Wellbutrin, Doxepin, Codeine, Ambien

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300 mg Wellbutrin a.m, 10 mg Doxepin, 5 mg Ambien at bedtime + another 5 ambien around 1 a.m. and Hydrocodone 5-10 mg divided dose most days for chronic pain.  Lorazepam also at bedtime, 2mg.  The Loraz was started to help with the extreme insommnia from tapering off seroquel this fall.  I've been on these things for about a year, am now tapering the lorazepam.  Does anyone have any info/experience with such a smorgasbord?

 

Snow

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All that and I still can't sleep.  Can't tell sleep deprivations from withdrawal symptoms from SE of other meds.

[[Th...]]

300 mg Wellbutrin a.m, 10 mg Doxepin, 5 mg Ambien at bedtime + another 5 ambien around 1 a.m. and Hydrocodone 5-10 mg divided dose most days for chronic pain.  Lorazepam also at bedtime, 2mg.  The Loraz was started to help with the extreme insommnia from tapering off seroquel this fall.  I've been on these things for about a year, am now tapering the lorazepam.  Does anyone have any info/experience with such a smorgasbord?

 

Snow

 

Hi Snow,

 

That's a lot of meds.  Were you diagnosed for depression? You didn't mention that. When did your anxiety start? Was it after your shoulder surgery? When did you start having insomnia? Did you cold turkey off the seroquel? Lot of questions but when everyone can see the whole picture, it may help in giving their experiences and what worked for them. Have you done your research on the different drugs you are on?

 

Hope you are sleeping now??

 

T2

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Hi Snow,

 

I'm not sure about the other meds, but the benzo and the Ambien I know well.  The Ambien is a major contributor to your insomnia.  The more you take, the less you'll sleep.  If you keep up the dosing during the night, pretty soon you'll only sleep an hour at a time.  Then, you'll develop real issues.  You'll find that you'll need it during the day too.  You'll tell yourself that you just need to take it so you can take a little nap, but the nap will only last for an hour too.  After awhile this way, you'll find you have no appetite and can only eat something shortly after you've taken an Ambien.  Okay, I haven't been talking about you, I've been talking about me.  All of this happened to me after I quit the benzo's and was living with the cold turkey.  Hard to believe that Ambien did all of that to me, but it did.

Getting off of the Ambien was tough, I had to learn how to sleep again and that took weeks of suffering, but it was nothing like the suffering from the benzo withdrawal.

 

Please do what you can to get off of the Ambien, it's BAD stuff.

 

Take care.....

 

Pam

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I agree that Ambien is BAD stuff and I found it very hard to get off it.  I did all the benzo type tolerances with it many times over the years and kept telling myself I need to get off this but finally this past summer I started the process to do it and fought it all the way. 

 

Now over 2 months off it, I still haven't found what "normal" sleep is and not sure I ever will but my mind works better off it.   

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a little more history - My shoulder injury occurred August 08, finally had surgery April 09.  With the constant pain came depression.  I had trials of Cymbalta and Lexapro, and it was awful.  Once I got those out of my system I was left with severe, unceasing anxiety, which led to a week's hospitalization where I was started on Seroquel.  I started working with a psychiatrist when discharged - who switched me from Seroquel to Doxepin and added the Wellbutrin.   This switch was hard work, and I could not sleep without the seroquel, so he added Lorazepam. I had been taking Ambien for several years, and it ceased to work, so I'm not much tempted by it, but we thought (think) it better to get off the Lorazepam first, and then look at the mess and see what to do next.  

I have a medical background, and am pretty informed about these meds, the bottom line being they're all bad for you in the long run.

 I don't think I am clinically depressed and do not have anxiety any more either.  Just the meds and their se's and wd sx's.  Insomnia is the worst. I have come to tolerate it better, but life is not the same and it's a tough card to be dealt, as we all know.

 

Snow

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See this is ridiculous. I agree with Theresa. It's as if they're just throwing med at you like a Velcro dardboard and seeing which ones stick.

 

Come on, this guy's going to cold-turkey you off Seroquel and expect SLEEP?

 

Then rather do a proper titration from Seroquel, they put you on lorazepam 2 mg (a benzo) which in itself needs to be properly and slowly tapered.

 

I have a medical background, and am pretty informed about these meds, the bottom line being they're all bad for you in the long run.

 

Yep.

 

"I don't think I am clinically depressed"

 

Snow, IMO, it is always irresponsible to initiate a patient on ADs unless they are in fact clinically depressed.

 

Btw., fyi hydrocodone is Vicodin; Codeine is several time less potent (and addictive).

 

Ten

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See this is ridiculous. I agree with Theresa. It's as if they're just throwing med at you like a Velcro dardboard and seeing which ones stick.

 

Come on, this guy's going to cold-turkey you off Seroquel and expect SLEEP?

 

Then rather do a proper titration from Seroquel, they put you on lorazepam 2 mg (a benzo) which in itself needs to be properly and slowly tapered

 

Snow, IMO, it is always irresponsible to initiate a patient on ADs unless they are in fact clinically depressed.

 

Btw., fyi hydrocodone is Vicodin; Codeine is several time less potent (and addictive).

 

Ten

 

I did taper off the Seroquel, rapidly - wasn't cold turkey.  But I do agree with all the above.  Quite the rat's nest. 

Ten, I'm thinking you mean codeine is less potent and addictive than benzos

right?  That would explain why I am able to prevent tolerance by taking a "holiday" for a couple days when I can.

