Insomnia and Ambien Addiction

Insomnia and Ambien Addiction

Published July 2011

Insomnia can have a debilitating effect on your daily life, causing daytime sleepiness, lethargy, and irritability, as well as cognitive and memory difficulties. For these reasons, many people living with insomnia turn to prescription drugs to alleviate their symptoms.

Most drugs prescribed for insomnia are known as hypnotics, with one of the most popular being Ambien. Drugs such as Ambien tend to induce sleep within 15-20 minutes, aimed at providing a full night’s sleep for those who have insomnia.

However, in many insomniacs, dependence on Ambien persists beyond its recommended treatment course of several weeks, leaving patients dependent on the drug.

For some, the prescribed dose of Ambien doesn’t stop the underlying reasons for insomnia. By treating only the symptoms of insomnia, sufferers find they need an increased dose, which is often more than prescribed, to achieve the level of sedation conducive to sleep. As Ambien use continues, tolerance can develop, requiring higher dosages to achieve the same sedating effects. Additionally, Ambien acts on specific neurotransmitters in the brain (particularly GABA), potentially causing a shift in brain chemistry with continued or high dosage. These chemical alterations in the brain can foster dependency, especially in those who have encountered past drug or alcohol dependency issues.

At Passages, we uncover and heal the underlying causes of insomnia without the help of drugs like Ambien.