How to Stop taking Ambien

[whitebeach]

Hi All,

I have to stop Ambien (zoplicone). Been on it a year. I am worried about the insomnia that is going to follow. Cold turkey may be a shorter helln than cutting dose slowly over weeks. Has anyone had experience with this, advice, besides herbs, which never have helped with insomnia, if I go just one night without sleep I crash badly.

 

[Sushi]

I have to stop Ambien (zoplicone). Been on it a year. I am worried about the insomnia that is going to follow. Cold turkey may be a shorter helln than cutting dose slowly over weeks. Has anyone had experience with this, advice, besides herbs, which never have helped with insomnia, if I go just one night without sleep I crash badly.

I stopped Ambien with a slow taper. There could be side-effects, other than insomnia, with cold turkey. I did phase in another sleep drug while I tapered Ambien. Do you have access to cannabis? It helps many with sleep--provided that one finds that right blend and dose.

 

[5150]

I stopped Ambien with a slow taper. There could be side-effects, other than insomnia, with cold turkey. I did phase in another sleep drug while I tapered Ambien. Do you have access to cannabis? It helps many with sleep--provided that one finds that right blend and dose.

@Sushi you said that you phased in another sleep drug while you tapered Ambien:
are you willing to share what the other med is, and how are you doing with it?
Thanks.

 

[Sushi]

@Sushi you said that you phased in another sleep drug while you tapered Ambien:
are you willing to share what the other med is, and how are you doing with it?
Thanks.

I phased in clonazepam (don't hit me! ). I do well with it and didn't have to increase the small dose. But I've been able to phase that down too with cannabis.

 

[5150]

I phased in clonazepam (don't hit me! ). I do well with it and didn't have to increase the small dose. But I've been able to phase that down too with cannabis.

I promise not to hit ! Sounds like you made progress in phasing out Ambien, if you are successful. Clonazepam has never had much impact on me; I know it will not be my new sleep med. I tried Ativan for daytime anxiety. It does help daytime, but again it isn't strong enough as a sleep agent for me. Both have been good sleep initiators, though.

The shift toward using CBN & CBD cannabis is helping many. The CBN is recommended as the better sleep aid.
Stopping Ambien is a good step if it can be replaced effectively. good job : )

Thank you for your help.

 

[Lucky luke]

I also want to quit. What dose did you take? 5 or 10mg?
I have been using 5mg for 14 months.
My mother recently quit and had no side effects. She used it for years. But small dose.
I have doxylamine (antihistamine) what i order in germany. It's called nervensaft.
I'm from holland and it's not available here.
It doesn't initiate sleep as much as ambien but it helps me sleep better through the night.
If i take 1 teaspoon of nervensaft and 2,5mg of ambien it also puts me asleep. Depends if i have a adrenaline rush or not.
That way my ambien use didn't get out of control.
But doxylamine makes you more drowsy in the morning.

 

[whitebeach]

I am on 5.8 mg of Ambien. Probably could cold turkey but am pretty sure I wouldn't sleep.

I stopped Ambien with a slow taper. There could be side-effects, other than insomnia, with cold turkey. I did phase in another sleep drug while I tapered Ambien. Do you have access to cannabis? It helps many with sleep--provided that one finds that right blend and dose.

What was the taper sequence?

 

[whitebeach]

I stopped Ambien with a slow taper. There could be side-effects, other than insomnia, with cold turkey. I did phase in another sleep drug while I tapered Ambien. Do you have access to cannabis? It helps many with sleep--provided that one finds that right blend and dose.

Yes I have both CBD and THC/CBD oil. Use CBD during the day but not tried either for sleep. What do you rescommend? THC usually goes to my head and I worry that it will keep me awake! I have CBD crew plant made into RSO oil.

 

[Sushi]

What was the taper sequence?

I was tapering off 10 mgs and did it over a few months (years ago, don't remember the full sequence). I would just cut the pills reducing the dose by about a mg, holding for a couple of weeks, then lowering it again until I was off it.

Yes I have both CBD and THC/CBD oil. Use CBD during the day but not tried either for sleep. What do you rescommend? THC usually goes to my head and I worry that it will keep me awake! I have CBD crew plant made into RSO oil.

We all seem to respond differently. For me Indica with fairly high THC (vaping the oil) is what works

 

[Rich D]

I went through this myself a few years ago. I had been taking a large dose of the slow release form for 2 years, so I was very hooked on it. I decided to quit and steadied myself for the withdrawal. I worked from home for 2 weeks and decided i was just going to be getting terrible sleep until I got through the withdrawal period.

I gathered snacks and TV shows and had some late nights. Once I accepted that this was going to be bad for a couple weeks, it helped a lot. I treated it as a bunch of late night parties.

