Posted by Private on September 8, 2004, at 1:30:53
I have addictive behavior in my family and for this reason I have never tried alcohol. Although I am only 24, I had chronic back pain prior to having back surgery last year. Before the surgery I found myself addicted to Hydrocodone. After exactly a year of use (taking sometimes up to 8 pills per day) I quit cold turkey and went through what were the worst 2 months of my life- withdraws.
Because of my occupation I work nights and sleep during the day, which leads to my current problem and the reason I am writing today- AMBIEN.
I began taking Ambien only once a week to assist with an occasional problem sleeping. Over time it has grown into one 10mg pill almost every night and a small piece during the day (well, my daytime, anyway). I use ambien as kind of a cure-all. I know you are curious as to why I take it during the day- I break a pill into 3 pieces. One piece of Ambien does, what I would assume, alcohol does for most- It slightly lowers my inhibitions (I am naturally an uptight person), It gives my a feeling of self-confidence, and in turn makes me a little more fun to be around. It helps me relax but not to an extreme (i dont dance naked on top of a table or anything)
I was recently hospitalized because I blacked-out, I had a very high fever, I was vomitting, I had diarreah, and a severe migraine. Today, a week later, the only thing that remains is the migraine. The migraine has actually gotten worse. I jumpped online and began to read about what could have caused me to be sick, since the Dr still does not know why. My conclusion is that I am suffering from a rebound headache due to my Ambien use and that the other symptoms are secondary to the headache. I am not a Dr so I could be wrong. In either case, its still true that I am over using Ambien and want to stop- I JUST DONT WANT TO GO THROUGH WITHDRAWS AGAIN! Also, I dont want to go though countless nights of tossing and turning and not being able to fall asleep. I am afraid that if I take something else, it will leave my groggy and unable to function the following day.
Please, Please help me by sharing any feedback, personal experiences and suggestions.
Thank you!
poster:Private
thread:387917
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/387917.html