My Last Ambien

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weesa
weesa Member Posts: 707
edited March 2019 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I'm kicking Ambien outta my life, got me a great addiction counselor, and haven't had one for several weeks, but they keep grinning up at me from my nightstand drawer. I know, I should throw them out already. Any help from folks who have successfully abandoned the powerful lure of the Ambien siren? I'm scared, it's been over nine years...

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  • pupfoster1
    pupfoster1 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited January 2012

    Yup Weesa,

    I get you.  Your counselor will probably read you the riot act if you keep them around much longer, but have theysuggested a non addictive sleep aide?  I use Benadryl sometimes or Tylenol PM (generic ones are cheaper).  Hard to get off the Ambien after that long I'm sure.

    Stay strong!

    Sharon

  • Rachel1
    Rachel1 Member Posts: 363
    edited January 2012

    I know exactly how you feel. Mine are in the drawer also. I have been off of them for maybe 3 weeks. I'm doing melatonin -- which I did with Ambien -- now alone.  I wake up two or three times a night, but manage to get back to sleep.  I'm not ready to throw mine out. I guess they're a little security blanket.  I did read that benadryl (which is also in Tylenol PM) can reduce the effectiveness of tamoxifen. I don't know about any other hormone inhibitors. This may not be an issue for you, but I avoid them.

    Rachel 

  • christine47
    christine47 Member Posts: 1,454
    edited January 2012

    weesa, why do you feel like you need to stop ambien if it is working for you?  Sorry if this is a stupid question.

  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited January 2012

    weesa....why do you feel you need to stop them....and why do you think you are addicted?  I take them every so often and it makes a difference in how I sleep....since I no longer see a psychiatrist, once my Rx runs out, I'll have to find an alternative....

  • alexandria58
    alexandria58 Member Posts: 1,588
    edited January 2012

    I was taking Ambien every night for almost a year, but about two months ago, I went off.  Since then, I've kept them around for occasional problems.  If I have a night, once a week or so, when I find myself still awake after an hour - or if I get radically off my sleep schedule, I take a half Ambien.  Remember, it is not like an opiate in terms of craving.  We use them because we are worried about not sleeping.   However, if I found myself using them more than occasionally, I might reconsider my options.

     Weesa, if you, hwever, are worried about falling back into using them, I have a suggestion, if you don't live alone - have whoever you live with take charge of the pills and hide them.  Also see a sleep doctor.  Maybe you need to work on sleep techniques.  

  • weesa
    weesa Member Posts: 707
    edited January 2012

    Well, Sharon, I was already combining them with benedryl because the longer you take Ambien the less efficiently they work, and I was already taking the big magilla cr one.Tylenol PM lit me up for an entire night giving me that ten cups of coffee feeling.

    Christine and Karen, good questions--over nine friggin years I have been taking Ambien. Every physician, of which I have encountered numerous ones as we all have, seems to get apoplectic at the nine years. Evidently they are for the short term use of occasional insomnia like a week or ten days. I think I might be having some wooziness in the morning and possibly some balance or other neurological issues. I started them when I was freaked out over my diagnosis but after nine years I have gotten mundane about it.When I start running low on them, I begin planning on knocking over Walgreen's. Will I still be doing that when I am 80? Seems like I need to stop sometime. I am already addicted to good red wine, Knock You Naked Margarita's, chocolate, and gorgonzola sauce. Enough! (To say nothing about the fact I live in a small hamlet and am running out of naive physicians to get a prescription out of.)

    I guess, truthfully, I am just disgusted with myself for being so dependent.Just always saying, well one more night won't hurt...

    Alexandria--how did you just go off after a year? Did you just go cold turkey? I do try melatonin sometimes, but it makes me groggy without sleeping.

    Thanks, friends, for your concerns...Weesa

  • alexandria58
    alexandria58 Member Posts: 1,588
    edited January 2012

    Weesa:

    I went cold turkey.  I did it because I found they were less and less effective, and I had some early mosrning grogginess that i attributed to the ambien. I also just prefer to take as few meds as i can get away with taking. The first night, I barely slept at all, had incredibly vivid dreams.  Took maybe another night or two before I could sleep. Now I mostly sleep, but i wake up a few times in the night.  there are sleep techniques that i find help - including listening to a book on tape in bed - prefereably one where i know the story so the suspense doesn't keep me up, turning off the computer 1 hour before bed, no afternon or evening caffein, and a regular schedule.  If i screw up and take a half ambien for one night, I can go back off it with no side effects. If I stay on for a few nights, then i have another rough night getting off.  I try to stay off.

    Good luck.

    Alex

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited January 2012

    Love my Ambian.. Sleep just insn't an issue for me.Smile

    image

    Barb

  • BlueCowgirl
    BlueCowgirl Member Posts: 667
    edited January 2012
  • BlueCowgirl
    BlueCowgirl Member Posts: 667
    edited January 2012

    Heh, those too are guilty all right!