After that, I started taking cannabis for sleep. It was extremely effective, in fact it worked better than Ambien by far once I got used to it. So much so, that I would recommend using it as a substitute and to help with withdrawal symptoms. You can take small doses during the withdrawal period, high THC varieties work best I think (there is another post about that).

Whatever you do, just realize that your body and brain will be in bad shape for probably about 1-2 weeks until you adjust. I found it similar to quitting smoking in terms of withdrawal. I had to work really hard to get through that spell.

 

[Eve18]

I know you wrote that herbs never helped you. Did you try amino acids? Herbs never helped me but combination of amino acids with Inositol helped me to stop all benzodiazepines. High doses of Taurine, Glycine, Inositol and normal doses of Theanine and Tryptophan. This combination didn't knock me out but relaxed me enough so I survived.

 

[soundasacrystal]

Just want to add that Ambien is very similar to benzodiazepines and for some people, can be just as hard to come off of. Cold turkey could be quite dangerous. I definitely would not recommend replacing it with a benzo (Xanax, Restoril, klonopin, etc). My recommendation (as a person who has come off two benzos, one CT and the other a slow taper) would definitely be a slow taper along with nutritional support and possibly something like acupuncture and relaxation techniques.

 

[whitebeach]

I went through this myself a few years ago. I had been taking a large dose of the slow release form for 2 years, so I was very hooked on it. I decided to quit and steadied myself for the withdrawal. I worked from home for 2 weeks and decided i was just going to be getting terrible sleep until I got through the withdrawal period.

I gathered snacks and TV shows and had some late nights. Once I accepted that this was going to be bad for a couple weeks, it helped a lot. I treated it as a bunch of late night parties.

After that, I started taking cannabis for sleep. It was extremely effective, in fact it worked better than Ambien by far once I got used to it. So much so, that I would recommend using it as a substitute and to help with withdrawal symptoms. You can take small doses during the withdrawal period, high THC varieties work best I think (there is another post about that).

Whatever you do, just realize that your body and brain will be in bad shape for probably about 1-2 weeks until you adjust. I found it similar to quitting smoking in terms of withdrawal. I had to work really hard to get through that spell.

Can you tell me what dose and what cannabis product you take for sleep or what you would recommend during withdrawal from Zoplicone?

 

[whitebeach]

I know you wrote that herbs never helped you. Did you try amino acids? Herbs never helped me but combination of amino acids with Inositol helped me to stop all benzodiazepines. High doses of Taurine, Glycine, Inositol and normal doses of Theanine and Tryptophan. This combination didn't knock me out but relaxed me enough so I survived.

Exactly what were the high doses?

 

[Eve18]

Exactly what were the high doses?

The most beneficial was Inositol, about 12-16 grams, however I had to start with much less due to gas and bloating. I don't remember exact doses I took but about 3 or 4 grams of Taurine, 2 grams of Glycine plus Tryptophan and Theanine. After this combination I felt relaxed. It was 2 years ago. I stoped Klonopin and Ambien cold turkey after taking them for few years. Unfortunately for first few days/nights without meds I also drank some wine.
Right now if I need to relax I take 2 grams of Taurine with magnesium and Theanine. I'm looking into CBD oil, too.

 

[Rich D]

Can you tell me what dose and what cannabis product you take for sleep or what you would recommend during withdrawal from Zoplicone?

I think it depends on the person and what you have access to. I would suggest trying a low dose product with high CBD first, if you can get it. Like a tincture. Otherwise you can try to just take a couple hits of weed and see if it helps. Start low and go from there. That should give you an idea if it will help you or not.

 

[whitebeach]

I think it depends on the person and what you have access to. I would suggest trying a low dose product with high CBD first, if you can get it. Like a tincture. Otherwise you can try to just take a couple hits of weed and see if it helps. Start low and go from there. That should give you an idea if it will help you or not.

Thanks. I have both CBD oil (Endoca, 5 mg per drop) and THC RSO oil straight and made into a tincture. The cannabis strain was CBD crew (10% thc. 10% cbd).

 

[Crash Davis]

Hi All,

I have to stop Ambien (zoplicone). Been on it a year. I am worried about the insomnia that is going to follow. Cold turkey may be a shorter helln than cutting dose slowly over weeks. Has anyone had experience with this, advice, besides herbs, which never have helped with insomnia, if I go just one night without sleep I crash badly.

For me, Remeron (Mirtazipine), an antidepressant, had 10X the knockdown power of Ambien CR. Taken daily for several months it will lose its kick but still very powerful and also pretty benign. I had a mild headaches when I tried a cold turkey withdrawal from Remeron after 6 months of daily use, but I did a simple taper down over a couple of weeks and was fine.