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I really need help. Anxiety is back and worst. Ambien debacle.

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Posted 8/5/2014 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Hey friends, I've been doing well with my anxiety for years. I got prescribed Ambien for insomnia in the start of the year and yesterday I had one of those crazy reactions people talk about (things looking weird, sounds). My biggest fear with anxiety has always been going crazy so this episode has just triggered the fear that I'm finally going to lose it. I've been thinking I'll lose it for 10 years. I need to be rational and realize the Ambien made me feel crazy and I'm not losing my mind but I'm just feeling so so so so awful. I'm terrified. I'm scared of going crazy. Ambien made me feel so weird what if my mind repeats that? Needless to say I'm off Ambien and got prescribed Klonopin to deal with this moment of panic. Feels rough though. :(

I just need a reminder that you can't go crazy from anxiety and those "hallucinations" like symptoms were caused my Ambien and trying to stay awake when you are supposed to just go to bed.
Posted 8/5/2014 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
Hi GWA and welcome!

I am sorry that you ran into one of your triggers yesterday! We can be going along just fine...and it can just take one thing to de-rail us.:(

This can just be a temporary detour along your journey however...since you have reached out, and have a good understanding that you are simply in a rough spot currently.:)

Here is the link to our Resources for some excellent self-help ideas. Try them, they really work!

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=104206



Also here is a link to a similar concern from a thread earlier today.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=3148193

You are not alone in your concerns...we understand and care. Post anytime!

Scaredy Cat

Posted 8/5/2014 11:52 AM (GMT 0)
Hello, I have heard that Ambien is really popular for crazy side effects. There was just a show on tv about it. Ask for something else to help you.
Posted 8/5/2014 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hi
I posted a thread yesterday about ambien. I believe that it may have given me a panic attack a day after i took it and continuing anxiety. I felt really weird after I increased it the last two nights. Last night I replaced it with Ativan, as I'm on day 16 of lexapro, and the increased anxiety won't let me sleep and i slept much better.

Yesterday, I did have moments, when i thought i was going crazy because i felt so out of it. That feeling seems to have gone away today. We'll see..keep me posted on how you feel after you stop ambien. Do you have to taper off? I wasn't on it long enough (11days) so dr said to just stop.
Posted 8/5/2014 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
I just stopped it cold turkey. I slept fine last night. No weird feeling at all. I'm still terrified I'm going to hallucinate and feel that crazy again but I need to understand it was the medication. This drug is really bad for people like us with panic. Some people love the high and seeing or hearing weird things because the drug is a hypnotic but for us it just such a big fear.

I'm still very fearful I will go crazy and see things and hear things because Ambien made me feel so crazy but my therapist reassured me that you can't go crazy from Ambien or from a panic disorder.

It's been a rough 2 days. Been crying a lot and just so sad I'm relapsing when I've been doing so well for years.
Posted 8/5/2014 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hello there,
I am sorry but I cannot be one to encourage you to stay on Ambien. If all you experience are weird feelings, you are very fortunate. I have a friend who, after 3rd day of taking Ambien, woke up the next morning to find out she had cooked all night and put everything on her coffee table. A young pharmacist fellow told me after his 3rd week on Ambien, he woke up in Jail and the 'little orange outfit.' He had gotten up, walked acrossthe street to a McDonalds, politely ordered, etc...(thankfully he had on his undershorts.) The police came and took him to jail... he remained cooperative and polite. He then WOKE UP to real waking consciousness, and naturally was released. I have heard similar stories of people wandering out of their homes, doing bizarre things, etc... So no, I cannot in all good conscience say "Stay on Ambien" ...You know, if an alternative 'natural' herb would cause this...it would be ALL OVER the media, arrests would be made and it would be forever banned. But Big Pharma gets away with SOOOOO much.
Posted 8/5/2014 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not staying on Ambien. This drug is evil. I'm lucky all that happened to me was things looking weird in my room and sounds being strange. My computer screen looked like a face for like 5 seconds. I've heard stories that are much worse. But as someone with a panic disorder who's biggest fear is dying or going crazy having these hallucinations like symptoms even if I know they were caused by this really strong drug is still putting me on a state of panic. I worry even though I'll stop, I'll feel that way again, become psychotic, schizophrenic and end up in a mental institution.

I am NEVER touching Ambien again and I advise anyone with a panic disorder to stay away. Some people love the high, the talking to their faucets, the losing their memories. They love feeling drugged. As anxious people, these are our biggest fears and I still can't believe my therapist thought it was a good idea to prescribe me it when I have a history of panic disorder and fear of dying and going crazy.
Posted 8/5/2014 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
How long were you on it? Are you able to sleep?
Posted 8/5/2014 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
I was on it for 6 months. Always had some funky forgetting stuff side effects. But Monday I had an argument with the guy I was/am seeing so I took 2 pills. Started feeling totally crazy like things in my bedroom was in 3d.

I actually slept totally fine without it last night. Took klonopin. I think (hope) even though this is a strong drug (Ambien) it is not physically addictive so stopping shouldn't be as hard as with benzos.

Still waiting to start seeing weird things again and going crazy but so far, without the drug, nothing. I feel normal. Benzos, as much as we complain, just make me groggy but that's SO MUCH better than the crazy Ambien effects.

I still think I will go crazy again without the Ambien and it triggered a crazy in my brain but trying to accept that this is my panic talking and it's impossible to just go crazy. I took 20mg of Ambien. That's why I felt crazy.
Posted 8/5/2014 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
Wow,
I"m sorry you had to go through that. I stopped yesterday, and started taking ativan. It makes me feel kind of weird after i take it, but it gets me to sleep. I'm hoping it's only temporary until the anti depressant kicks in.
Posted 8/6/2014 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
Just an update: second day without the Ambien and the crazy hasn't returned. It is convincing my irrational anxious self that I'm not going crazy and that those effects were def. caused by the drug. I still go into dark places sometimes and sit and wait to see things or hear things but the more the days go by, the better I'm feeling.

I'm having ZERO problems after quitting the Ambien. I've slept perfectly fine (perhaps even better) the past 2 nights with the Klonopin. It seems like even with all the crazy, Ambien is a drug that really doesn't cause withdrawal symptoms. I took it for 6 months.
Posted 8/11/2014 10:47 AM (GMT 0)
Update: Been feeling AMAZING. Better than 6 months ago when I started the Ambien. No craving or withdrawal symptoms and of course I haven't felt weird or had those crazy 3d visions since I stopped the med 1 week ago. Klonopin has been working great but I suspect I won't even need it during the daytime soon. I am starting CBT this week just to cure my anxiety in a more definitive way.

Feeling great and basically anxiety free. I also upped my sertraline from 50 to 75 during this attack with zero side effects.

I'm so happy this panic went away so quickly.

Friends, STAY AWAY FROM AMBIEN if possible.
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