Ambien CR and Daily Headaches

I stopped taking Ambien cr 3 days ago in hopes that it might be the cause of my daily headaches. I have had a constant headache since December 8, 2006. I started taking Ambien cr in September due to the fact that I am unable to sleep through the night and am only able to get about 2-3 hours of sleep on my own. I woke up in late October with Vertigo and for several weeks had daily dizzy spells. I started to get headaches about twice a week in November and then on December 8th I woke with a headache and have been unable to get rid of it. I have been on medical leave for several months and have loss of daily life due to these headaches. I have been to several Doctors, two Neurologists, 3 emergency rooms, an acupuncturists, a chiropractor, 2 massage therapists and many more people to help me with what they have only been able to label as an unexplained Migraine at this time. These Doctors know I am on Ambien and have not told me to stop. After my last trip to the emergency room on Friday night, I decided to stop taking Ambien cr on my own to see if this will help. I am at a loss. Has anyone else had headaches like mine? Does anyone know how long it will take for Ambien cr to get out of my system? It has only been three days. I still have a headache.. but it does seem like a mild headache today. Could be just a coincidence.. Only time will tell, I guess. Just want to know if any one else out there is having these problems too. My Doctors are stumped and so am I. Just trying to get my life back. Thanks for your help.

Good luck. My husband has had a headache since August of 2005. He too has been to many doctor who pretty much blow him off.
I am not aware that he has tried Ambien. His headache just appeared for no apparent reason.

I am surfing the web today trying to see if others are having this problem with AMBIEN. I see that it was back in Dec. when you posted, are you still having headaches and are you still taking AMBIEN?
I too have headaches ever since I started to take AMBIEN CR three weeks ago. I tried to stop taking AMBIEN last night, but end up taking it at 1:30am to get to sleep. I layed awake with my brain racing so fast I couldn't handle it no more and caved in. I hope you read this and post back, and I hope to hear that your headaches stopped when you stopped taking it.

No, I am still having headaches... I have laid off the AMbien Cr for two weeks.. and at first I thought the headacfhes were getting better.. but they have not.... I went to a third Neurologist Specialist today and an OBGYN. They are going to run some more tests... It has been almost 6 months of a constant headache, with no clue of why. I may start taking the AMbien again in another week. I was awakw until 9:30am in the morning a few times.. It has been rough not sleeping.. Plsu I could tell my body has gone through withdrawals.. I have been feeling ill for two weeks. That is why I want to give it another week, just to see. I am basically shppting in the dark at this point. But I will try anything. We just can't figure out why I can't get rid of the headache.

Rhonda wrote:

I am surfing the web today trying to see if others are having this problem with AMBIEN. I see that it was back in Dec. when you posted, are you still having headaches and are you still taking AMBIEN?
I too have headaches ever since I started to take AMBIEN CR three weeks ago. I tried to stop taking AMBIEN last night, but end up taking it at 1:30am to get to sleep. I layed awake with my brain racing so fast I couldn't handle it no more and caved in. I hope you read this and post back, and I hope to hear that your headaches stopped when you stopped taking it.

I have pain in my shoulder could that be caused from Ambien

I thought I was losing my mind, I have always struggled with periodic migraines but since starting on the ambien several months ago I have had severe headaches every day, all day! This is crazy!

Well it has been over 3 weeks since I stopped taking Ambien.. and Slowly.. very slowly my headaches have almost disappeared! I am convinced this was the cause of my daily headaches over the last 6 months. It has been horrible. Ambien was the only thing that was consistent in my life over this time. Dr's kept telling me it was not the Ambien and I even tried for a few days at a time to stop taking it. But the headaches never went away until now. It has been over 3 weeks. The first 2 weeks I was sick as a dog. Throwing up twice a day. But after the 2nd week that stopped and now day by day the headaches are getting smaller and smaller. I am hopeful that in another week or two they will be completely gone. I can't believe I have had such a bad reaction to something that the Dr's kept saying was fine to take. I have not been able to find any information about ambein and headaches. But It is obvious to me that this was the cause.

I have been on ambien for 4 years witrh a host of health related "side effects"--lost memory but I have been having a serious headache for 3 months now that is intolerable--I feel like I have a brain tumor or something--never had a constant headache like this on one side of my head for so long. There is no study on ambien done for people taking it for years--doctor told me---so who knows what it can do to you long term. Just quit taking it --right??? Impossible--tried several times....would LOVE to

aBitSaucy wrote:

I stopped taking Ambien cr 3 days ago in hopes that it might be the cause of my daily headaches. I have had a constant headache since December 8, 2006. I started taking Ambien cr in September due to the fact that I am unable to sleep through the night and am only able to get about 2-3 hours of sleep on my own. I woke up in late October with Vertigo and for several weeks had daily dizzy spells. I started to get headaches about twice a week in November and then on December 8th I woke with a headache and have been unable to get rid of it. I have been on medical leave for several months and have loss of daily life due to these headaches. I have been to several Doctors, two Neurologists, 3 emergency rooms, an acupuncturists, a chiropractor, 2 massage therapists and many more people to help me with what they have only been able to label as an unexplained Migraine at this time. These Doctors know I am on Ambien and have not told me to stop. After my last trip to the emergency room on Friday night, I decided to stop taking Ambien cr on my own to see if this will help. I am at a loss. Has anyone else had headaches like mine? Does anyone know how long it will take for Ambien cr to get out of my system? It has only been three days. I still have a headache.. but it does seem like a mild headache today. Could be just a coincidence.. Only time will tell, I guess. Just want to know if any one else out there is having these problems too. My Doctors are stumped and so am I. Just trying to get my life back. Thanks for your help.

