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Ambien withdrawal, and nightmares ?

Posted by donb on March 16, 2006 at 22:53:52:

Hi All,

I have had sleep apnea for years, and after trying CPAP and UPPP without success, I had a tracheostomy about 2 months ago.
For a few weeks before the tracheostomy my doctor prescribed Ambien to see if I could sleep with the CPAP, and even with the Ambien, I still could not sleep with the CPAP. But, I did get hooked on the Ambien, and it did help me to sleep with the stress of having the tracheostomy.
After the tracheostomy I had another sleep tested performed, and the trach did cure my apnea, having the trach is one of the best things I ever did.

The problem is that when I am taking the Ambien I will wake every 3 or 4 hours with my heart racing. I weaned myself off the Ambien, and for the past 3 nights without the Ambien I am now waking up about every hour with my heart racing. I wore a holter monitor for 24 hours last week while still on the Ambien, and the monitor confirmed that I was not having any arrhythmia, it is just my heart racing and waking me up.
My thyroid tests are normal. My doctor suggested that I am having nightmares, and that is possible, but I do not remember any bad dreams when I wake up, I am not panicky when waking, just basically annoyed that I am awakened and still not sleeping well.
Last night I slept half the night without Ambien, and woke every hour with my heart racing, after that I took 1/4th of an Ambien and slept for 3 hours until being awakened with a racing heart,
Could it be Ambien withdrawal, or does the Ambien mask some other problem and allows me to sleep without being awakened by a racing heart ?? And if I am having nightmares, why am I not aware of nightmares other than the racing heart ? If it is withdrawal, any idea how long it will take for this problem to go away ?
I am happy that my apnea is gone, but this racing heart problem is just as bad,
Thanks for any info.

Don

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