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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Mandybella on February 17, 2004, at 15:48:18
I posted before about my ambien addiction. I am about 45 days clean and happy about that. But I am not sleeping well and my physical pain from fibromylagia has increased.
I was told I cannot take any narcotics or benzos but how can I help my sleep and pain. Over the counter meds do not help much. I am afraid my depression will come back if I don't get proper sleep. I tried remeron but it made me gain weight and only worked well in first week. I would appreciate any advice. Also, would flexeril count as something not to be used??
Posted by krazybirdlady on February 18, 2004, at 7:50:22
In reply to After ambien--help with sleep and pain, posted by Mandybella on February 17, 2004, at 15:48:18
hi mandy...flexeril should be generally OK. however, i don't know if it would really help much with your pain. have you considered something like neurontin? it has proven somewhat effective for both chronic pain and sleep. also the tricyclic AD's can also aid in this. check with your doc. neither of these drugs have any addictive qualities, so i think they would be safe for you to try. also, hang in there with the sleep, as it may take months for your sleep patterns to completely return to normal...
Posted by Mandybella on February 18, 2004, at 11:57:30
In reply to Re: After ambien--help with sleep and pain » Mandybella, posted by krazybirdlady on February 18, 2004, at 7:50:22
I am already on neurontin. I am not sure how much it helps. Still have pain but maybe it would be worse if not on it. I keep wondering if it is true that if I took another sleeping pill that it would trigger my need for ambien. Little sleep and a headache every morning is making me depressed. Plus my husband lost his job and I am responsible for money coming in.
Posted by krazybirdlady on February 18, 2004, at 14:02:40
In reply to Thanks--already neurontin, posted by Mandybella on February 18, 2004, at 11:57:30
mandy..i can only imagine your elevated stress levels. i just finished reading a site (don't know if i can post it here) about how both benzo and the Z sleeping aids are tapered much too quickly in an in-patient setting. don't know if that's true or not. but it gave me cause to think. benzos or ambien (unlike narcs) are VERY hard to come off of without residual symptoms. stress can cause a recurrence of these symptoms. considering that you already have a chronic disease as well as STRESS, i would think that you are a very strong individual. turning to benzos now is not the answer. they are worse than ambien. opiates of any kind are not either. an incredibly low dose of valium will only prolong the inevitable. but on the other hand, you must think about your quality of life. i wish that i could give you some real help, but only you can decide what might help you at this point. i'm going to take a chance and post this site...Dr. Bob can delete it if it is against rules...benzo.org.uk...click on Dr. Ashton's manual...
Posted by Fallen4myT on February 23, 2004, at 23:13:42
In reply to After ambien--help with sleep and pain, posted by Mandybella on February 17, 2004, at 15:48:18
Hi Again Mandy, I just wanted to add you may with a doc or better yet PDOCs ok.,.,,,UP your dose of Neurontin...I was once given for a few weeks 1200 mg of Neurontin AT BED for sleep...worth asking on
hugs
Posted by arrie on March 17, 2004, at 20:43:15
In reply to After ambien--help with sleep and pain, posted by Mandybella on February 17, 2004, at 15:48:18
Why cant you have pain or sleep medicine. You have a right to medication to treat fibro. Pain untreated is just as harmful, change docs.
This is the end of the thread.
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