Withdrawl from Klonopin and Ambien

[[Bo...]]

Hello. My name is Hannah and I am 21. Have been going through a really hard time for the past month with Klonopin and Zolpidem withdraw. (confusion, bed bound, burning and tingling, anxiety, cognitive problems) I'm so thankful for benzo buddies though and I am on all the time. We need to get all the support and encouragement that we deserve during this difficult time. Time, patience and positive outlook are key to getting though this. I wish everyone the best of luck and healing.

[[Bi...]]

Booboo9,

 

Welcoming you to Benzo Buddies.

 

You will find plenty of support here.

If you have any questions, let us know.

 

Billy.

 

If you want to ad a signature: Signature 

[[...]]

Hi,

 

Welcome and glad you found BB, have you considered crossing to diazepam (Valium)?

 

I was on ambien for almost 18 months EVERY night and it turned my world upside down. I eventually crossed to Valium and tapered that....sconce the Valium has a longer half life and is not as a strong of a benzo as klonopin it "might" make the ride down a little easier..it wasn't to bad tapering for me, the jump is the hard part IMO...

Check out this link http://ashtonbenzomanual.com/

 

Stay strong it can be done

 

[[Bo...]]

I have heard of crossing to Valium. I'm only taking 5 mg every night for a month and stopped taking it cold turkey last night and today I feel so strange. (very confused, stomach pains, balance issues, cognitive problems ect. ) Its scaring me! Its like depersonalization which I have never experienced before. Even though I hope believe the body/brain does heal itself. My thinking is so slowed. I realized that going from 5mg to 0 in 1 day is not working. I am going to taper very slowly starting tonight. I might call my doctor about the valium if the taper doesnt work well. Thanks for the advice!

[[...]]

No problem, just be aware CT'ing any kind of benzo espacially at the 5mg strength can cause seizures..

[[Pa...]]

Hello BooBoo,

 

I quit a huge amount of Ambien cold turkey, and actually felt better for it.  Ambien is not a true benzo, so seizures aren't an issue, so except for not being able to sleep, I felt better.  Because Ambien has such a short half life, I was tortured with inter-dose withdrawal, but once I quit it entirely, that stopped. 

 

My biggest problem came from the Klonopin, it took me about 14 months to heal from that, this is why I'm not a fan of crossing over to Valium in order to get off of Ambien.  Professor Ashton says you can quit Ambien cold turkey, but does give the option of crossing over to Valium.  For me, the problem is , you go from a non-benzodiazepine, to a true benzodiazepine, and to me, that's asking for trouble.  Of course, there are those who are successful doing this, Dude seems to be one of them, but I wanted to let you know that it's possible to stop taking Ambien without the need to taper, unlike the Ativan, which does need to be tapered.

 

Pam

[[...]]

Great advice Pamster, the crossover is not for everyone.

 

The crossover really helped my anxiety about the wd's from the ambien...

 

If you can deal with literally days of no sleep from cold turkeying the ambien, go for it I couldn't do it...the 7 seven days I was awake when my brother died eternally scared me from losing any kind of sleep, so I went with the crossover...

 

Whatever you do I wish you the best..

 

[[Pa...]]

Great advice Pamster, the crossover is not for everyone.

 

The crossover really helped my anxiety about the wd's from the ambien...

 

If you can deal with literally days of no sleep from cold turkeying the ambien, go for it I couldn't do it...the 7 seven days I was awake when my brother died eternally scared me from losing any kind of sleep, so I went with the crossover...

 

Whatever you do I wish you the best..

 

Hi Dude,

 

I read about the loss of your brother, I'm so very sorry.    I'm glad the crossover worked for you, I've seen it work for others, as well as tapering the Ambien, one member had her Ambien compounded a did a very slow taper.  There are many options available to us, thank goodness, so hopefully, everyone can choose the best course for them.  That's the great thing about BenzoBuddies, we can all share our experiences in the hope of helping someone else. 

 

Pam

[[Me...]]

Hi Pamster

 

Sorry to hijack Booboo 9 thread but how much Ambien did you c/t from and how long were you on it for?

