Will my brain still heal if I am taking Ambien after finishing my Flurazepam taper?

[[El...]]

Will my brain still heal if I am taking Ambien after finishing my Flurazepam taper? I finished tapering off of Flurazepam 30 mg in July 2023, after 14 months of tapering. The most horrible symptom was still there: insomnia. I then requested a small dose of Ambien from my doctor to help alleviate my insomnia. The dose helped me sleep better, although I still suffered some rough nights. In late August, I requested the lowest dose of Ambien CR to help manage my insomnia (went from 5 mg to 6.25 mg). I am torn about using Ambien. Has anyone read any literature about using Ambien after a benzo withdrawal? Is my brain still healing or did it stop? Is Ambien doing more damage? My goal is to taper the Ambien, but I am scared about not sleeping. Should I bite the bullet and switch to something else (like Lunesta) to manage my insomnia? I have to keep believing it will just get better. I haven't touched a benzo since my last dose in July and never will.

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[El...], I started taking Ambien several months into my cold turkey from Klonopin.  I have no idea when I healed from that cold turkey but days after I stopped taking Ambien, I was completely recovered.  I believe the Ambien was keeping me sick, its classified as a non-benzodiazepine but it works similarly to them.  

I would taper the Ambien sooner rather than later, I don’t believe you can recover if you keep taking it and switching to Lunesta isn’t wise, its a cousin to Zopiclone which I consider to be the worst of the z-drugs. 

Table 1 lists Zolpidem (Ambien) and its equivalence to diazepam.  https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha01.htm#24

Professor Ashton provides a taper schedule for z-drugs. https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s12

 

[[Ma...]]

No

[[hl...]]

No. Ambien is a benzodiazepine. Don’t take it after your taper. If you absolutely cannot sleep take Benadryl instead, I along with other members don’t have any issues with it