Hello,
My husband is going through severe depression and anxiety. He is reluctant to take the medications that the doctor's want him to so he seems to be coping with Ativan and Ambien.

What I am noticing confuses me greatly. He will seem to be in a fog of sorts and unable to concentrate to talk to anyone, his mind is racing, yet when he takes the Ambien for bed suddenly and this has happened 4 times about 2 or 3 in the morning he says that he finally feels like himself. What is going on is his body withdrawing from the Ambien during the day and he only takes the Ativan when he is having a very hard time.
Can someone help me help him.
Skeeter

SkeeterNelson,

I am no expert on medication. But I do know that most antidepressants take a long time (sometimes a couple of weeks or more) to take effect. Your husband may also be having a negative reaction to the Ambien. I was once put on an antidepressant that made me wake up in the middle of the night feeling as though I was going to lose my mind.

My suggestion would be for him to talk to his doctor.

This might not be much help, but when it comes to prescriptions, the doctors usually know best.

God bless you for using this forum to try to help your husband. He is lucky to have you.

Tim

Skeeter,

Ativan is an anti-anxiety med. Ambien is strictly for sleeping. If this is all he is taking, he is not on an anti-depressant. From your message, I don't understand if there is a problem or not. Both drugs are controlled meaning they have a controlled substance in them. Another way of saying you can become addicted to them over time. I don't think there is enough chemical in Ambien to become addicted to it. That's why it is prescribed for sleep. If he is having depression, a med for that might help him. Depends on the individual. The Midwest program has helped me immensely. It has been better than medicine. Hope your husband gets better. There is hope!!

Hello,
Thank you for replying. I will tell you what I have uncovered in researching this for my husband. Ambian and Ativan are both from the Benzo family and are very bad news. My husband was having to take Ambian in the day just to be able to think. His mind was in such a fog that his thinking was becoming affected. When he took the Ambian within 10 minutes he could talk and carry on a conversation. The Ambian no longer helped him sleep. I also found out that taking Ambian and Ativan together can cause death. He has stopped cold turkey both of these meds and is undergoing extreme withdrawal. He however has decided to finally take Effexor and he said he can already tell it is helping him. Thank you so much and be careful what is prescribed to you even if the doctor says they are not addictive, research it for yourself.
Thanks,
Skeeter