I am titrating down to stop Ambien and am off pain meds.(I keep some hidden for emergencies) This means that I get the full Monty when the flares come.I can't tie to any circumstance or food or lunar calendar. I know that stress is bad but can't tie to that either. Nowadays I try to catch myself when becoming agitated for any reason and remember to not sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff. I am curious about how many hours of sleep you get a night? Did the CD add to the hours? I am in a disrupted sleeping pattern right now and am too tired too early and falling asleep with the TV on and then awake as a hoot owl at 2;00 or 2;30 am. I might see if there is relaxation sounds available on Pandora. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Yes, it's all small stuff. Letting more and more go is important.

Getting into a HABIT of some meditation with a mantra, I use most of the time, NO PAIN...repeating over and over in my mind and working more to do this 10-15 minute meditationn before getting up from a night's sleep. And I sleep pretty good.

Ken, TV in room or any electronics is one of the worst things we can do to our bodies/minds...all those frequencies going on. There is much written about this. I've never had a tv in my "sleeping room"..... C

I knew these things before I got into bed with Ambien.(pun intended) It has been over a year with the pills and I didn't care if a brass band was circling the bed, I was going to go to sleep. I will have to try harder now that the pharmacy isn't helping. The redneck response would have been"No TV!!!! You have quit preaching and started meddling now".Thanks, Ken in Texas.

Ken titrating off Ambien is probably contributing to your disruptive sleep cycle and ramping up some symptoms. How much are you taking now. I consider myself an expert on this subject from my personal relationship with this drug the past 20 years.

When working with mantras, as in thoughts upon which to focus, the key is to keep thoughts-- if using thoughts -- "positive."
Positive thoughts/language carry more power.

(Please note some forms of meditation have a goal of "no thought."
Some "mantra work" is not done in the English language, it is done in ancient spiritual language/expressions.)

If/when using thought/language, using a phrase like "no pain or no ________," is negative language and is not recognized in the way we intend by the subconscious mind.

When we focus on "No pain," our subconscious registers the word/concept of "pain." (It does not hear "No Pain." It hears "Pain.") We are more likely to manifest pain. We are lending energy to, reinforcing, the experience of pain.

Please see this brief BBC News article on "The Healing Power of Positive Language" here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8326171.stm

In "positive" language, the word/concept of "pain" is not used at all.
When we want "no pain," we may use positive words/phrases like: "comfort," "peace," and "joy."

We focus upon what we want, not upon what we don't want.
We want comfort, we do not want (no) pain.

We may also use very creative approaches, like the one offered in the example described in the BBC News article.

I hope this helps.


DejaVu

I am doing 5mg had have been cutting the pills for two or three weeks.(10mg pills). I think you are right about the changes in sleep cycle. My question to you would be on the first night after running out of the pills, how much of what is going to happen due to physical vs. psycological? I don't mean that anything is going to happen but I feel that the psycological is going to be worse than the physical. I would appreciate your input. I need to pull the teeth of this dragon. Thanks, Ken in Texas.

Ken, The 1st night I just accepted the fact that I might not sleep. What helped me was "Rescue Remedy" by Bach Flowers. It's a homeopathic tincture for anxiety. I still use it on nights that I feel anxious about sleeping. However I DID sleep I think because there was still so much of the drug in my system. The 2nd and 3rd night were more difficult but my daytime symptoms were getting better and that helped me psychologically. By the 5th night I was good.

I would suggest before bed taking an Epsom Salts bath, lathering up with whatever lotions help your symptoms, and even possibly listening to a relaxation CD instead of watching TV (and I know I'm walking on thin ice here.) Anything you can do to deal with anxiety.

I still am on 300mg of Gabapentin before bed. That is the next thing I'd like to stop but can't right now as I do think it gives me relief.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions or if you just need reassurance.
You are braver then me. I still had some pills stashed away when I stopped