Insomnia Forum Posting

Posted by Paul on July 25, 2002 at 12:35:06:

In Reply to: Re: Ambien Side Effects/Memory Loss posted by Steve on July 23, 2002 at 13:55:10:

Hello Steve-

Yes, Ambien can be fun indeed!

I took 15 mg. of Ambien three to four times per week for about two years. My doctor would only prescribe it for three times per week...and that was the problem. Basically, it amounted to me sleeping three nights per week and not sleeping the other four because of the rebound insomnia.

I just couldn't function with this sleeping every other night schedule and eventually (last February) I started taking the Ambien every night for about a month straight because I had a nasty cold that was preventing me from sleeping. Toward the end of the month, the Ambien stopped working and since Ambien was the only med that had worked on me (I had a whole cabinet filled with prescriptions that had failed), I realized that I had to back off. Actually, the Ambien had stopped working several times before during the two years I had taken it, and so I would back off the medication and then start again with some success.

What I realized in February, however, was that medications were actually making my insomnia worse! Not only was my body gaining a tolerance to the drug, but it was forgetting how to sleep on its own. I felt so hopeless and miserable...like I would never sleep again on my own. When Ambien didn't work, like towards the end of February, I felt so awful the next day (sompletely drugged and not functional at all) I had no choice but to quit. Not to mention it was costing me a fortune because my insurance has a large deductable for brand-name prescriptions!

When Ambien stops working and your body has gained a tolerence, you have three choices:

1. Quit and find another drug (which will eventually stop working, too)

2. Increase the dosage (to which your body will gain a tolerance eventually, forcing you to make the same choice again)

3. Quit taking meds altogether (that's what I chose to do)

If you choose to find another drug, you're still only masking the real problem, since insomnia is actually a symptom, not a disease. You would also be continuing the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that come along with dependency to sleep aids. (I know because I was there for four years)

If you increase the dosage, it will lead more and more to an addiction as your body becomes accustomed to each increasing level of medication.

The point is that I had to make a choice about medications and I chose to quit. I just threw everything away one day and took the trash out so I wouldn't even be tempted. This is not recommended by me or by doctors, but I felt it was best in my situation.

What caused me to do all of this was a realization that I was going nowhere but down on medications and I had no choice but to find a different route to return to natural sleep. What allowed me to do just that was reading a book that is frequently recommended on this forum, "Desperately Seeking Snoozin'" by John Wiedman.

The author is an insomniac of 10 years who helped himself return to natural sleep using no herbs, medications or doctors. I actually found this forum because I was so desperate I finally typed in "Cure for Insomnia" in the Google search engine and came across posts on this site recommending Wiedman's book. I remember thinking, "Oh great, another book. Books won't be able to help me! I'm the world's worst insomniac! Nothing can help me!" Well, I finally went and bought it. I read it in one day (very entertaining) and started on his sleep restriciton program that very night. That was also the night when I threw out my medications...well, all but the Ambien, which I kept for a few more days and finally tossed it, too.

The rest is history...it was a long battle with the first week being particularly hard, but I made it through it and now I am able to sleep without medications again (five months now). I am not cured, nor do I always sleep perfectly. Now, however, the insomnia is manageable and it doesn't control my life like it used to. I now have nights in which I don't wake up at all and don't remeber falling asleep! Of course, there are other nights that aren't as good, but my worst nights now are 100 times better than my best nights were before...

If you want to read more about my progress and how I started on Sleep Restriction, my posts start in February and continue in Forums 12, 13 and 14. It was a long, hard battle with a lot of setbacks, and I still have setbacks to this day, but I feel so much better now that I am off medications!

Wishing you the best,

Paul

P.S. I'm sorry about the length of this post, I just kept writing and writing!

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Re: Ambien Side Effects/Memory Loss Steve 03:48 7/31/02 (0)
• Re: Re: Re: Ambien Side Effects/Memory Loss David 12:49 7/25/02 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: Re: Ambien Side Effects/Memory Loss Paul 17:43 7/25/02 (0)

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