  • weesa
    weesa Member Posts: 707
    edited January 2012

    I love it, Blue! And so good to see Walrus back, TO.

  • BlueCowgirl
    BlueCowgirl Member Posts: 667
    edited January 2012

    I just noticed I didn't do the last stanza of the haiku right, because I probably had a stroke in the haiku center, two.

  • weesa
    weesa Member Posts: 707
    edited January 2012

    Blue, I'm laughing to hard too reply...

  • BlueCowgirl
    BlueCowgirl Member Posts: 667
    edited January 2012
    You know what this is, Weesa? 
  • jancie
    jancie Member Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2012

    I am going to stick with my ambien. Been on it since 2009 and I love it that I can sleep at night.

    I remember back when Ambien first came out the doctors would only prescribe it for 10 days stating "you need to get into a normal sleep pattern and that takes 10 days and then you will be fine"

    Ok, can I shoot those doctors?  I was a major insomniac for over 20 years - it sucks royally.

    And yes....Rachel benedryl interacts with Tamoxifen. 

    However, on ocassion I have allergic reactions and don't have a choice but to take benedryl as I did 2 nights ago when my fingers started swelling up and my palm started itching really bad.  Still don't know why I had the allergic reaction which gets frustrating.  I have not been able to pinpoint those to any particular drugs or foods, etc.

  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited January 2012

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2576317/?tool=pubmed

    Clinical Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Insomnia in Adults

    Sharon Schutte-Rodin, M.D.,1 Lauren Broch, Ph.D.,2 Daniel Buysse, M.D.,3 Cynthia Dorsey, Ph.D.,4 and  Michael Sateia, M.D.51Penn Sleep Centers, Philadelphia, PA2Good Samaritan Hospital, Suffern, NY3UPMC Sleep Medicine Center, Pittsburgh, PA4SleepHealth Centers, Bedford, MA5Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NHAddress correspondence to: Sharon L. Schutte-Rodin, M.D., Penn Sleep Centers, University of Pennsylvania Health System, 3624 Market St., 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104Phone: (215) 615-3669Fax: (215) 615-4835, ; Email: rodins@hphs.upenn.edu

    Received July 2008; Accepted July 2008

  • Celtic_Spirit
    Celtic_Spirit Member Posts: 748
    edited January 2012

    I've got an alternative to ambien for you, Weesa, that will help you fall asleep. I'll send my boyfriend over to talk to you about physics and electronic circuitry. Five minutes of that, and I guarantee you'll be snoring! Works on me!

    Seriously, have you tried melatonin? Do you need to stop ambien? Is your sleeplessness pain related or do you just not feel sleepy? Sometimes the arimidex aches and pains keep me awake; taking a couple of ibuprofen helps and enables me to sleep.

    BlueCowgirl - loved the haiku! LOL! I needed that this morning!

  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited January 2012
    Celtic....That boyfriend of yours....sounds like my kind of guy... The DH is an electrical engineer and the younger son is an aerospace AND nuclear engineer.  Sounds kind of geeky...but I perk up when they start a project or start talking.... Different strokes, I guess....Kiss  Just be careful though... I'm warning you...it's VERY easy to create a rocket scientist!
  • DFC1994
    DFC1994 Member Posts: 163
    edited January 2012

    I have HORRIBLE insomna and my Dr sent me to a sleep Dr. Long story short I was on Ambien 10mg for close to 2 years and they stopped working so  my Dr changed me to clonazapam and so far so good. I switched straight from ambien to that with no issues.

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited January 2012

    Weesa: Let me give you some mental ammunition for staying away from Ambien.

    Ambien scares the @#$% out of me, ever since reading the story of the girl who abused it and had a "voice" in her head telling her to cut herself and play in the blood:
    www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=91535
    (Warning: It's creepy, so read at your own risk.)

    Stories like this leave me asking, so WHO was it that baked those cookies last night, or drove the car, or made that phone call, or whatever else people do while on Ambien and later don't remember? Was it you or some other voice the Ambien brought out in you?

    More chilling still, there is evidence Ambien may cause cancer in its own right:
    Evidence That New Hypnotics Cause Cancer
    http://escholarship.org/uc/item/12r2f32g

    My own story is that a month or so ago, my insomnia was becoming so unbearble my PO prescribed Ambien. I took it twice, but it did nothing more than make me feel like I was taking a placebo. I am now grateful it didn't work, since I have no intention of ever taking it again, even if it had worked, for all of the reasons above.

    My new sleep resolution is to imbibe no caffeine or stimulants after 1:00 PM. While I still struggle with insomnia, that one simple rule has been helping a lot.

