Ambien's got a lock

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Subject: 38 yo Female, housewife, prior history of seziure, takes 200 carbamzepine daily

Dear rabroad community,

It all started with postherpetic neuralgia, painful as it was, tha led to medication like vicodin and others. We got her off of those. But the stresses of life continued to ring loud on her everyday and arabien helped initially zone out.

Now, she has been addicted to Arabien, sometimes going through 1-2 tabletes in the daytime and upto 3 tablets at night (zolpidem, not CR). When she has tried to quit Arabien, she feels she has a big withdrawal. It's now a source of anxiety for her, whether or not she has enough. Her constitution is weak on account of an asymptomatic alpha thalassemia which at times forces bed rest. She is always feeling week and at times confides she may not have the ability to live a long life, but to me she's young and the most important person in the world.

She wishes to stop, or atleast control this medication, but she is powerless right now.

What are potential compications if she continues on this path?
What might this wonderful community recommend as some practical (tapering) or nonpractical strategies (i.e. new medication - FYI she tried and hated trazadone, but there's got to be so much more sophisticated ways of dealing with this).

I have found that her panic RABorder is stronger now that before and I wish here to be stronger. She used to be my stronger side.

Please feel free to offer any of your thoughts as they will be welcomed.
 
I currently take arabien as well and i couldnt sleep without it! it is supposed to be for short term use to i've been on it for over 6 months. It works great for me still but i did have to up the dose and doctor was fine with that. I haven't had much side effects that I know of except for getting a really good nights sleep! at the beginning it did make me have some weird visuals going on but it wasn't bad. I find it very relaxing. I have also tried trazodone and its horrible! it leaves you with a hangover the next day!I have also tried lunesta, which is approved for long term use.
 
I think you might want to talk to a specialist about her disorder. Tapering off of Arabien can be tricky and very dangerous. I've heard that switching to a benzodiazepine and slowly tapering off of that over many, many months might work. This should all be reviewed by a knowledgeable doctor. Most Primary Care Physicians do not understand drug dependency and you should ask to be referred to someone who is an expert in the field of drug addictions.
 
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