 

Snow

[[Po...]]

Snow- The thing that concerns me most is the way your doc seems to be having you try all these different drugs like they are M&Ms. There are some realcontradicting combinations. I think taking doxepin and wellbutrin at the same time is a no-no based on how they are metabolized, one cause the build up of the other, though at this moment I am not sure which. Have you ever used the drug interaction sites online where you can go and type in all the drugs you are on and it will spit out the possible interactions. Word of caution, some are better than others.

 

As for doxepin, I have been on it for 25 years anywhere from 300mgs when I was severely depressed (i.e. suicidal) to my current dose of 60, from which I am tapering. The main concern for doxepin is cardio-toxicity in high doses, eg. 300+. Sounds like you are on a very low dose...10mgs?...which is not much.  My main recommendation is to check all the possibvle drug interactions you are dealing with. try this one:

 

http://www.drugdigest.org

 

Pokey

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Thanks, Pokey.

 

Snow

[[ka...]]

Snow,

 

Don't feel bad at all, I was on a "cocktail" myself!    All dr prescribed..................norco ( hydrocodone), soma, soma with codeine, Xanax, and trazadone..........added in some ambien and still could not get a winks worth of sleep.........imagine that!

 

I ct off all that in Feb, in fact today is 90 days clean off all that mess.............I did end up on 8mgs of klonopin due to the ct xanax wd, but am on my way down.........made a cut today so am down to 6.5mgs of klonopin.    It is so true, dr's do treat you like a velcro dart board.      They wanted me to leave the detox center on: Trazadone 350mgs ( I only took 25 mgs, ever).........abilify, Serequel, and Zyprexa.    I kept wondering why would I get on all that LEAVING a detox center???    I refused, they had a cow, I fought back and ended up getting them to cut out all but $141 of my bill  haha............they tried to kill me, I sware!

 

But I just didn't want you to think you were the only one on a cocktail of drugs..................my mother was talking to a nurse friend of hers from a reputable state, ( Indiana is awful) and she was blindsided that I was on such a huge amount of drugs, all prescribed by dr's...............and they all knew what I was taking!!!!

 

Anyhoo, I ct off it all and lived to tell about it, so hang in there and know you are not alone...........dr's do it to us and we thought we could trust them so we take them, but they just throw stuff at us hoping it will work instead of getting us off the stuff that is making us sick!

 

 

Blessings, Karen

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  That is quite a cocktail, esp. with the opiate. Couldnt agree more on the Ambien. Tried 10mg ONCE 5 years ago..no thanks.

 

  Congratulations on your continued success and on your journey to wellnes.

 

on and off benzos

 

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Hi Karen -

 

thanks so much for the words of support.  There are problems with doctors - yet for the most part I've pretty much been a co-partner in my own healthcare.  There were good reasons for these prescriptions - still are some good reasons for most of them as I am gaining strength and confidence after a year and a half of pain, depression and anxiety.  I have needed them.  I am now at the point where I can work on becoming drug-free, and am glad for the physicians I have found to work respectfully and compassionately with me on this journey to health.

 

I hope the same for you!  I am so sorry you had that terrible detox experience.  Sounds like you're one strong girl!

 

Snow

 

Snow

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Anyhoo, I ct off it all and lived to tell about it, so hang in there and know you are not alone...........dr's do it to us and we thought we could trust them so we take them, but they just throw stuff at us hoping it will work instead of getting us off the stuff that is making us sick!

 

I just need to point out to those reading the above, it is very dangerous to cold turkey off a large dose of benzos. A cold turkey off antidepressants probably carry their own risks too. Do not alter your prescription without talking with your doctor.

[[ka...]]

Oh Colin,

 

I am sorry and did not mean to misinform anyone.............the detox center ct'd me from xanax, and the other mess, I did NOT do that myself and begged them not too trying to explain how dangerous it was, but they said it was fine with only being on 3mgs..........

 

I would NEVER ct a benzo!

 

As far as the pain meds and soma, the ct, well, I could do that standing on my head compared to this benzo withdrawal...............

 

sorry for any confusion!

Karen

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You sound like me, when I first started out, before they kept adding even more medications to help with the increased insomnia and other symptoms.  You sound like you are on the right road in trying to get off this stuff.  I've been on everything you mentioned.  I agree with what others wrote here, too.  I do like the velcro joke.  If I take vicodin, norco, etc., any hyrocodone I do not sleep -- at all.  It is the worst or best, depending on your point of view, insomnia I have ever experienced.  My guess is the combination is really messing you up.  Not knowing this stuff at the time, I stopped the ambien first, then the psych drugs except the benzo and opiates.  But, by then, years later, I was on fentanyl and had found the highest doses of temazepam as useless.  I started taking this stuff because of back pain and fatigue issues.  I don't want this session to time out on me again.  In short, I was astounded that my pain off the fentanyl and all pain meds was no where near as bad as when I was taking them.  As you may guess, my anxiety off the meds is nothing compared to the way it was while taking the anti-anxiety meds.  One step at a time.

[[la...]]

What you describe is very similar to the max cocktail I was taking at one point.

 

Ambien has actually proved to be the most difficult to drop, but it's a work in progress.

 

I was not able to find doctors to help me taper slowly and, as a matter of fact, was forced by the medical system to cut the big cocktail cold turkey.  Fortunately, I survived and felt better soon after.

 

I'm very grateful to be working with a supportive doctor now on a controlled taper off of Ambien.

 

So glad to see you broke free from the cocktail prison.  Be well!