Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
I have been taking 15 mgs of Ambien and .5 mgs of Xanax to sleep for a long time. I know I should be working this out with my Dr. and I will, I just am asking for insight from any of you that may have experienced this. I want to wean my self slowly off of both. Not sure which 1 to start with? Maybe both? Thank you, any of you that can share your thoughts or experiences. Deny
The same general idea for Ambien, again assuming you are not taking the extended release version (which does not even come in a 15mg dose). I am on the extended release versions of both of these drugs and reducing them is a whole different story.
According to my PSY doctor a person can just stop taking Ambien, but I have read way too many horror stories to buy into that plan. Plus, since I have chronic pain problems that are only reduced when in bed, without tossing and turning, I am really not in a position to just cold turkey stop Ambien anyway.
My wife takes standard release Ambien, and has gone a week or more without taking any, but did not sleep at all. (She has done this multiple times while she was in the hospital 24x7 taking care of her 66 year old severely handicapped brother every time she stopped). However, when she returned home, she had to restart the Ambien because she would be awake all night without it. BTW - - She had no withdrawal problems when stopping cold turkey except for the total lack of sleep.
Sounds (to me) that I am talking in circles. I think that it is possible to wean off these drugs, but it will not be easy. A good doctor could probably offer alternatives to other than just stopping.
Good luck! I know from personal experience that stopping these drugs is not an easy thing to so.