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My name is Loomis Henry and I am currently trying to get off of Ambien after having it being prescribed to me for the last five years. It was a very effective medication that allowed me to get a good nights rest for the entirety of those five years without any negative side effects save for my total dependency on it. Now I am being weaned off the medication by my new Primary Care Physician after trying to quit cold turkey and this has been a month long ordeal with a number of near psychotic meltdowns due to total sleep deprivation.
Just decided to join a support group to maybe build some solidarity and find encouragement from others who have undergone this particular hell. Anyhow, that’s my story…so far…
Hi @HENRY22
I am lucky because I discovered very early in my insomnia journey that ambien didnt work for me. Looking back the reason ambien didnt work was because I was going to bed way too early! Back then I was a late night owl, usually sleeping at 2am, so when insomnia hit after one whole sleepless night, of course I went to the doctor, horribly stressed over it and was prescribed ambien like everyone else. It kinda worked first night, I went to bed much earlier at 9pm versus the usual 2am, did manage to fall asleep after 1.5 hours but that was because I had backup sleep deprivation from the previous night. So second night, I took the pill again and went to bed at 9pm and guess what? Another sleepless night! Then I went back to the doctor who told me to stop taking the Ambien. Long story short, I only realised after finishing this course, that my circadian rhythm and the amount of time I spent awake continuously was the biggest determinant of how sleepy I’d get by a certain time in the evening. So now, I have been regularly going to bed at 11pm and out by 730am. So far so good, I am able to sleep a minimum of 6 hours on my worst nights, or the entire 8.5 on my best. I don’t stress about sleep anymore, I sometimes do wonder when an entire sleepless night would visit me again, and I do kinda anticipate it to happen because I have been taking afternoon naps, but so far, it hasn’t. I hope you find your relief soon. Best wishes.
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