Ambien Withdrawal Advise?

I have taken Ambien 5 mgs for the last 6 years for no more than 3-4 times a week with no interdose withdrawal problems.  However, 5 weeks ago I made the mistake of using it more than I should and then drank some alcohol 4 days ago.  i'm not usually an alcohol drinker but I did slip into the habit of about 12 beers in the spread over the previous 3 weeks out of carelessness.  Now I have been 3 days without Ambien or alcohol and am having pretty severe withdrawal symptoms.  I plan to try to ride it out cold turkey and never use the Ambien or alcohol again.  Any advise about how to accomplish this would be so very much appreciated.  I know I did a really dumb thing.  In the past, if I started to take Ambien a few too many times and I experienced interdose withdrawals  a couple of times in the last few years I was able to get it back under control by skipping 5-6 days and was OK.  The only difference this time is I know I shocked my system with too much alcohol a few days ago so withdrawal seems to be more intense this time.  The only other thing is that a few nights in the last 3-4 weeks I substituted Ambien 5mgs for an over the counter sleep supplement with 50mgs of Valerian and some Passionflower in it and I don't know if this caused a problem.

 

My question is do you think it is OK or safe if I just cold turkey like I have done in the past or am I better to taper by taking it every other day or something. I have never taken Ambien every day for the last 6 years.  I have really learned my lesson this time and won't repeat these mistakes!

 

I will never make these mistakes again once this is healed.

 

Investartist

 

In the last 41 days I took Ambien 5mgs 20 days and took 50 mgs Valerian 5 other times.  So I averaged one 5mg Ambien evey other day.  I did go 6 days in a row without anything 3 weeks ago with success.  I'm really hoping I can just stop it now and let the withdrawal subside as I have done in the past in a week or so.

I tapered Ambien just over the course of 2 weeks. Was on it about a year but I was taking much more. It was taking 15mg to keep me out all night the side effects were much less than with benzos

I CT'd off both ambien and clonazapam. At the end of a month, I'm finally sleeping mostly normally with 5mg melatonin (don't buy the cheap shit, you get what you pay for), a tulsi capsule with tulsi tea (calms down the cortisol), and binaural/isochronic beats at night. I take it about 2 hours before I go to bed. The tulsi seems to take a day or two of continuous use (4 times a day) to really start working. I've cut that back to 1-2 times a day.

 

I've had chronic insomnia due to PTSD (childhood trauma) all my life. I had developed this phobia of being terrified that I wouldn't go to sleep, and if I did, I wouldn't get enough sleep. Which of course, is a catch-22. Worrying about it will keep you from doing it. Finally convinced myself that, okay, so you don't get enough sleep. You're just going to be tired, it isn't the end of the world. Just means I'll sleep better the next night. Been doing EMDR for the last year, along with some CBT. Starting neurofeedback next week to see if I can get my brain patterns straightened out.