Hello. My friend wants to know if she is addicted:
She had trouble sleeping one night then decided the next night to take Ivedal (Zolpidem). It worked so good she decided to take it every night, but on the second week of being on it she felt very drowsy & confused during the day not unlike a bad hangover. She thought this to be caused by the sleeping pills and stopped taking them, however for the next two days she did not sleep at all and still felt hung over. She took the pills again but a few days later the hangover was back but this time much more severe. She then flushed the pills down the drain and again could not sleep. The few moments that she was able to sleep she recalls having horrible vivid nightmares. 4 days later the 'hangover' still persists and still has vivid dreams.
Your advice will be appreciated. Is this addiction withdrawal?
I used to work night shifts years ago. 5 on, 5 off, then back to days, 5 on, 5 off. I found myself unable to sleep on the day rotation as by then my body had adjusted to being awake until 08:00 every morning. Queue Ivedal. Half tablet worked a charm, and was sleeping soundly. Until my body built up a tolerance, and started taking an entire pill. Would literally knock me out in about 2 minutes. And I'd wake up the next day with that hungover feeling your friend describes.
I stopped working nights, but could NOT fall asleep without a tablet, no matter how hard I tried, so continued taking the pills, for about 2 years, and then I moved to the UK, where I have yet to source a lenient pharmacist who will just give it to me over the counter (it's S5 iirc).
I've sourced some random OTC crap from Boots (UK version of Clicks) after having tried all sorts of "natural" remedies that didn't work. Started on the 25mg tablets which were enough to just take the edge off so that I could eventually fall asleep. Those stopped working this year so I've moved onto 50mg tablets. There have been nights where I've run out, and ended up lying there awake wondering if penguins have knees until 05:00 - my alarm goes off at 05:30. Oh how I long for Ivedal again!
I think my circadian clock is now permanently ****ed, in addition to suffering from adrenal burnout (commonly referred to, quite accurately, as "tired but wired". Exhausted, but your mind won't shut down so you can sleep). I'm doomed, I think, to rely on chemicals to shut down every night just so I can sleep. It's the most annoying thing, because I have no problem staying asleep once I'm out - it's the crossing point from consciousness to REM that I've struggled with for years.
TL;DR: yep, your friend is addicted to sleeping tablets. And so am I...
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