Ambien/Stilnox (Zolpidem) for long periods.

[uncomfortable thoughts]

Hi,

Yesterday I went to my pdoc and I'm worried.

This is the first time that I'm taking ambien/stilnox more than a few days on a week.

Lately I'm having trouble sleeping and I'm on a three week streak taking Stilnox (Zolpidem).

I'm taking 10mg of the instante release every night.

My pdoc told me not to worry too much about my everyday intake of the drug and for now he would rather get me out of my current daily benzo intake since my benzo tolerance is high and I'm using low potency long life benzos to induce some sleep state.

He used the argument that, even stilnox somehow can be addictive it will not built up tolerance as it will not improve it's effects raising the dosage.

This thing that there's no advantage in taking more than 10mg of the instant release drug has background on laboratorial test affirmation.

One thing that I don't know about tolerance is, when I first started this substance it was more effective than it seems now, so I guess I'm building up a sort of tolerance, isn't it?

Or my insomnia is is getting worst?

That's what I'm worried about, to have to depend on ambien/stilnox/zolpidem.

It's is great for helping me induce sleep but does nothing on overall anxiety.

Can someone who used to take it for a longe periods of insomnia help me with my worries?

Since very young I have insomnia and it's mostly related to bipolar and stressful life events.

Thanks.

Edited October 7, 2015 by uncomfortable thoughts

[Gearhead]

Ambien isn't an anti-anxiety drug. It's a sleep aid. It will help you sleep, or it won't, and it'll wear off in about 8 hours.

I've been taking 12.5 mgs of Ambien CR since..uh...2003, maybe? My dose has never varied. I've not developed a tolerance to it: it works every night. I assume I am dependent on it, but I don't give a damn, because without it I don't sleep.

So if you're looking for a med to treat your anxiety, this isn't going to do it for you. Have you tried any of the SSRI's or SNRI's?

[melissaw72]

When I started ambien I slept walked, slept eat, was on the computer no knowing it.  The only way I know these things happened was because when I really finally was "with it" a few hours after I took the pill, I'd find food wrappers, noticed I'd done things around the apartment (things were out of place), etc. 

Personally I do not like this med and will never go on it again.  But many people do really well on it for sleep and never have to adjust their dose.  And like Gearhead said, it isn't for anxiety.  But the only way to know is to try it out.

[uncomfortable thoughts]

Ambien isn't an anti-anxiety drug. It's a sleep aid. It will help you sleep, or it won't, and it'll wear off in about 8 hours.

I've been taking 12.5 mgs of Ambien CR since..uh...2003, maybe? My dose has never varied. I've not developed a tolerance to it: it works every night. I assume I am dependent on it, but I don't give a damn, because without it I don't sleep.

So if you're looking for a med to treat your anxiety, this isn't going to do it for you. Have you tried any of the SSRI's or SNRI's?

When I started ambien I slept walked, slept eat, was on the computer no knowing it.  The only way I know these things happened was because when I really finally was "with it" a few hours after I took the pill, I'd find food wrappers, noticed I'd done things around the apartment (things were out of place), etc. 

Personally I do not like this med and will never go on it again.  But many people do really well on it for sleep and never have to adjust their dose.  And like Gearhead said, it isn't for anxiety.  But the only way to know is to try it out.

My major worry isn't about anxiety, I just stated that it helps me start sleeping but does not have an anxiolytic benefit.
Gearhead, in this decade of taking anbiem, have you noticed any side effect?

I guess it's too soon for me addressing any kind of side effect, I'm having dry eyes but I'm not sure if it's because of it. When I first started it, about ten years ago I had some memory problems in the morning and went away after a few nights.

I gave more than a year break between treatments with zolpidem and this is the first time that I'm taking it in this frequency, all nights.

It bothers me.

The drug still works but does not induce sleep as fast and with the same intensity that did previously, I know it does not have the ability to sustain a night of sleep more than inducing the sleep at first place, maybe the CR version would work better for stay sleeping but there's no CR version of it where I live and there's no benefit in taking more than 10mg of the instant release version anyways.

I feel uncomfortable depending on anything for the rest of my life, it has something to do with addiction related problems.

I think if I would take it just some nights of the month the drug would start working as did before, fast and strong.

The last two nights I even awake consciously around the same time, I guess my problems with insomnia is getting worst.

I'm not looking for an anxiety med for what I know I took almost everything and I'm still on benzo if acute anxiety was the case.

