Ambien Discussion & Q/A

The doctor gave me a three month supply but tonight will only be day seven. It helps me sleep but how long can I safely take it without worrying about getting addicted to it?

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I have been taken 10 mg once a night for 1 month.

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I use Ambien and am out too. The pharmacy will only fill 60 every 3 months because it is a controlled substance. You will definitely run out before your due for a refill so you will really have to come up with a solution. I hope something here is helpful.

I know I can not sleep with the usual suggestions which would pertain to natural remedies, sounds, foods or drinks (teas, milk) before bedtime. Mine might not be the most popular answer – but- I would try an over-the-counter like Tylenol PM or if you have allergies, try taking your allergy medicine (if you do take allergy medicine normally) before bedtime instead of when you get up in the morning.

I am sure it is not good to stay on the ambien for too long, so it would be a good time to start checking to see what you can change… like no caffeine after 3pm and NO NAPS. Try not to watch TV in bed and if you do, set the sleep timer to shut it off so it does not wake you if you drift off. If your sleepless due to stress or bad habit then you can start to change this over time. Good Luck. If there was no solution in my suggestion then I hope someone gives you something you can use. =)

Ativan? Phenolbaritol?

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I’ve been taking it every night for 3 years. I have a lot of things going on in the next few weeks, but after that I told my doctor I would like to try to stop. He said we’ll do it by tapering the amount of Ambien (if you have the 10mg pills, they can be cut) and adding some Klonopin. Then once the Ambien is gone, cut out the Klonopin, which is easier. All in all, he feels the process could take about a month.
That’s just one doc’s plan for one person, your’s may want something different.
Good luck, I wish you lots of zzzzz’s in the future!

Thanks for your input. Yes i see a therapist twice a week, and a physiologist once a month. I have a traumatic brain injury do to a motorcycle accident, so I also take abilify, lemictal, wellbutrin, and keppra for seizures. This happened about 5 years ago. My anxiety is off the roof most the time, that’s why so much xanax.

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It seems like an awful lot of medicine. Is this prescribed buy a Dr. or are you self medicating?
If you are self medicating It is gonna take a DR. to help you get off that much medicine without side effects.
Both those medicines are highly addictive and very hard to get off of.
I hope you are seeing a therapist. You need to figure out why you need that much medicine.
I wish you the best. But please be careful with those doses of medication.

I’ve not been able to sleep in the past like 3-4 days.. maybe only getting an hour in.. I’ve tried otc sleep aids and ambien and it doesn’t work.. and i’m going to doctors on the 12th of this month so wondering what I can ask her for. Also is there a set number of days with lack of sleep that your body will just collapse and fall asleep?
hmm a swift kick in the head huh sounds like i would be sleepin with the fishies lol.. and uhm i dont like alcohol..
hm i don’t watch tv late at night… but i will be on the computer till like 1 am.. but lately i’ve been tryin to go to bed at 12 i wanna get into a pattern of going to bed at same time.. but i just toss and turn…

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I have tried everything you could imagine, I suffer from chronic insomnia. They all have there pros and cons. Ambien is the best for sleeping but it can be very habit forming. Also, it can lead to black outs. Lunsta is ok but isnt always enough to put you out and you can build a tolerence to it. OTC sleeping pills are just useless.

I have to take a drug test in about a month for a job, i haven’t been sleeping good lately so my friend gave ma an ambien, will i fail the drug test if i take it? PS> i have tried all the over the counter stuff and they don’t help and i don’t have any insurance so i cant go to the doctor for it.

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no you won’t fail.

What’s the longest you can take Ambien (or a generic – traditional, not CR) without getting addicted? Can it cause any long-term damage? If so, what? And over what time period?

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they say not to take it over 10 days a month but some people take it 30 days a month.. it is supposed to be short term only. I have been taking it for 15 years.It is VERY addictive. I got addicted because 1 a night wasn’t helping so I would take 2 and then it was 3 and then it was 4.. then I tried to kill myself with them.. all I got was a really really good HIGH and I was addicted.. I was taking 35-40 10mg a day.. Dead serious..
I haven’t had any long term damage from taking ambien per say..When I was addicted, i started having seizures from taking so many a day but that stopped when the addiction stopped. As long as you take them as prescribed you should not have a problem. The longer you take them, the more your body will become dependent on them DEPENDENT not addicted.. I CANNOT sleep if I do not have an ambien at night…cannot.. that is dependence..

I’ve been taking Ambien CR for about a month now and my short term memory has been just awful. I know, I know, I need to get off of it, and I’m planning on doing that tonight. Once I stop taking CR, though, will my short term memory boost and be back to normal or will I have to live with a bad short term memory for a long time?

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Yes, I used to take it and I got concerned at the number of times I woke up the next morning unable to remember what I had done or said after taking it the previous evening. I was gaining weight too because I often got up and ate after taking it. I stopped taking it and was back to normal almost immediately.