I never thought I would be a drug addict, but now I can say I was one.
Back in September, I was in an accident that put me in the hospital for a week with 10 rib fractures, a shattered scapula, broken collar bone, and nerve damage in my back. (For images of my broken bones see
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/politics-religion-etc/78203-3d-ct-scans-m...g-graphic.html )While in the hospital, I was on Vicodin and morphine for pain. So I could sleep at night I was also put on Ambien. When released from the hospital, I was still in pretty bad shape. In addition to the broken bones, I had lost muscle control on the left side of my back due to the nerve damage. My broken left scapula had been pulled up on to my shoulder and was out of place – the muscles that would normally pull the scapula back down to the correct location on my back didn’t work any more. The displaced scapula gave me a lot of pain and I was on Vicodin for over 4 months until the nerves started working again and the scapula got pulled back into place. The pain I had in my shoulder made it very difficult to sleep, so in addition to the Vicodin, I was still on Ambien to help me sleep at night.
My doctor told me early on that she was worried I might get addicted to the Vicodin, but the Vicodin was for the pain and I needed it. There was never any mention of the Ambien being an addiction problem. After 4 or 5 months, the pain in my shoulder was not a serious problem and I was able to decrease the amount of Vicodin I was taking and eventually I stopped taking the Vicodin all together. I never had any problems with withdrawal symptoms from the Vicodin. Actually, I never got any kind of a buzz from the Vicodin or the morphine. They did help stop the pain, but that was all.
After I got off the Vicodin, I still had problems sleeping, so I continued with the Ambien at night. Sometimes I would try to go to bed at night without taking an Ambien, but I’d lay there for a while and finally get up and take 5mg of Ambien. After over 7 months of taking Ambien nightly, I decided I needed to stop taking it. This is when I found out I was a drug addict. I had become addicted to Ambien.
While I was being treated after the accident I had also been given Temazepam as a sleep aid, but I had never really used it. I had always taken the Ambien. When I came to realize that I could not go to sleep at night without taking Ambien I took one of the Temazepam to help me sleep. The next day I would feel nervous and agitated, I couldn’t focus, so I went back to taking Ambien at night thinking that the Temazepam was my problem. I was wrong.
Finally last week I decided I had to get off the Ambien. The first night I decided to stop taking Ambien, I took one more Temazepam. The next night I took nothing. I was quitting cold turkey. For about a week now, I have been off the Ambien. I have been fighting withdrawal symptoms ever since. I’ve had problems with insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, trembling in my hands, and difficulty focusing at work. The worse withdrawal symptoms were headaches. The headaches were really bad the first few days. Like a clamp on my temples, and both Tylenol and Alleve did little to ease the pain. Luckily the headaches are mostly gone now. After a week, the withdrawal symptoms have finally started to decrease. Ambien is a sedative and now that I am going through withdrawal, I have the physical feeling like I’m hopped up on too much caffeine all the time. It is an uncomfortable feeling. I’m hoping the side effects will go away soon, but only time will tell.
I have googled ‘Ambien withdrawal’ and I’ve found it to be a common problem. I have suffered many of the withdrawal problems I found listed. Ambient is advertised on TV as a sleep aid. They say ask for a sample from your doctor. That’s just what the maker of Ambien wants – you get a sample and after a while you are hooked, I was. It’s just what a drug company wants, you get addicted to a prescription drug, take it for the rest of your life, and they make a lot of money.
I still have some Ambien in my medicine cabinet at home. Every time I look at it, I am tempted to take one. But I tell myself, ‘You don’t need that.’ Wish me luck in getting through this. (If this post is written with poor grammar, blame it on the Ambien withdrawal.)
The moral of this is simple, be careful what medicines you take, you might get addicted. That's what happened to me.
One side note, my withdrawal symptoms were at their worst on Monday morning. I felt uncomfortable and couldn't sit still. I couldn’t go to work like that; instead I went for a ride on my motorcycle. While I was riding, I didn’t notice the withdrawal symptoms, my mind and body were focused on riding. Soon after I got home from my ride, the symptoms all came back. I guess I need to ride my motorcycle more - it would be a kind of therapy!!