Been taking tramadol and gabapentin for years, averaging 400-500mg of tramadol / day for 2-3 years and 600-1200mg of gabapentin on and off for a few years as well. Been clean from both of them since the start of August, nearly 3 months and have managed to take only Ambien 25mg a day on average for the past 6-8 months.
I have tried to stop cold turkey with ambien twice and lasted four days, the second time being more brutal as I was able to get an hour or two of sleep during those 4 days, low quality rem sleep of which I would constantly be woken up with hypnic jerks (myoclonus), where my body would jerk with what seemed to be nerve pain on my legs, chest, heart, head. It has made falling asleep without the ambien a terrifying and anxious ordeal as these jerks also seem to have me woken up with visual distortions (extreme visual snow etc).
Since I've quit the tramadol and gabapentin, and passing the acute withdrawals from them, I thought I was in the clear with one more chemical to abstain from. Seems like its been anything but that, as I continued with my ambien usage, I have grown progressively more fatigued, depressed, anxious, nervous (literally where my nervous system is heightened, loud noises or thuds many times jolting me with nerve pain), tinnitus has increased as well as hyperacusis (sensitivity to noise). Dizzyness, extreme inattentiveness, not being able to focus has been debilitating but what concerns me very much is the hypnic jerks. As I begin to fall asleep, I get flashes of lights, strange shifts in consciousness, and the jolts and if I do happen to pass towards sleep, its usually always REM sleep that last for 15-20 minutes before waking up by another jolt. So I continue to take ambien as I have no idea what to do.
I was given a month prescription of Ativan to stable me out but know that this will only worsen the problems. I need to let my gaba receptors heal and benzos would be totally counter productive. I should mention when I take the Ativan and Ambien, much if not most of the symptoms (visual snow, dizziness, failure to focus, depression, tinnitus, hyperacusis, hypnic jerks) go away.
Was thinking about starting a low daily dose of tramadol 100-150mg / day to ward of depression as I had great results from it when taking it and to help with the withdrawals from Ambien and the little bit of Ativan I started taking. I understand it could raise my seizure threshold and will take caution with it but have had success in the pass taking tramadol only to avoid all other chemicals. Perhaps a month or two taking tramadol, abstaining from the benzos could give me time to heal my gaba receptors. What do you guys think?
I have tried to stop cold turkey with ambien twice and lasted four days, the second time being more brutal as I was able to get an hour or two of sleep during those 4 days, low quality rem sleep of which I would constantly be woken up with hypnic jerks (myoclonus), where my body would jerk with what seemed to be nerve pain on my legs, chest, heart, head. It has made falling asleep without the ambien a terrifying and anxious ordeal as these jerks also seem to have me woken up with visual distortions (extreme visual snow etc).
Since I've quit the tramadol and gabapentin, and passing the acute withdrawals from them, I thought I was in the clear with one more chemical to abstain from. Seems like its been anything but that, as I continued with my ambien usage, I have grown progressively more fatigued, depressed, anxious, nervous (literally where my nervous system is heightened, loud noises or thuds many times jolting me with nerve pain), tinnitus has increased as well as hyperacusis (sensitivity to noise). Dizzyness, extreme inattentiveness, not being able to focus has been debilitating but what concerns me very much is the hypnic jerks. As I begin to fall asleep, I get flashes of lights, strange shifts in consciousness, and the jolts and if I do happen to pass towards sleep, its usually always REM sleep that last for 15-20 minutes before waking up by another jolt. So I continue to take ambien as I have no idea what to do.
I was given a month prescription of Ativan to stable me out but know that this will only worsen the problems. I need to let my gaba receptors heal and benzos would be totally counter productive. I should mention when I take the Ativan and Ambien, much if not most of the symptoms (visual snow, dizziness, failure to focus, depression, tinnitus, hyperacusis, hypnic jerks) go away.
Was thinking about starting a low daily dose of tramadol 100-150mg / day to ward of depression as I had great results from it when taking it and to help with the withdrawals from Ambien and the little bit of Ativan I started taking. I understand it could raise my seizure threshold and will take caution with it but have had success in the pass taking tramadol only to avoid all other chemicals. Perhaps a month or two taking tramadol, abstaining from the benzos could give me time to heal my gaba receptors. What do you guys think?
