Ambien after Kolonopin Help

I tapered off of Kolonopin this summer. I continued to struggle with insomnia and its recently gotten worse the last few weeks where I usually average 3hrs a night and then zombie my way through work. I had taking Ambien on and off but I had not had any since stopping the Kolonopin. I've been taking 10mg Ambien for the last three nights and just read that it's like a benzo. I'm totally freaking out and feel like I've ruined my brain all over again. I'm so scared I've brought myself back into the benzo nightmare. It was horrifying getting off the Kolonopin and I'm really anxious.

You didn't ruin your brain, but it is a bit scrambled from the benzo withdrawal right now and adding Ambien is just turning the blender to a higher speed setting. I got into an incredible problem with Ambien so it is not some benign drug at all. The sooner you stop taking it, the less damage you will have to recover from.

You didn't ruin your brain, but it is a bit scrambled from the benzo withdrawal right now and adding Ambien is just turning the blender to a higher speed setting. I got into an incredible problem with Ambien so it is not some benign drug at all. The sooner you stop taking it, the less damage you will have to recover from.

 

I second that.  I took ambien for many years, and it is a hard drug to get off of, particularly if you have developed tolerance.  Since you have taken it short-term, you need not worry.  Wishing you well!

I tapered off of Kolonopin this summer. I continued to struggle with insomnia and its recently gotten worse the last few weeks where I usually average 3hrs a night and then zombie my way through work. I had taking Ambien on and off but I had not had any since stopping the Kolonopin. I've been taking 10mg Ambien for the last three nights and just read that it's like a benzo. I'm totally freaking out and feel like I've ruined my brain all over again. I'm so scared I've brought myself back into the benzo nightmare. It was horrifying getting off the Kolonopin and I'm really anxious.

 

If you’re able to control your Ambien intake. Limit it to like 3 nights a week. That shouldn’t be much of a problem. The best thing would be to taper it to 0, by dry cutting. Ambien is less addictive than classic benzos. But ppl react to it differently. Funny thing is. If you take it at night, you suffer WD effects everyday. It’s half-life is 2 hrs. There are plenty of less addictive antihistamine sleep aids on the market. Visit a sleep specialist. I find Phenergan syrup very useful. Ashton also recommends it (see table about promethazine). 12,5 ml of this syrup is able to knock me down. So I guess if you take like 50 ml, you become unconscious.

 

Ashton on promethazine (Phenergan)

Personally, I would not be taking any Ambien right now. Benzo withdrawal leaves GABA receptors all out of whack and the stimulation that that Ambien provides them will only mess them up a lot more. You want sleep now, but are you really willing to pay the possible price of a longer lasting and deeper insomnia problem? Learning to better accept and deal with your current insomnia might be a better option. At some point you are going to have to do that anyway.

Personally, I would not be taking any Ambien right now. Benzo withdrawal leaves GABA receptors all out of whack and the stimulation that that Ambien provides them will only mess them up a lot more. You want sleep now, but are you really willing to pay the possible price of a longer lasting and deeper insomnia problem? Learning to better accept and deal with your current insomnia might be a better option. At some point you are going to have to do that anyway.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe just tapering by splitting the pills would be a better idea. Like splitting first in halves, then in quarters.

Thank you all for responding! I saw a sleep specialist yesterday and it was very helpful. I'm also going to look into that syrup. I think it's better to suffer The insomnia than continue the Ambien. My GABA doesn't need any more damage!

Thank you all for responding! I saw a sleep specialist yesterday and it was very helpful. I'm also going to look into that syrup. I think it's better to suffer The insomnia than continue the Ambien. My GABA doesn't need any more damage!

 

Phenergan could help you with the taper. If there’s no syrup, try the pills. It’s structurally related to Vistaril. Herbal remedies are pretty strong. Like lemon balm, hops, passiflora. Magnesium is very good for sleep. If Ashton says Phenergan kicks in after 2 hrs, maybe it does. Probably the syrup kicks in quicker. My pdoc says so. Ambien is crap. Pdocs now say it’s just as evil as classic benzos. The same pdocs that gave me Ambien for sleep yrs ago... How very funny.

Ambien is a benzo as your tolerance goes up.  I took Ambien for 11 years. It started off beautiful, my tolerance was low, no side effects. I thought it was not addictive. Fast forward a decade and I was taking 70MG nightly.  Trust me on this, it's Just as evil as most Benzos. It's a short acting drug like Xanax. Not as bad as that particular drug, but pretty close.  I switched to Valium for over a year now.  You know Ambien is bad, and a bitch too get off of when the experts tell you to switch to a long acting Benzo like Valium because it's a nightmare (almost as bad as Xanax) to get off of. 

I need to find new gp... mine left.

 

Promethazine hard to get?  I had mentionedn to him and he said it for nauseau... tho I see is for allergies, of which I have a ton.

 

It's an antihistamine?  I don't do too well on them...

 

thanks.

 

Also is staying on low valium or low restoril better than taking ambien sometimes?

My sleep has been broken since I jumped. Typically 3-4 hrs a night. Well, I got slight increase of sleep this week and last night was all time long 6 hrs. I decided stay away drugs but suffer if needed in order to let natural sleep return. Rather sooner than later but lets see what happens. I ct Elavil and Melatonin as well so it is up to God and/or by body recovery process to give me sleep or not.