Would love a normal good nights sleep

Hi lvtobehpy, There have been times when I have had trouble sleeping. A few things that have helped me is to have a dim light on. Readings something relaxing helps me to go to sleep. Praying even helps me to relax to go to sleep. Watching how much we eat before we go to bed. Watching our caffeine intake in the evening. For some taking a bath works, for others it does not. Keep sharing with us. We are here for you. ((((hugs))))

I have struggled with sleep issues my whole life. I have been on Seroquel for some time now and sleep relatively well. The problem with the medication is that it can cause weight gain and next day sleepiness.

I too have taken Ambien for a long time and don't sleep without it I cut the 12mg in half but I take it EVERY night I am terrified that I will never sleep again without it I don't know what it is doing to my body. I am afraid to talk to my doctor because then I'm on my own, My husband is deployed for 6 more months and what if I have to deal with this alone? I don't kmow what to do. Have you had any success?

Hi ambien addict. I've never taken it before but I am an insmoniac & I know someone who successfully weaned off ambien. He diid it very very very slowly. Once he cut it in half he didn't cut it again until he could successfuully sleep for a couple weeks at that dose. Then he cut it in half & kept it at that dose until he slept for a couple weeks. And so on ... He had taken it for over 7 years & has now been off it for about 5 months. When he was first on no ambien he did take some melatonin but not every night. good luck to you. Give it a chance. There may be some anxiety feelings with it but if you know relaxation methods that helps with it according to my friend.

Have you considered getting something to take for the depression? Some antidepessants have the side effect of drowsiness so you take them at night & they help you sleep. Also may be a therapist could be in the list of things that could help. Just a couple of ideas...

according to the research i have done ambien is better for someone who only needs it for a week or two to reset their sleep cycle and does not need to take it all the time.

If you feel you are depressed potentially as well I would ask your doctor to put you on a antidepressent that you can take at night to help you sleep. I had great success different times for different reasons once on trazadone and once on remeron. Both helped me to sleep (the orginal dose of trazadone was too high and I didn't wake up for 14 hours) and helped w/ the depression I was having. I was on other antidepressants at the time as well but they were my night time once specifically prescribed because of the insomnia.

Good Luck w/ everything. But if you are not able to get the prescriptions for the ambien i would most def ask for another type of pill to help you sleep. One that you can take long term.

Yes it's true that Ambiem is for short term use but then again sometimes you get a Dr who prescribes it a lot longer like in the case of my friend. It's the same way with narcotic pain meds. They aren't supposed to be taken for lengthy periods of time yet I toook them almost continuously for over 10 yrs. The only time I was off them was the 2 times i went to rehab before finally going again & getting off them for good.

But back to the Ambiem & depression. Sometimes being on it can make you feel depressed. But I would again advise you to see a Dr about an antidepressant for your deprresion & sleep. He/she may even have a plan to help get you off the Ambien. It's worth a try.

When my doctor let me take ambien I could only take it 3 or 4 times during the week and I tried to do it only 2 times a week. My problem was that those were the only nights that I got restful sleep.

Now I'm not sleeping again. I go thru periods like this tho so it's nothing new. The last week i've slept about 3 hrs each night. It's not much to function on. good thing I don't have to drive anywhere. Well at least not til tomorrow. Telling myself "I will sleep tonight" & setting up an atmosphere conducive to sleep. Quiet,except my sound machine with the beach sounds, dark room, slightly cool. Talking a warm shower before hand. Warm milk w/honey & vanilla. All this has worked for me in the past so it's just time to get it up & going again. I hate warm milk as much as the next person BUT with the honey & vanilla it's not bad at all. So I'm putting my plan into action tonight.