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Hi Martin. Thank you for your response. Just a quick update. I tried to “cold turkey” the ambien the last two nights and got very little sleep. I think this is going to be tough.
I hope to start CBT-i next week. I believe the work starts with a sleep diary to get a baseline for how much sleep you are getting. If I go back on the ambien tonight, I get a may average a solid 5-6 hours with few awakenings. I would be ecstatic with lifetime of that kind of sleep. Is it valid to use the type of sleep you are getting on pills to set your sleep restriction times? Or should I tough it out and use the more realistic poor sleep I am getting without the pills to start the program?
Hi Martin. Yes that makes sense. I have full intention of taking the sleeping pill when I wake up as I know I will have difficulty making it through the night. Sometimes I fall asleep for 1-2 hours which is great which means I can get an additional 4 hours or so on the pill. Sometimes, I cannot sleep and I take the pill right away an I only get 4 hours or so. On the nights when I fall asleep on my own I think it helps my sleep confidence because it demonstrates I can sleep, even if just for a few hours.
However, my current sleep confidence is low. It is almost impossible for me to relax when I lay down and I do use the pills to relax enough to sleep. So I guess I am attributing my ability to sleep through the night on the pill right now.
I was planning to quit completely when I enroll and I expect I may have a few real tough days to start. Are people more successful when they taper or is it just personal preference?
Hi Martin. Thank you for your video. That was very helpful. I did speak to my doctor and he told me that Ambien CR has no rebound insomnia for up to 6 months. He said I could quit it cold turkey and it was likely that I would return to a similar insomnia state as when I started the medication. He suggested CBT-I if my insomnia returned.
I am a little confused about taking the pills contingently. I have taken them every night, sometimes after sleeping a few hours first. Is that contingently? Do I need to taper off or quit them cold turkey first before starting CBT-I on your program? I was hoping to start next week. I desperately do not want to stay on Ambien.
Thank you!
Ok update. I tried to do sleep restriction last night. I went to bed 1 hour later than normal and did not take an ambian. I was exhausted. I laid in bed for almost 3 hours and could not sleep at all. Finally I relented and took a pill and got a couple of ok hours of sleep.
Is it possible to do sleep restriction while trying to get off Ambian? Is sleep restriction even necessary and do I just need more patience? After 4+ months, I feel like I am just spinning wheels,
