I've taken Ambien for over a year now, 10 mg per night and it works great for me. As long as I take it right before sleep, I notice no side effects or grogginess in the morning and I sleep great. Problem is, I intentionally overdosed on it last week and haven't taken it since Wednesday, so I've been off of it for a little over a week. Any of you who have followed my posts know that I have been detoxing off vicodin since mid April and the depression and anxiety have been horrible.

Anyway - I cannot sleep. They gave me something in the hospital for nausea that helped me sleep, but I don't know the name of it, I think it's Federgin or something like that. But I feel like maybe I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms from not having the Ambien and feel horrible. I'm experiencing cold sweats again and my legs are super creepy crawly. I can't see my Dr. until Monday, but I can get the Ambien - brand name, not generic because it doesn't work for me. Any thoughts on the withdrawal symptoms from Ambien?

South

Sweetpea. it does, indeed, sound like withdrawal from the Ambien. I am sorry for the crudy feelings, I really am.

I would suggest you call the ER room and ask to speak to someone. Ususally, in my area at least, they call after a release just to check in. because you had a stay, that routine call might not come. it is PERFECTLY alright, though, to either call the floor where you actually stayed on an admit or the ER room. It is done ALL the time, this is a solid truth. Honey.

Come back later and update, okay?

hugs
reach

Thank you Reach. Should I call to ask what they had given me for the nausea that helped me sleep??? I may be able to get the brand name Ambien from the psychiatrist on Monday as they dispense meds there and I thought in the meantime I could just have the pharmacy fill a few nights worth of the brand name Ambien until I can see the doc. This is horrible! I cannot detox off another drug right now........I have to find work and make arrangements to move. I'm so sad right now. Thank god my daughter is home from the Navy, at least I'm not completely alone in this house right now. :( :( :(

I have Trazadone for sleep, but if I take that will I still continue withdrawals from the Ambien?????? I can afford the Trazadone, it's $4 at Walmart for a month supply. I am such a mess right now. Thank you for your help.

Hi- Southbeachsun1,
They gave you phenergan for the naseau. It is often used for cancer patients and people withdrawing from substances. I was on 20mg of Ambien for many years. Had to stop within a week. 20 mg to 10 mg to NOTHING. I had quite a bit of panic and the cold sweats. The sweats lessened within a week but the panicky feeling however took quite a bit longer. If you stop just try and stay stopped. Sleeping might be crappy the first few weeks until your system gets back in sync. The detox for me was no where near as bad like other substances I abused. It's just getting over the initial hump. And the panic of not having the drug available. And be careful the intentional overdose is not good. In 2003 I drank alot of Vodka and swallowed a whole bunch of ambien. I ended up in cardiac arrest and woke up a few days later on a breathing machine.Good luck.
Bella

Tattoos - thank you....... I'm curious about how long the panic/anxiety lasted??? The night sweats I can handle if I have to, but this paranoia and feeling crappy is really getting me down. I don't know how I can possibly start a new job feeling this way. The vicodin was ruining my life - almost has, but the Ambien helped me sleep with no side effects, so for now I think I need to stay on it until I get my life straightened out. :confused:

I think that even if I take the Trazadone instead of Ambien, which drys my mouth out so bad it wakes me up several times a night, I will still experience withdrawals from not having the Ambien. The last couple of nights I took Unisom and then tried Tylenol PM and they did nothing for me, plus I still had the night sweats and felt horrible the next day. Uggghhhh!!! :dizzy:

I wish I didn't have to take anything!!!!!

Hey-
Well I naturally have panic/anxiety. But the nighttime panic attacks were like for 2 weeks. It seemed the psychological need far outweighed the physical. I felt the same way about not detoxing off to many things at 1 time, unfortunately I had no choice. I was freaking the first week!

If you need the ambien, by all means use it. Do your docs know you intentionally OD'ed? This could pose a problem. I agree with you that the ambien works the best. That over the counter stuff doesn't work and trazadone made me feel so drugged the next day.