 

From my signature you will see that I had two very unsuccessful attempts to c/t it.  The first time I was given Seroquel to "cover" the w/d's but I was kept on Benzo's.  The Seroquel made me violently ill and although it helped with sleep initially it had to be updosed within 3weeks (tolerance).  My second attempt to c/t the Zolpidem and Benzo awa the Seroquel (in a rehab) resulted in 21 nights of Zero Sleep, horrific w/ds and I was transferred to a Psych hospital for a further 3 weeks (to be poly drugged) and benzo's and Z-drugs were reinstated.  I have since c/t the Benzo again and am now directly tapering the Zolpidem and even at 14mg I am only getting about 3 -4 hours a night.  I am a working mom and have 3 kids so any tips or advice please?

[[Bo...]]

I was on 10mg and then 5mg of Ambien/zolpidem for about a month then stopped with no problems and went back on 5 mg for the past week now. I stopped taking it cold turkey 2 days ago and felt horrible the next day. It was like inter dose withdrawl but worse. I felt very confused, burning nerves, anxiety, shaky. I'm now taking 2.5 mg of ambien and feel better. I think it was poisoning me or something or I was tolorent to its effects. Cant wait until This is over. Im so so sorry you went 21 nights of zero sleep. I actually went 12 nights with zero sleep and went to the ER bc I was losing it (the torture of not being able to sleep) They gave me ambien and It saved my life but now trying to get off of it. I promise that sleep does come back. It takes practice and believing in yourself that you will be able to sleep. I had to use guided imagery and Epsom salt baths and some real calming/meditative exercises to get my sleep back to normal. You have to believe that it will happen and get rid of all the unnecessary stress in your life that you can. Its a difficult road but sleep will come. from experience.

[[Me...]]

Hi BooBoo

 

Well done on getting down to 2.5mg.  My biggest drawback is the fact that I have never gone a single night in 12years without Zolpidem except for when I was on the Seroquel and the benzo and in the rehab and then of course I never slept.  I think if I had of got even a couple of hours every 3 or 4 nights I would of been able to pull it off. Unfortunately by the 21st night I was a basket case and the withdrawals I was experiencing were relentless - I could tolerate the brain zaps, shaking, anxiety and even the agoraphobia but the sensations of my brain shaking in my head were the worst.  I was totally suicidal even the rehab thought I was going to die.

 

I watched alcoholics, heroin,meth,CAT and opian addicts recover and go home and I just got sicker and sicker - totally sole destroying. 

 

[[...]]

That's crazy meeeee.... It boggles me how they allow these drugs to be prescribed the way they are...

[[Fe...]]

You guys are scaring me. I am struggling to get off Klonopin and then Ambiem. Ambiem sometimes knocks me out for hours so I hope I don't have too much trouble once I get off of this horrible drug known as Klonopin.

[[...]]

You guys are scaring me. I am struggling to get off Klonopin and then Ambiem. Ambiem sometimes knocks me out for hours so I hope I don't have too much trouble once I get off of this horrible drug known as Klonopin.

 

I see from your signature that you take ambien to help you with the the WD from klonopin?

[[Pa...]]

Hi Pamster

 

Sorry to hijack Booboo 9 thread but how much Ambien did you c/t from and how long were you on it for?

 

From my signature you will see that I had two very unsuccessful attempts to c/t it.  The first time I was given Seroquel to "cover" the w/d's but I was kept on Benzo's.  The Seroquel made me violently ill and although it helped with sleep initially it had to be updosed within 3weeks (tolerance).  My second attempt to c/t the Zolpidem and Benzo awa the Seroquel (in a rehab) resulted in 21 nights of Zero Sleep, horrific w/ds and I was transferred to a Psych hospital for a further 3 weeks (to be poly drugged) and benzo's and Z-drugs were reinstated.  I have since c/t the Benzo again and am now directly tapering the Zolpidem and even at 14mg I am only getting about 3 -4 hours a night.  I am a working mom and have 3 kids so any tips or advice please?

 

Hi Meeeee,

 

You need to understand that I did not cold turkey Klonopin and Ambien at the same time, so my experience is different from yours.  I quit Klonopin, then a few months later, I started taking Ambien, I turned to a drug I knew was trouble to help me through the Klonopin withdrawal.  I do not recommend a cold turkey from a true benzo, it's dangerous and brings on some pretty horrific withdrawal symptoms as you've found out.  I'm not familiar with Dormonoct, I see it's a short acting hypnotic so I would imagine the inter-dose withdrawal you were living with was horrible, since it's half life isn't much longer than Ambien. 