  • christine47
    christine47 Member Posts: 1,454
    edited January 2012

    So all this talk about ambien.  I have been taking faithfully for years, with good results, I am not even going to read the cancer story (sorry, my DH thinks Diet Coke caused my cancer).  Once I retire (no time soon) I will give it up and nap all day if I need to.  For now I will wait for the walrus.

    sweet dreams, good luck weesa!

  • nowords
    nowords Member Posts: 423
    edited January 2012

    My oncologist at the Mayo Rochester said that I could take benadryl with tamoxifen...

  • mballpa
    mballpa Member Posts: 4
    edited January 2012

    I also am in no hurry to say goodbye to my little friend. I have been responsible and only take it as pprescribed. Without it I truly don't think I could have made it through the surgeries and treatments.I understand the need to get off some meds. This time a year ago I was on no medication.

  • jancie
    jancie Member Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2012

    nowords - I got the information regarding benedryl and tamoxifen on www.drugs.com

    They have a long list of prescribed and OTC meds that interfere with tamoxifen if you want to check it out.

  • PlantLover
    PlantLover Member Posts: 622
    edited January 2012

    My oncologist also knows that I take benadryl with tamoxifen.  I've been taking benadryl for years now.  I am a little groggy in the morning but I shake it fairly quickly.  I have noticed over the years that one does nothing for me now.  I have to take two, sometimes three if I have a lot on my mind.  I still wake up several times during the night but I go back to sleep quickly.

    I tried to switch to melatonin and had CRAZY dreams.  I'm naturally a heavy dreamer, always have been, but melatonin really put me over the top.

    I can't take ambien.  I tried it a long time ago and I'm definitely one of those people who ended up doing things that I didn't remember the next morning.  Very scary for me!

    Good luck Weesa!

  • Linda-n3
    Linda-n3 Member Posts: 2,439
    edited January 2012

    Weesa, I sure know what you are saying about wanting to take as few meds as possible.  I have also been on Ambien for a few years - started when I was having severe shoulder pain from rotator cuff issues, was off it for a while, then back on with the BC and haven't been off since. Except trying melatonin last year, which also did not help me sleep but made me really groggy for about a day.  The thing with Ambien is that I know what I am going to get - it now takes almost an hour to fall asleep as opposed to 5 minutes, but I also know that it wears off in 8 hours and I don't have a hangover.  I have used benadryl in the past, and that leaves me feeling icky the next day.  I also want to get off the Ambien, but am dealing with getting off Effexor first (having a very difficult time with withdrawal symptoms, and have only been on it 6 months for neuropathy - am going off to see if the neuropathy has improved).

    So good luck, Weesa and anyone else!  And don't feel gulity or weak or any other negative thoughts about yourself if you are just using meds to help you live your life and/or enjoy it a ittle!  Whatever works to help us through the BC wars!

  • Octobergirl
    Octobergirl Member Posts: 334
    edited January 2012

    Just found this, Weesa. Addicted or not, it sounds like you're pretty strong once you've made a decision. I'm pulling for you...blowing an extra dose of Resolve your way if your counsellor will allow that :).



    I never took Ambien but went to the mats for a prescription for Trazadone to take with the 5mg of Melatonin I already took for sleep and prevention. I was clear that not sleeping was debilitating for me. Together, they've worked like a charm 2 years. If I do wake up, I read myself back to sleep. I get sleepy quickly and wake up with no grogginess. Trazadone is cheap and nonaddictive. I take very low dose 50mg. and think the mild antidepressant effect is an added help for me. Have not had to up the dose so far.



    Good luck and take care, Weesa. ........Molly



  • Missyby62
    Missyby62 Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2019

    I started taking ambien in 2010 after I started treatment for my stage 2 breast cancer. Between worry, stress and later tamoxifen I was getting no sleep. I continue taking it until 3 weeks ago. I feel so much better without it. My mind is clearer, I had pain in my hands that I attributed to arthritis or side affects of the letrozole but turns out it was the ambien because no more pain! I now just read a book until I get tired, turn off the lights and zzzzzzzzzz. Only take it short term. The side effects are real and endless.

    P.S. I was also an ambien online shopper. No more packages arriving that I don’t remember ordering

  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited January 2019

    Missyby62, thanks for sharing your experience. This topic hasn't been active for quite a long time, but it's a good one to reactivate. We welcome you warmly to Breastcancer.org, and appreciate your insights!

    Warmly, The Mods

  • SpunkyGirl
    SpunkyGirl Member Posts: 1,568
    edited January 2019

    Weesa,

    I’m so sorry for your troubles, and I hope you find solutions. I must say that you have only gotten funnier over the years!! Remind me never to go for one of those Margaritas. No one wants to see me like that hahahahaha!!

    Be Well,

    Spunk

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