I would like to try antidepressants again it's a thing that I talked to my pdoc he rejects the idea, I tried to find another one, went to three different pdocs and none of them wanted me on it because I'm bipolar, I eventually returned to my previous pdoc, he said that maybe in the future he would see if he would give antidepressants a try but for now he said it's not a good idea, I gave up on the subject since no one in town is willing to take the risk of an inducing mania and here on CB I got a view of mixed opinion on bipolar/antidepressant combination.

When not diagnosed with bipolar I used to be treated for depression/anxiety and insomnia with adjunct of SSRI, tried tricyclic and bupropion but not a SSNI antidepressant, I'm about to take a copy of my old medical history and bring up to my current pdoc to see if it lightens his head up to the possibility, but to be honest, after reading experiences of people here and a lot of pdocs saying that it isn't such a good idea, I felt it's almost a 50% chance of having an episode even never having problems before.

 

 

[melissaw72]

The drug still works but does not induce sleep as fast

I had to take the ambien with food or it didn't have as much as an effect.

I noticed some side effects when on it:

When I started ambien I slept walked, slept eat, was on the computer no knowing it.  The only way I know these things happened was because when I really finally was "with it" a few hours after I took the pill, I'd find food wrappers, noticed I'd done things around the apartment (things were out of place), etc. 

But it works for some people, just not for me.

Edited October 8, 2015 by melissaw72

[uncomfortable thoughts]

The drug still works but does not induce sleep as fast

I had to take the ambien with food or it didn't have as much as an effect.

Strange, that contradicts everything I know about drug absorption. 

I don't have the sleep walking or doing things that I don't remember after taking the drug, that's why I'm still on it.

Edited October 8, 2015 by uncomfortable thoughts

[melissaw72]

The drug still works but does not induce sleep as fast

I had to take the ambien with food or it didn't have as much as an effect.

Strange, that contradicts everything I know about drug absorption. 

I don't have the sleep walking or doing things that I don't remember after taking the drug, that's why I'm still on it.

I know, you're right ... I've been told the that too.  But for some reason I need food in my stomach for it to work. 

I'm glad you don't have the side effects that I had.  I hope everything works out.

[Geek]

I take ambien every night. I have for years - since at least 2009. At one point I switched to AmbienCR which was better for me (I need help staying asleep), but then my insurance changed and it's not covered... so I'm back to regular Ambien.

After 6 years I took a month off because I was having trouble staying asleep, we wondered if it was the med pooping out. It wasn't. Once my anxiety was a little more controlled things went back to normal. As Gearhead mentioned, it is not an anxiolytic. 

So... no tolerance. Physical dependency, yes, but tolerance no. I have no side effects from it.

[Gearhead]

When bipolar people want (need) to take AD's they often find that they can take them in conjunction with AP's and mood stabilizers without becoming manic.

[HAL9000]

Anxiety is sort of a different thing.  However not sleeping might be part of causing anxiety.  Instead of Benzos maybe give Buspar a try for anxiety?   I took Ambien for years and it mostly worked.  I wrote really stupid blogs on Ambien but never got in a car or ate 1400 snickers bars.

 

[melissaw72]

6 hours ago, HAL9000 said:

Anxiety is sort of a different thing.  However not sleeping might be part of causing anxiety.  Instead of Benzos maybe give Buspar a try for anxiety?   I took Ambien for years and it mostly worked.  I wrote really stupid blogs on Ambien but never got in a car or ate 1400 snickers bars.

 

Have you tried propranolol (Blood pressure med, beta blocker).  It got rid of a lot of my anxiety, calmed down the headaches, and just calmed me down in general.

[uncomfortable thoughts]

On January 23, 2016 at 6:28 AM, HAL9000 said:

Anxiety is sort of a different thing.  However not sleeping might be part of causing anxiety.  Instead of Benzos maybe give Buspar a try for anxiety?   I took Ambien for years and it mostly worked.  I wrote really stupid blogs on Ambien but never got in a car or ate 1400 snickers bars.

 

I'm on Imovane now, somehow it is has a kick on anxiety.

I never had a problem with hypnotics, I'm always very aware and ambien/stilnox wasn't working anymore, I would take 10mg and stay awake, my pdoc cut 25% of my lamotrigine because this sleeping problem started with lamotrigine.

From this 3 months experience on ambien/stilnox I noticed that after taking it for a while and every day my sleep begin to lose it's quality, I wake up after 5 to 6 hours of sleep and my head is filled with my dream like it was in an endless repetition and I wake up exhausted like I was forced to watch it over and over again.

Imovane tasted like metal and same thing applies, I'm not down for it in a long term but ocasional use, if I start taking ambien/stilnox or imovane in a streak my sleep quality drops and I don't feel rested.