 

I know you need to remain functional in your life, but this is going to take some time.  I didn't know I needed to taper Klonopin when I quit, I had no idea what I was in for.  I thought I could tough it out for a week or two, not realizing it would take months to heal. 

 

I don't know what to tell you, but I've learned that there are no drugs to help us get through this, that the only answer to everyone's question is time.  I know that doesn't help or comfort you, but it's the truth.  Oh, and to answer your question about the length of time I took Ambien, it was about 11 months, and I really have no idea how much I was taking at the end, it could have been between 60 to 100 mgs a day, and I still couldn't sleep more than an hour at a time.  I truly know why Michael Jackson sought the help he did to sleep, these drugs rob you of the ability to sleep, and take away your soul in the process. 

 

 

[[Pa...]]

You guys are scaring me. I am struggling to get off Klonopin and then Ambiem. Ambiem sometimes knocks me out for hours so I hope I don't have too much trouble once I get off of this horrible drug known as Klonopin.

 

I don't mean to scare you, we all have different experiences.  The worst drug for me in terms of withdrawal symptoms was the Klonopin.  I've seen some people use Ambien while getting through benzo withdrawal, and successfully get off of it when it was time.  I have addictive tendencies, so my use of the Ambien ballooned out of control, and the only way for me to quit was to stop cold turkey.  All or nothing is a bitch sometimes for people like me, but I owe my life to stopping alcohol 20 years ago, Klonopin 5 years ago and Ambien 4 years ago this way. 

 

By the way, I'm done doing this to myself, third times the charm.    I'm living happily ever after and if I can, then so can you. 

[[Pa...]]

I was on 10mg and then 5mg of Ambien/zolpidem for about a month then stopped with no problems and went back on 5 mg for the past week now. I stopped taking it cold turkey 2 days ago and felt horrible the next day. It was like inter dose withdrawl but worse. I felt very confused, burning nerves, anxiety, shaky. I'm now taking 2.5 mg of ambien and feel better. I think it was poisoning me or something or I was tolorent to its effects. Cant wait until This is over. Im so so sorry you went 21 nights of zero sleep. I actually went 12 nights with zero sleep and went to the ER bc I was losing it (the torture of not being able to sleep) They gave me ambien and It saved my life but now trying to get off of it. I promise that sleep does come back. It takes practice and believing in yourself that you will be able to sleep. I had to use guided imagery and Epsom salt baths and some real calming/meditative exercises to get my sleep back to normal. You have to believe that it will happen and get rid of all the unnecessary stress in your life that you can. Its a difficult road but sleep will come. from experience.

 

Hi BooBoo,

 

I'm sorry for hijacking your thread, but I agree Ambien is a lifesaver, but it also destroys, so I'm glad you're working your way off of it.  Keep using your calming exercises and Epsom salts, those are your safest and best bets. 

[[...]]

Using Ambien to get off anything is ludicrous IMO...

 

Ambien is the devil and I would rather die then touch another one of those Z pills.. Your playing with fire if you think you can just take ambien through your wd's and then jump off ambien...unless you have the will power to take it for the reccomended length which is no longer then 7-14 days.. I took it for 18 months and it ruined me for a period of time,

 

Stay away from ambien period is my stance..

 

Best wishes

[[Fe...]]

I was already on Ambiem before I had the episode with Interdose withdrawal for Xanax. I think that is what started my sleep problems and I didn't realized it. I'm really not sure but it was there shorlty before I started my journey to get off Benzo's. The rest of the stuff my doctor put me on to help me get off Bezo's in the hospital and when I questioned him he got very mad. So, for now I am going to get off K and then try to get off the rest a little at a time. I often sleep too much so once I feel I am through with K withdrawal I am going to start making cuts in my Ambiem. I am on 10mg and have only been on for about 6 to 8 months I not sure but I will find out when I go back to my PCP.

[[...]]

I wish y'ou the best,I suggest getting off that ambien ASAP... The longer your on it the longer it is gonna take your body to relearn how to fall and stay asleep, crossing to Valium saved my life ...

 

Good luck