I totally concur on wishing I didn't have to take anything to sleep. Just take one thing at a time. And don't overtake the ambien. 1 it could hurt you and 2nd they might deny giving you a prescription, which is definitely something you probably do not want to happen. If you have any more questions or anything else let me know :) .

Bella

Thanks Bella.......my family physician does not know about the overdose, in fact, neither does my psychiatrist since I can't see him until next Friday. It's a clinic run by volunteers so he's not there every day and he's super busy.

My daughter went and picked up 10 days worth for me and I am truly looking forward to a good night's sleep, although I am going to try taking 5mg tonight and if that works for me I will stick with that until I can stop.

Are you feeling better now? Are you taking anything else for the panic attacks and anxiety?

Southbeachsun1-

I hope you have a great nights sleep! I feel better now. I do take ativan for anxiety and panic attacks. Although, since I have been stabalized on my Lamictal (A GODSEND!!!!), I have cut down from 3-4, .5 mg to 1, .5mg a day. I have bad fibromyalgia flare-ups and I take 1 of my meds at night and it helps me get sleepy (a strong anti-inflammatory). Not sure how long that will last though. But to be honest I really haven't slept soundly since I stopped the ambien about 1 month ago. But then again its why I started the ambien in the first place.....INSOMNIA :dizzy:.Sleep tight;)!

Bella

Bella - I hope you have a fesftul night as well! Tomorrow is a new day and I hope a better one for all! Sweet dreams!!

Lynn

Lynn is my middle name :) .

Bella

So last night I took 5 mg of Ambien and I slept real good other than waking once in the night, but my 22 yo daughter is sleeping with me in my king size bed and I'm used to sleeping only with my dogs. Today I had a better day. I actually felt like getting out of bed and I got in my tanning bed for the first time in a long while. After my shower my daughter and I ran a couple of errands and ate lunch at Red Lobster - OMG, I haven't been there in so long and I LOVE that place!!!!! :bouncing:

I'm still taking it one day at a time and trying not to get too ahead of myself, but, boy am I happy about feeling better today!!!!!!! I'm praying that tomorrow is the same or better!!!!! I never thought I would say that I looked forward to taking my Ambien!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS ON THE SOUND SLEEP!!!!:) . One day at a time.
Bella

Can I ask a question that no one else has mentioned? You stated that you intentionally overdosed on the ambien. Are we talking one extra pill or half a bottle? What was your mindset when you intentionally overdosed? The reason I ask: when my marriage broke up, I intentionally took a whole bottle of xanax. Of course I ended up in the ER with the stomach pump, etc.
Well, after that, NO pharmacy would issue any xanax to me (the word must spread pretty fast in the pharmacy world). I ended up back in the hospital to detox under medical supervision and get clean of the xanax.....definitely one of my most unpleasant life's lessons.
The point I am making is that IF your overdose was a significant one AND the doctors are aware of it, you MIGHT find yourself in a situation where you will not be allowed to have any more of the medication, since you have shown what could be perceived as a dangerous disposition to abuse.
Not knowing how much of an overdose we are talking, I am not sure what sort of limitations you might face regarding the ability to get ambien again, but the very fact that you stated that you INTENTIONALLY ovedosed seems, to me at least, to be a danger sign.

Good luck
Lou

Coder - you do make a very good point. I took about 30 of them and according to the Dr. it was signficant. Apparently word does not spread around here I guess because I was able to get them from my regular physician who is in the next town. I can honestly say that if I were to make that horrible decision, which I do not anticipate, I would not choose Ambien. I had valium, vicoden's, soma and many other meds to choose from had I wished to. Ambien is what I had closest to me at the time. I am so afraid of detoxing from something else right now.......I don't have the luxury of time on my side right now. I have to move from my house in a month, I have no job and no income (and we are living in a $350,000 house) and I have to call my mom for help, whom I haven't spoken with in many years. Besides still going through the vic detox I am extremely stressed with the entire situation. One day I feel okay, the next day I feel like crap and I don't know how I'm going to work like this. I truly hope my mom will help us.

One thing I can tell you is that I do not want to go down that awful road ever again and will do everything in my power not to! If it turns out that I cannot get the Ambien anymore I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

Much love.