Z-Drug Support Group (Lunesta, Imovane, Zimovane, Ambien, Sonata, Zopiclone)

[Guest [Lo...]]

I tapered my Ambien by getting 100 mg pills and reducing by 100 mg a month. I went too fast -- at 300 mgs I wish I had opened the capsules and poured half out. So reducing that way -- just dropping 100 mgs at a time might be an option for you. Short of crossing over to valium (I sure didn't want to do that after a 3+ year valium taper) I couldn't think of another way to taper. It had long since ceased helping me get any sleep -- I was just left with rotten tolerance and bad s/x similar to my benzo taper.

 

But my taper method worked. I have been free of Ambien for about two years.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Katz

Thank you Katz.  How do I get 100 mg pills?  I will share this with my dr.  Do you recommend tapering Klonopin .5 taken for many years first or after or at the same time?  Again, Thank you!

[Guest [Lo...]]

Hello,

I am tryiing to come up with a plan for getting off about 7.5 Ambien and .5 Klonopin used for many years.  Ambien for 5 months.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you

Lookinup

[Guest [Lo...]]

Ambien interdose withdrawal?  How to deal with that?

[[wa...]]

Many recommend tapering one drug at a time and the short acting Ambien first.  Taper to lower RX dose and dry cut.  You can take it in two or more doses to reduce interdose withdrawal but not much you can do except continue slowly downward off that stuff once the interdose w/d starts.  It can be done!  WBB

[[al...]]

I think that the Ambien inter-dose withdrawals will be a part of the story until you are no longer taking the drug. They will then be replaced by stronger withdrawal symptoms for a while and then things will slowly begin to stabilize. Insomnia can be rough and long lasting afterward, but you will get through it. I always wondered how much anxiety and depression was directly caused by withdrawal symptoms and much was a side-effect of sleep deprivation. I do know that I was at my craziest while still taking Ambien after tolerance set in.

[Guest [Lo...]]

Thanks for. Your input.  I am also taking Klonopin, so I don’t know if withdrawal from Ambien affects that. . .

[Guest [Lo...]]

Hello,

Would love to her from someone about how to taper Ambien.  Also take .5.Klonopin at night.  Thanks!

Lookinup

[[or...]]

Hi.

 

Well, I tapered my Ambien by getting 5 mg tablets prescribed for me. (I was at 10 mgs). Then I cut one of the 5 mgs into 1/8 ths, as evenly as I could, and took the other 5 mgs. I reduced by 1/8 every two weeks. That's a little fast, but it worked for me.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Katz

[[50...]]

We're lab rats to these pharma companies. This forum is their lab

[Guest [Lo...]]

Hi:

 

Does this support group include Ambien? Betsy

Great job,Betsy!  Did you taper Ambien too?  Would love advice about how to do that.

[Guest [Lo...]]

I would love some advice about how to best get off this Ambien while taking Klonopin .75 .  I find when I try cutting down on the Ambien, I have symptoms.  Is it best to get rid of that first since it has such a short half life.  I believe that is what caused me to have interdose symptoms.  Just divided my klonopin dose into 3 times because of that! Thank you.

 

[[or...]]

I find when I try cutting down on the Ambien, I have symptoms.

 

You will. I did. it's a benzo by another name. So when we reduce it, we are going to get w/d s/x that are similar to benzo w/d s/x, whether it's been helping us to sleep or not.

 

You just have to . . . make up your mind to push through the s/x. If it were me, I'd reduce the Ambien first as it has, as you stated, the shortest half life. I waited to taper my Ambien until I was off valium, but that may not be the best thing to do. It is not particularly soluble in water, alcohol or PG -- that's why I whacked mine into small pieces.

 

Anyhow, it won't be pleasant, but it will be over. And you'll have one more drug behind you.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Katz

[[be...]]

Hi:

 

Does this support group include Ambien? Betsy

Great job,Betsy!  Did you taper Ambien too?  Would love advice about how to do that.

 

Yes. I did it pretty quickly and did well with me taper but I don’t recommend everyone going as fast as I did. I also had 5 mg pills. I took 10 mg at night for a couple of years. I dropped about 25% a week until I was done. I had some insomnia but that went away after a few weeks. I believe I was able to do this because a had a lot of benzos to back me up. Without them might have been very difficult.

[Guest [Lo...]]

I find when I try cutting down on the Ambien, I have symptoms.

 

You will. I did. it's a benzo by another name. So when we reduce it, we are going to get w/d s/x that are similar to benzo w/d s/x, whether it's been helping us to sleep or not.

 

You just have to . . . make up your mind to push through the s/x. If it were me, I'd reduce the Ambien first as it has, as you stated, the shortest half life. I waited to taper my Ambien until I was off valium, but that may not be the best thing to do. It is not particularly soluble in water, alcohol or PG -- that's why I whacked mine into small pieces.

 

Anyhow, it won't be pleasant, but it will be over. And you'll have one more drug behind you.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Katz

Thanks, Katz. So you just dry cut it?  Did it cause interdose withdrawals all day long?  Have to get rid of it. 

[[or...]]

I took 5 mgs in tablet form (I was on 10 mgs) then cut the other 5 mg tablet up into 1/8 s and reduced 1/8 every two weeks. Maybe a little too fast. No, I did not have interdose withdrawals. Ambien was not helping me at all.  I just felt crappy all the time. Malaise-y. Similar to my benzo taper, but not as severe. The miserable crappiness finally went away when I had finished tapering the Ambien.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Katz

[Guest [Lo...]]

