages, changed my diet, and seen a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. I came across this forum late and found the answer to many of my questions. I was in rehab every day. Nevertheless, I have to say that I was able to sleep about 7-8 hours every day with the tablet.

 

For the first few days of the weaning process, I tried to stick to the 10% rule and then unfortunately got impatient. Therefore, I stopped completely at 2.5 mg. I struggled with a lot of symptoms for the first two weeks, but I surprisingly found about 5 hours of sleep each night (not straight).

 

For anyone interested, here are my hours of sleep over the first two months (weeks):

 

1: 5-5-7-5-5-5-5

2: 7-5-7-5-7-5-7

3: 7-7-7-5-4-7-8

4: 5-8-7-7-4-5-8

5: 7-5-8-5-8-7-6

6: 6-7-7-7-6-6-4

7: 8-5-8-4-8-3-9

8: 5-8-3-8-3-9-4

 

I wake up very often and have been in a wave for a few days in my view. The frequent awakening is accompanied by a strong urge to urinate (probably the underlying fear). In the second half of the night, slight bouts of anxiety are possible, but I usually get them under control quickly with breathing techniques, etc.).

 

I currently do without coffee, alcohol and tea (actually I only drink water). I don't take any other dietary supplements or aids and hope that time will make my sleep more restful again. My sleep window currently starts at 7pm and ends at 5am. The large sleeping window gives me the certainty of finding enough sleep. Later, of course, I want to reduce it. The chemical fear and the frequent visits to the toilet are currently the most stressful for me. Otherwise I can currently do my work with 4 hours of sleep (of course not recovered).

 

I've read that the receptors take at least 90 days to recover and (as we all read from Ashton) can take months to heal. Hopefully I can also post a success story at some point.

 

Getting enough sleep is easily the biggest problem right now. Chemical fears are likely to stand in the way of a further recovery. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize the positive! After 15 years of Ambien, I can sleep unaided (albeit badly at times). So we can heal and you and the forum have helped me a lot on my path so far.

 

I wish you all a lot of strength and a nice weekend! Greetings from Europe!

 

This is great to read! I think that you have the right idea to accept the broken sleep, the less hours, because this is natural, normal sleep. I often worry about people who require meds to sleep given what we've seen with supply chain issues, or if china decides to deny the USA all their drugs. wouldn't require an army to mess us up! Anyway, congratulations to you!

Thanks for posting an update, you've done the work to get off of the drug and you're still doing the work by practicing good sleep hygiene and acceptance that this will take what it takes.  I can see sweet slumber in your future. 

Update 2 1/2 months off:

 

Sleep related week/hours:

9:9-6-7-6-6-6-5

10: 7-7-7-7-8-4-7

 

Remaining symptoms: broken sleep, hard time to fall asleep (2 hours). Could be a "window" (other symptoms). It's getting more difficult to tell when I am awake or asleep. I will stop checking the clock from now on. It doesn't matter (6:30am alarm). Bedtime 21:30 for the moment. My benzodamaged brain tells me that's it. I will not improve further. We will see

 

Happy Easter!

 

Well done sabitzer, gosh I would give my right arm for that amount of sleep, but Im hoping. Keep it up.

Dear forum! My Update!

 

Week 11-15: There were 2-3 uncomfortable nights (with 3-4 hours of sleep). The rest has leveled off at at least 6-8 hours. For weeks I have had no other symptoms apart from the problem of falling asleep. As soon as I fall asleep, the sleep duration depends only on the alarm clock (until I have to get up). The problems falling asleep were the reason for starting Zolpidem in the first place. Before what I consider to be important days, I seem to be very nervous and worried about not being able to function. So far, however, this has never come true.

 

To calm my nervous system, I started strength and endurance training a month ago. I'm eliminating stress from my life step by step and I've also taken a step back at work. I am in nature every day and love long walks. However, when it comes to sleep, I don't think anything can force natural sleep. Only my complete acceptance of not being able to influence anything and time to heal my nerves to some extent will bring the last step towards complete healing (shorter time to fall asleep).

 

Have courage! It's not easy some nights. However, I have never been this fit and healthy (have had a check-up). Now the psyche has to come to rest Progress! Be kind to yourself!! Don't give up! All the best!!

 

 

I love your update, you're not letting anything get in the way of your health and sleep hygiene, good for you.  If many of us had done this before reaching for these nasty drugs we wouldn't have ended up here. 

 

You're amazing! 

Way to go Sab! I’m happy for you 

 

:smitten:

Dear forum!

 

Short update! I was always looking for such information in the forum and you guys helped me a lot. 9 months no more pills. Sorry for the clumsy English (not my first language).

 

Here are some pleasant things that were possible again from the summer: trips to Paris, a cruise, excursions into nature, a new hobby, up to an hour of sports a day in the gym, I drink coffee again, sorted my private life and like before mentioned somewhat scaled back professionally. Despite the catastrophic world situation, I am personally confident for the next year. Why am I writing this? Part of the healing process after all the side effects and problems of the last few months was getting my brain to rest. For some of us it is probably necessary to reorient our lives in general in order to eliminate the causes that led to the taking of pills.

 

What are the current withdrawal symptoms? Sometimes it takes me even longer to fall asleep (1 hour or more). After that, sleep is usually not a problem and I wake up on time (routine). I still had restless legs in between, but that's gone a month ago. There are hardly any worries about bad sleep and I no longer think about the night during the day.

 

Maybe it's just a window. That's why I don't dare to post under the heading "success stories". Still, for me it's after 15 years!! taking some kind of rebirth! We can all do it! Don't be fooled. I couldn't believe it at the beginning of the trip either. We can all do it! Give yourself time and "clean up" your life or ensure less stress!

 

Greetings from Europe!

Another excellent update, I love hearing that you don't think about bedtime during the day, its a real milestone when we stop fearing it. 

 

 

Hi folks!

 

More than 15 months have passed since my last dose of Ambien. All withdrawal symptoms have passed a long time ago. Restless legs were the last symptom at about 7 months off Ambien. I am still sticking with all the changes I made for my life. I exercise daily (I have never exercised before quitting Ambien), try to eat healthy and reduced stress as far as possible. Not only that, but I have been able to handle every situation without the "pills". Did I have bad nights over the last 15 months? Yes, a limited number of nights were bad, but I have been able to handle the next day with only a few hours of sleep. Slowly, the nightmare of quitting Ambien fades away. Stay strong! Don't give up!!!

Your story is so inspiring! Write a sucess story please! We need more success stories!