Question about ambien

[Blue123]

I am 40 yrs old and have been very healthy for my entire life. Two weeks ago after recreational drug use and alcohol for a weekend, I started having trouble sleeping. I kept thinking that the drugs messed my brain up. Wham... panic attacks and severe anxiety since. Most of my struggles are getting to sleep, and the whole anticipation about trying to sleep. I went to see a GP and she gave me Zanex to help sleep. I was convinced that after one night of good sleep, I would just wake up "normal". So after taking Zanex and waking up 3 hrs later anxious, I got even more anxious. I kept taking Zanex for about 4 days, before realizing that wasn't going to help. I obsessed about my symptoms and googled everything. I finally opened up to my wife which made me feel much better and found some great info about anxiety. It was relieving to know that there was no magic cure, and that I didn't have brain damage. I am attempting to accept my situation, and trying to ignore the fear. My new obsession is recovery. I called my Dr again and talked to her and she said I needed sleep and prescribed Ambien. We were hoping that getting decent sleep for a week or two would help my body cope with the anxiety better and then I could taper off the Ambien. Without any drugs, I am constantly getting weird sensations trying to sleep causing adrenaline rushes. I try my best to stay calm, but this is obviously a battle I need to cope better with. At most I get a few hours of strange sleep that feels like I am up but I realize I was dreaming. It lasts an hr or two at most and usually I am awoken by a rush of adrenaline as a result from a bad thought during a dream. 2 nights ago, I took 10mg of ambien and fell asleep quickly. I slept for 5 hrs and didn't awaken panicked but couldn't fall back asleep and felt very strange. I decided at that point that I would go about this without any meds. Then last night I went right back to 2hrs of awful sleep and am back questioning whether or not I should stick with the Ambien for a very short time period. Can ambien induced sleep, help me mentally cope with the anxiety during the day, which will help me sleep ambien free in a week or two? Or will I just be masking the problem, and probably have the same sleeping issue in 2 weeks? Should I just stick out the recovery plan and deal with the insomnia via CBT or something? Sorry for such a long post....

[SADnomore]

:welcome: Hi, there! Sorry you are going through this, and I am sure there are others on here who will also reassure you that what you are experiencing is mainly anxiety, and you are not going crazy! I felt compelled to reply to your post because I do understand your panic with poor sleep and your desire to deal with anxiety, which it is contributing to at this point. I've been there! Please, I am not trying to be bossy or pry, only to make suggestions that can help, so bear with me. Take what you need, and leave the rest, okay? ... Undoubtedly, the medics have stated that to avoid a worsening of your condition, there must be no repeats of the weekend of alcohol and drugs that has triggered it. The following are a few questions to ask yourself, no need to reply here, of course! ... Prior to this, have you been combining alcohol and mind-altering drugs or using alcohol to excess? Do you use street drugs often? Do you find you use more alcohol or drugs than you intended to? You must be honest with yourself and your doctor if there is a possibility that in fact, you may have a substance abuse problem. Knowing the answer to this will be key to your recovery. This is because doctors typically receive very little training in substance abuse and will continue to prescribe you drugs to which you may become addicted, while trying to help. Unless and until it is clear to them that they need to be selective in your case, they won't look for alternatives to the "tried and true" that may cause dependency in some. To answer your question about ambien (aka zolpidem): According to at least one commenter, a better choice might be zolpiclone, to be taken ONLY once you get into bed and prepare yourself for sleep. And as you say, you will need to address your anxiety during the day, (CBT/group/individual therapy), and use the sleep agent for a short time only. Zopiclone is indeed effective for sleep and at least tends less to build tolerance (the need to take higher doses of the drug to achieve effect) which benzodiazapenes are famous for. Once you are confident you will be able to sleep again each night, you would do best to tackle the daytime hours without sedatives of course, and therapy will help you to do this. :) This is the user commentary I found.

"Zopiclone hits more gaba receptors. Even beyond what most benzos do. It tends to give a more even feeling that lasts longer with less side effects and slower tolerance build. However it may not have enough kick to make some people go to sleep. It is fairly easy to stay awake and alert right on through zopiclone for most. You have to still actively try to sleep and you may not realize it's even working until a few days later when you notice you are no longer as tired as you used to be.

Zolpidem has a hard kick but can cause all sorts of weird feelings and side effects including hyperactivity or even a manic state for awhile before it sedates you. This leads to a lot of people trying to do activities including drive during this period and then the the full effect hits and causes accidents. It has a much stronger initial impact so good if your main problem is falling asleep. However it tends to wear off quickly during the night and builds tolerance much faster. Some can take it for a few weeks or maybe a couple months but many also build tolerance within days."

A slightly altered form of zopiclone is called ezopiclone and available in the US under the brand name Lunesta. Talk to your doctor if you want to try zopiclone if available, or else Lunesta. I personally am taking zopiclone for sleep, which is available as a generic here in Canada. I have not built a tolerance to it, but because it is likely to be contributing to my depression (as per the leaflet enclosed with the prescription at the pharmacy), and now that I am on an antidepressant I plan to stop taking it altogether. I am currently researching a non-addictive drug to talk to my doctor about, to help with withdrawal and re-establishing normal sleep. I believe some drugs are by their very nature addictive, and that some of us are biologically more susceptible to that life-destroying disease. Whichever is the case for any of us, there is effective help and support to treat anxiety and depression, and that may even include antidepressants without causing addiction! The "withdrawal effects" you read about are common to all antidepressants (some symptoms stronger than for others) and are really the brain's response to a lowering once more of serotonin, etc. All the best to you in your recovery! :yesyes: Glad you found this page and hope you continue to join in!
Marie