Posted by LindaNYC on August 11, 2004, at 16:46:04
In reply to Re: Ambien- dependency potential?, posted by Budgie on October 3, 2003, at 14:53:05
I have just gone through a very bad 3 day withdrawal from 10mg nightly of Ambien. I was on it for 3 months. I decided to quit taking it because I was having severe sensitivity to noise, a feeling of panic or anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms appeared about 8 days earlier, and were worsening daily. I have been on 60mg/day of Prozac for depression for 12 years, and 30mg of Adderral/day for ADD for 5 years.
When I looked up "noise sensitivity" on Google, benzodiazepine withdrawal kept coming up as a possible cause. Since Ambien is closely related to these drugs, I thought perhaps it might be causing the new symptoms. So, although the information I found said dependency on Ambien was likely with prolonged use, and it should not be stopped suddenly, I decided to quit it "cold turkey" and tough it out.
The withdrawal symptoms were severe three nights ago, and have almost completely dissapeared, as have the original symptoms of noise sensitivity and depression. The withdrawel symptoms included frequent waking up (rebound insomnia), upset stomach and nausea, and a feeling of agitation. I cut my dose of Adderral to 10mg/day for these 3 days, as I was having the agitation.
In my opinion, Ambien withdrawal, or side effects due to dependency could be the cause. Particularly in patients being treated for depression, Ambien has been linked to feelings of increased depression or suicidal thoughts. Although no one on the board seems to have had my experience, perhaps that is due to their continual use of the drug. I know for the first 2.5 months I had no ill effects. It was great for insomnia. If the sensitivity to noise hadn't become so unbearable (I live in New York City so noise sensitivity is an obvious liability here), and the onset of a depressive episode hadn't occured, I would still be taking the Ambien.
poster:LindaNYC
thread:264925
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040811/msgs/376516.html