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Wondering If Anyone Here Withdrawing From Cymbalta Have Taken Ambien.


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#61 xman

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 10:35 AM

An Update: I have been off of Ambien a month-swapped for Lunesta. I have found my sleep is somewhat improved. My goal is to be free of all medications at some point in the next year.


#62 TryinginFL

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 10:47 AM

Cheers for you, xman! :D


#63 Gran23

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Posted 28 May 2014 - 08:32 AM

I came off Ambien 10mg 2 years ago after taking it for about 5 years.  It was cold turkey because I went on vacation and forgot my pills.  I am so thankful that happened.  The withdrawal was uncomfortable, but nothing like tapering off of Cymbalta.  I think Cymbalta is the devil.  


#64 Xanazul

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Posted 28 May 2014 - 09:35 AM

APPLAUSE FOR XMAN!!!!

#65 Carleeta

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Posted 15 July 2014 - 09:49 PM

Update. I almost forgot about updating my progress with ambien..Well to everyone's surprise and to my own, I ran into a problem. When I moved, my pharmacy changed also which lead to another company distributing the ambien. It was not round any longer is was an oval shape. OMG what could I possibly do now. I was right on with my shaving down on the round and I was almost at half. Now here I was with a different shape and didn't have any other choice to judge where a bit more than half would be. therefore, I know I had to shave off way less than a half and ended up going up very slowly for about 3/4 of the pill..That is where I have been for over 2 months now..I am on 3/4 of the oval shaped ambien. Im just going to stay here for about a year before deciding what to do. I had totally worked myself into such high anxiety over this change and trying to calculate the right amount, I just gave up and now with the back pain and all I believe its best to just stay at 3/4 for a while and then next year try and do something about it...Well just an update. :)

#66 FiveNotions

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 06:47 AM

Carleeta, while you were away, I quit taking lunesta ... rx ran out, I'd been taking it, 3 mg, for about 4-6 weeks ... and to my dismay, I discovered that even after that brief a time I had about a day, maybe a bit more, of withdrawal ... nothing like Cymbalta, but still, a withdrawal experience ... this was right in the midst of my encounter with a week of bad anxiety and having to go on valium ... FH posted elsewhere recently about these sleeping meds ... they mess with our brains, too ...

I'm glad you're just going to give your brain and body a break and stay where you are with the ambien ...

And isn't it a pisser that these different mfrg cos all have their own shapes and sizes for the meds ... Cymbalta, ambien, all the generics may be "bio equivalent" (although now I even doubt that), but there's no consistency in pill shapes, number of beads inside, etc ...I hate the pharma industry ... (guess I can post this over in "negative events" ...

#67 Wagtail

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 03:51 PM

Fivenotions , how are you finding the Valium , what dose & how many times a day are you taking it ?. What is Ambian ?.

:)

#68 fishinghat

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 04:11 PM

Ambien is a sleep aide. It is designed to get you to sleep quickly not necessarily to keep you asleep a long time. It is one of the Z drugs and such it makes benzos become addictive quicker.


#69 Carleeta

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 06:27 PM

Fishinghat, absolutely ambien is a Z drug and could or does act like a benzo. Great point to make!

#70 FiveNotions

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 06:43 PM

Wagtail, my rx is for up to 3 mg of valium / day ... I have only taken that much once...about a month ago ... I'm pretty much off of it now ... the most I was taking was 1 mg. twice a day, for just a couple of weeks ... it worked fine for me.... and at very tiny doses ... my anxiety is situational, directly related to my job search stress... the most I've been taking recently is 1 mg, maybe every few days ... and I've found the clonidine works better for me anyway ...

Your dose and dosing schedule is different, because you're on it to get stabilized so you can do the sensorimotor psychotherapy with your therapist ...

#71 Wagtail

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 08:01 PM

F/h , Carleeta , FN's ... Always appreciate you advice ... Ok Ambian is one to steer clear of then . I will try not to let the fear of my Valium increase send me spiraling downwards .. It's more important ATM to be able to function & be able to leave the house .
I think that if I can Stabalize a little & get out & about a bit more , than I will feel happier & won't need the Valium as much . This will allow me to then slowly cut back .
It saddens me a great deal when I think back to this time last year before I went off the Cymbalta ... What a different person I was .. Happy , could cope with almost everything including selling one home & buying & moving into another .
Mind you there was a drawback ... I was drinking wine almost every night & loving it ... I've been through alcohol withdrawal in the past 8 months also ...
I am PRAYING that this overpowering anxiety is a part of my discontinuation ( I can handle that thought ) but my therapist said NO .. it's due to other reasons ... Oh shit !!! .. " point the bone @ me & I will lie down & die ! ." Lol

#72 FiveNotions

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Posted 16 July 2014 - 08:19 PM

Wagtail, dear, it is due to the other reasons... the only way to rid yourself of the anxiety is to trust your therapist... let her help you to face your fear of the therapy, and walk straight into it, deal with the underlying trauma, and come out the other side reborn ... remember Gandalf fighting the Balrog..... the Balrog was his dark/evil opposite... the only way to defeat it was for Gandalf to walk into it, fight it, and return ... transformed from Gandalf the Gray to Gandalf the White ... you will be transformed from "Wagtail the Gray" into "Wagtail the White" ... the same, yet completely different ...

I'm saying this only because I'm speaking from experience ... back in the 1980s I finally became so sick and tired of living frozen, with fear and constant anxiety, that I got a therapist ... I was blessed with one who did, indeed, use sensorimotor psychotherapy ... I made a conscious decision to trust her, and with her help I stopped running from the trauma I'd experienced, and turned to face it... I walked straight into the fire ... and I worked hard at the therapy ... it was hard, yes, very hard ... and yet each and every session I had left me feeling more free and alive than I'd ever felt... and I worked through every single bit of the trauma that had terrorized me since childhood ...

And low and behold, it was no longer trauma ... it was simply a chapter in my life ... that I no longer kept locked inside me, but can instead now talk about, tell funny stories about ... I forgave my parents, I forgave myself .... and I got my life back ...

Dearest Wagtail, don't you think it's time you stopped running away... let this therapist help you ... her approach is, I assure you, a wonderful and successful one .... it worked for/with/on me ... and I was a lost cause ;-)

#73 fishinghat

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 08:56 AM

FN is right. It is time to turn your worrys over to the therapist. Go in with and honest open mind and let her do the rest.


#74 scared60

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 04:32 PM

I truly believe in therapy!  We have so many things inside us, that we are not capable of handling or understanding.  With therapy, we can understand ... see "it" coming and work through whatever a particular "it" is.  It's a wonderful thing, therapy!  A therapist with a goal of not having you be there perpetually is a good therapist...

 

As far as ambien.  I've been taking it forever, probably always will.  It allows me to go back to sleep when I wake up due to flopping around in bed because of pain or a simple bathroom break.  I've always been able to GO to sleep, just couldn't stay there ...


#75 Carleeta

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 05:13 PM

Scared60..Wow you had quite a drop there in your Cymbalta is a matter of 3 weeks. This may have been a bit too fast. As you know there are other ways to get off of Cymbalta which help ease some of the withdrawal symptoms. As you also know, everyone experiences discontinuing Cymbalta and other antidepressants differently. Some have little to none withdrawal symptoms and others have more intense withdrawal symptoms. Just keep tract on how you are feeling and pay attention to what your body is telling you. Please keep us posted, as many dedicated members are here to lend their knowledge, expertise, love, support, and understanding...

Glad you are going for the MRI. Let us know your progress :)



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