ABitSaucy - I am wondering if your headaches are still gone now? I too have taken Ambien for over a year and have developed severe headaches. Mainly behind my left eye. The dr has told me several times that it's probably not the ambien and it's probably migraines. But it's the only new thing I have added in the past year and I am very healthy otherwise. I have been off of it for 4 nights now but still have a painful headache. I guess I am looking for some glimer of hope to the end of this head pain. Anyway, let me know if you are still headache free.

MyHeadHurts- Well.... it took several weeks before I saw any releif... and then I had 2 really good weeks.. where my headaches were only a 2 on a scale of 1-10. I was really happy.. It was the first time in 6 months that my headaches weren't overwhelming. But a week ago, the headaches came back, almost worse than ever. I am not sure why, nothing has changed... Some people say that when you are recovering you go through cycles.. so maybe this is part of the cycle.. Not sure. I do have an appointment coming up to have what is called a GON injection. They inject some type of substance into your head in hopes that it breaks the pain cycle. I am hopeful. I will tell you this... I was sick for two weeks after I came off the Ambien and it was another two weeks until I saw a solid benefit from being off the Ambien. It has been difficult to sleep.. but it was worth having a 2 good weeks of almost no pain. Stay off the Ambien as long as you can, to know for sure. Good luck!

how often did everyone take the ambien cr? i take it 3-4 times a week for about 6 months and recently i too have started to get these headaches. they start as someone else mentioned behind my left eyeball.

I took it about 5-6 times a week for about 5 months.

Well, I have been off the ambien since 5/10. My headaches went away by the 14th but now today I have one again. I went to a biofeedback therapist who helped me with some relaxation and sleeping techniques. They say if you can break the migraine cycle you can overcome them. It took about 5-7 days to get over the ambien. The first few nights were not very fun. I had some night sweats and mild anxiety. I am so desperate for the headaches to go away that I was freaking out those first few nights so I'm not sure if it was ambien withdrawl and/or general headache panic. I'm discouraged that I have another headache. I'm going to see an ENT next week. I may have to go on migraine prevention if they don't find anything. I'm irritated because I feel like the ambien did this to me. I'm encouraged to hear that they say you go through cycles. Hopefully, that's all this is. I hope to break this migraine cycle. I'm never going to take ambien again. I would rather just be tired from no sleep than to deal with this. ABitSaucy - have you taken any of the meds that prevent migraines instead of things like Maxalt that treat them? I'm trying to avoid that but it's getting to that point where I need to do something drastic. Let me know how the GON injection goes. Good luck everyone! Stop taking ambien. It's not worth it. The 5th day is really the hump. If you can make it to that you are in the clear.

I was taking ambien off and on for a year then I got up to taking it 7 nights a week for the past year. When the headaches got so bad and so frequent (every day all day) I went cold turkey on everything. The headaches seem to be getting better....It's been about 2 weeks now that I've been off of them. I figure it might take longer than two weeks given that I took so much for so long.

i want to get off ambien cr because i believe that it causes my heart to beat faster and causes anxiety does any one else experience these side effects.

I had taken Ambien 10mg for 6 months 7 days a week and then moved to Ambien CR 12.5 mg seven days a week for the past 14 months. Only occassionally do I suffer a headache and it usually brought on by stress. Can you tell me if you slept for 6 or 8 hours or more? I generally sleep for 4-6 hours a night. Rarely, I think my body gets so tired of so little sleep that it allows me to remain asleep for 7-8 hours.

If the medication is non-narcotic why is there a chemical dependency?

carol wrote:

I have pain in my shoulder could that be caused from Ambien

Unfortunetly I don't have a reply with an answer but I am experiencing the same thinga real bad pain in my back and my left shoulder blade right below it.I am having constant neck pain, temple pain, and severe nausea.Have you found any information from anyone else.Im in Iraq serving for the military so sleeping is usually not an option without ambien.Any knowledge that you might have would help.

I've been having a heavy feeling in my head for a few weeks now, like as if my head is about to explode.Is ambien cr any different from regular ambien , as far as the time it takes to fall asleep and STAY asleep?
I was thinking of trying the cr, but don't know if it'll help, if the regular doesn't help.
Wouldn't it be dangerous to be taking it in Irag, where you have to be alert and may not get the full 7-8 hours of sleep needed when you take it?

Darlene wrote:

I thought I was losing my mind, I have always struggled with periodic migraines but since starting on the ambien several months ago I have had severe headaches every day, all day! This is crazy!

i have had severe headaches for 2.5 zears now and I have been off ambien for 1.5 years now

tylerbox wrote:

how often did everyone take the ambien cr? i take it 3-4 times a week for about 6 months and recently i too have started to get these headaches. they start as someone else mentioned behind my left eyeball.

It hurts behind my right eyeball. Like someone tasking a hammer and pounding on it all day long. Also my tongue hurst badly and I have speech difficulties (I am a linguist and lost my job, because of it)