I took 5 mgs in tablet form (I was on 10 mgs) then cut the other 5 mg tablet up into 1/8 s and reduced 1/8 every two weeks. Maybe a little too fast. No, I did not have interdose withdrawals. Ambien was not helping me at all.  I just felt crappy all the time. Malaise-y. Similar to my benzo taper, but not as severe. The miserable crappiness finally went away when I had finished tapering the Ambien.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Katz

Thanks, Katz.  That looks like a good plan! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest [Lo...]]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out the best way to ge rid of this Ambien I take with Klonopin.  Can you cross over from Ambien to Valium?  Or should I cross over the Klonopin to Valium and taper off the Ambien as is?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lookinup

 

[[Gu...]]

I’ve dropped from 10 mg zolpidem to 7.5 4 days ago and feel like complete crap.  Headaches, can’t fall asleep, General laziness type feeling.  I was doing so well tapering my lorazepam (now under 2 mg) and thought I would take on this beast.

 

I don’t want to go backwards and my main goal is to get to 5mg mainly because that’s the max dose women should be on. 

 

Any help would be appreciated

[[50...]]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out the best way to ge rid of this Ambien I take with Klonopin.  Can you cross over from Ambien to Valium?  Or should I cross over the Klonopin to Valium and taper off the Ambien as is?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lookinup

 

Look up "benzo brains" on YouTube. She withdrew from ancient Ambien with Ativam

[[or...]]

GP, about this:

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

I sure wouldn't taper 2 meds at once. Nope. Your poor brain. It's hard enough tapering your benzo. No wonder you feel like crap. I waited until I was off my benzo to taper Ambien. One poison at a time. (I think even Ashton advocates that). Here is what I would do, if I were in your shoes.

 

1. Go back onto your 10 mgs of Ambien. Leave the tapering for later

2. Concentrate on tapering your lorazepam. You say you were doing well on it. I'd continue. Feeling more or less not like crap is a good incentive for continuing tapering. Then when you are off, if you still feel okay, you can start another taper.

 

That's what I would do. I had 3 drugs to taper. I did them one at a time.

 

Bes to you, GP.

 

 

Katz

[[co...]]

I was planning on tapering the Ambien after I got off valium, but the ambien has become paradoxical in the last few weeks. 

 

I find myself snapping awake as I am falling asleep.  This happens several times a night to the point where I can't seem to fall asleep until hours after I take my Ambien.  When I do fall asleep I often find myself having weird and disturbing dreams almost immediately and wind up waking up.  This typically happens within an hour or so of falling asleep.

 

I have been tapering valium and am down to 2.3mg a day.  But I cannot use valium to substitute for the Ambien because I have different issues with not being able to sleep on it.  If I get tired after taking Valium and get into bed and try to nap I often feel myself getting anxious--usually on each exhale as I am trying to doze off.  At one point if I did get half asleep I would go into some type of weird half-awake dream state with unpleasant thoughts and strange or unpleasant dreams.  I now feel myself getting anxious if I try to nap, so I am going to have to give up doing it even if I am tired.

 

If I have not taken my Valium yet, I have no problem taking a nap.  But once I have taken it, I experience these issues.

 

So I am not sure what to do at this point except for try to slowly taper the ambien at night and maybe increase the valium that I take during the day to counter or lessen any withdrawal effects from the Ambien.

[[be...]]

I was planning on tapering the Ambien after I got off valium, but the ambien has become paradoxical in the last few weeks. 

 

I find myself snapping awake as I am falling asleep.  This happens several times a night to the point where I can't seem to fall asleep until hours after I take my Ambien.  When I do fall asleep I often find myself having weird and disturbing dreams almost immediately and wind up waking up.  This typically happens within an hour or so of falling asleep.

 

I have been tapering valium and am down to 2.3mg a day.  But I cannot use valium to substitute for the Ambien because I have different issues with not being able to sleep on it.  If I get tired after taking Valium and get into bed and try to nap I often feel myself getting anxious--usually on each exhale as I am trying to doze off.  At one point if I did get half asleep I would go into some type of weird half-awake dream state with unpleasant thoughts and strange or unpleasant dreams.  I now feel myself getting anxious if I try to nap, so I am going to have to give up doing it even if I am tired.

 

If I have not taken my Valium yet, I have no problem taking a nap.  But once I have taken it, I experience these issues.

 

So I am not sure what to do at this point except for try to slowly taper the ambien at night and maybe increase the valium that I take during the day to counter or lessen any withdrawal effects from the Ambien.

 

The same thing happened to me. My Ambien kept me awake. To me it was one of those bandaid moments. I just bit the bullet and dropped 25% a week. The drops actually improved my sleep 💤. When I got off it my sleep was a lot better. I’m not suggesting this would work for you—it just worked for me. I really hate it when these drugs do the opposite of what they are supposed to....Good luck 👍🍀

[[Li...]]

I discovered that hemp tea helps me to sleep much better, so that is a good reason to start tapering my zopiclone one of these days....Jeroen

[[Iz...]]

I’m not sleeping. How is this possible? Right now I’m tapering off of 3mg of Ativan. I’ve been on lamictal and Ativan and amitriptyline for 9 years. All for sleep, given during a ms relapse. I recovered fully but the meds stayed. 4 yrs later I reached tolerance and ambien 12.5 was added. Lately I’ve been taking 1 mg of Ativan in the evening- all the others before going to sleep- plus 300mg of gabepentin- still no sleep. The fact that I’ll be tapering off all of this for years is daunting. Do you sleep better removing some ambien?

[[al...]]

Sleep will only improve once you are no longer taking z-drugs and benzos and the withdrawal process is complete. Continuing to take these drugs due to fear of insomnia unfortunately will lead to greater insomnia in the end. Just don't try to speed up the process by tapering too fast.