Originally Posted by bizi

Many of you know that I take Ambien for sleep....the highest dose possible.
I continue to read scarey things about it and am afraid that I am addicted to it....developing a tolerance.
I have read that it has very serious side effects and is very difficult getting off/ discontinuing...that the withdrawl is horrible....that it causes rebound insomnia.

Here is my question for you fine people:
How many hours do you sleep a night? 7-10 hours a night.... Is this enough? Depends, if I get six or under it's NOT enough, but seven I can focus and function on.
HOw many of you suffer with insomnia? or sleep issues for that matter? I have apnea and use the CPAP to help me sleep, but chronic pain also wakes me up in the middle of the night....
Have you ever tried sleeping pills/aides before? My Counselor RX'd Trazadone for help with sleep, but before that I took Elavil to help with sleep and both medications work for me....
If you can't/won't take them how does your not
sleeping interfer with your life.
Does this insomnia make you manic? I find it makes me a bit manic when I don't get enough sleep, yeah. No fun trying to function on four or five hours of sleep....
HOw do you deal with not sleeping?
Do you hold a job...have to get places the next day? I can't work due to my disability, but I do have to go and do things to take care of my family like shopping for food and stuff....It's not always easy to get things done, especially when Jackie wakes up at 2-4 am and won't go back to bed when I am ready to be asleep....
I ask all of this because I worry about taking all of this medication and what it is doing to my brain.
I already know that if I don't take an ambien then I can't sleep.
I wonder how long that would last....
Has any one successfully tapered off a medication?
Benzo or sleeping pill? I weaned off Elavil easily, and I figure the SSRI's are easier to wean from then a benzo, but I still take lorazepam for anxiety.
bizi