Ambien CR and Daily Headaches

It turns out that my constant headaches over the last 9 months were not caused by ambien. They are the result of my TMJ disorder. The nightly teeth grinding and clenching finally manifested at constant, chronic headaches.

I posted many times earlier in this thread about the full on gauntlet of doctors, medications, etc. I tried and from which I found no relief.

However, about a month ago, I awoke with a ver sore, bruised-like feeling on my right temple and I had a broken back molar. This gave my physical therapist the insight he'd needed. I have since met with a TMJ specialty dentist and have been fitted for a mouth splint which I wear nightly and just last week I flew to San Diego to get Botox shots in my massater and temporalis muscles. The Botox takes about 2 weeks to start working, but it should give my jaw and temple muscles the break they need.

I am starting to see chinks in the armor and I would say that the last 10 days or so, even though a few have still been bad, are among the best I've felt in almost a year.

If you have chronic headaches, I highly recommend you look into TMJ disorder as being part or all of the cause.

Jake wrote:

It turns out that my constant headaches over the last 9 months were not caused by ambien. They are the result of my TMJ disorder. The nightly teeth grinding and clenching finally manifested at constant, chronic headaches.
I posted many times earlier in this thread about the full on gauntlet of doctors, medications, etc. I tried and from which I found no relief.
However, about a month ago, I awoke with a ver sore, bruised-like feeling on my right temple and I had a broken back molar. This gave my physical therapist the insight he'd needed. I have since met with a TMJ specialty dentist and have been fitted for a mouth splint which I wear nightly and just last week I flew to San Diego to get Botox shots in my massater and temporalis muscles. The Botox takes about 2 weeks to start working, but it should give my jaw and temple muscles the break they need.
I am starting to see chinks in the armor and I would say that the last 10 days or so, even though a few have still been bad, are among the best I've felt in almost a year.
If you have chronic headaches, I highly recommend you look into TMJ disorder as being part or all of the cause.

Hi Jake, I am so glad you figured it out! Was worried when you said you were hanging on by a thread. I am suffering migraines however am unsure if they are related to Ambien which I take only occasionally and only suffer migraines about 3 times per month. I am going to stop taking Ambien to see if it helps.

Glad to hear you finally found the cause of your headaches! And letting us know.

How did you stop taking the Valium back then? I'm on a very low dose and want to stop taking it. Did you go to the dr.?

must be a Ambien sales rep. Why would they be on this site if he/she wasn't having side effects?

referring to Lovingsleep....above comment

I think Ambien does cause headaches...among other things...ie.moodiness,exhausti on, depression. This is how I got off Ambien. Two nights with a valium (cut in half). After that, one night with half of one benadryl. Then nothing. That should help to get you unaddicted. Make sure the night with nothing is not a work day the next day. In other words, give yourself the option of sleeping in the next morning. This will relax you so you will worry less about not sleeping. After that...take each night as it comes. You will sleep eventually. Don't resort back to Ambien. There are alot of "cognitive therapy" methods out there that have proven to be effective for insomnia. I plan on looking into this myself.

I have followed this post for a while and thought I would share my experience. I have taken generic Ambien for 3 years and started having daily left frontal headaches in November of 2008. It's hard to believe it has been a full year now! I have been consulting with a neruologist for 9 months and also had a MRI, MRA and a CAT scan of my sinuses but have had no diagnoses except for "transformed migraines". I also believe this to be a result of long term use of Ambien. I found giving up Ambien to be very difficult but have done so with the help of 6 mg of melatonin. This was not immediately effective - it took about two weeks of very bad sleep -but totally worth it to get rid of the addiction to Ambien. Headaches are still present daily, however, if not quite as severe, after about a month, in spite of Topamax. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I fear the headaches may never go away....

Laura wrote:

I have followed this post for a while and thought I would share my experience. I have taken generic Ambien for 3 years and started having daily left frontal headaches in November of 2008. It's hard to believe it has been a full year now! I have been consulting with a neruologist for 9 months and also had a MRI, MRA and a CAT scan of my sinuses but have had no diagnoses except for "transformed migraines". I also believe this to be a result of long term use of Ambien. I found giving up Ambien to be very difficult but have done so with the help of 6 mg of melatonin. This was not immediately effective - it took about two weeks of very bad sleep -but totally worth it to get rid of the addiction to Ambien. Headaches are still present daily, however, if not quite as severe, after about a month, in spite of Topamax. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I fear the headaches may never go away....

when did you completely stop ambien.

I stopped nightly use in september but have used an occasional pill (perhaps 2/month). Each time has intensified the left side headache so much that it has reminded me why I quit taking it. I gave it up completely 2 weeks ago.

Laura,

How are you doing today?

Today is actually my first day without a single thought of a headache in as long as I can remember - that must be good news! Hopefully, this will continue as the amount of time grows since the ambien usage stopped.

I was taking Ambien CR for about 2.5 years (12.5 mg) until Saturday. I have quit cold turkey as I was getting such debilitating headaches I could hardly function, and I have many responsibilities. The headaches were in my left temporal area, and behind my left eye. I was also getting contant blurry vision.

I had my eyes checked several times, and began seeing a neurologist. He ran a battery of tests and found that I had low Vitamin D levels; he has not come up with a solution except a steroid gel to rub on my temple area to reduce the swelling from the blood vessels in that area.

It is now Wednesday and the for the prior two days I was headache free, for the first time in months and months! Last night when I lay down to bed a mild headache came back, but it has subsided this morning. Also, my vision is considerably better; I went all day for the past 3 days with relatively good vision... only had to use eye drops maybe once all day, whereas I was using them about 15 times a day previously.

I have never suffered the eating problems, sleepwalking or sexual side effects of Ambien, but I do feel it caused me signficant weight loss (35 lbs), muscle weakness, headaches & eye blurriness. I am hoping I can lick this addiction I had to it; it worked great to keep me asleep, but otherwise has so many problems with it.

Prior to this drug I took Lunesta a short while, and that had more pronounced effects like dizziness, headaches, eye blurriness, etc., which showed up within days of starting to use it. The Ambien side effects took much longer to surface. Prior to Lunesta I had used melatonin, amitryptaline, 5HTP, and over the counter stuff on occasion. The amitryptaline was the most reliable with no side effects in my experience (it just lost its impact after several years of usage). I have been ab insomniac for about 20 years, so it's been a tough battle. But I don't think I'm going back to Ambien!

Dwight wrote:

I was taking Ambien CR for about 2.5 years (12.5 mg) until Saturday. I have quit cold turkey as I was getting such debilitating headaches I could hardly function, and I have many responsibilities. The headaches were in my left temporal area, and behind my left eye. I was also getting contant blurry vision.
I had my eyes checked several times, and began seeing a neurologist. He ran a battery of tests and found that I had low Vitamin D levels; he has not come up with a solution except a steroid gel to rub on my temple area to reduce the swelling from the blood vessels in that area.
It is now Wednesday and the for the prior two days I was headache free, for the first time in months and months! Last night when I lay down to bed a mild headache came back, but it has subsided this morning. Also, my vision is considerably better; I went all day for the past 3 days with relatively good vision... only had to use eye drops maybe once all day, whereas I was using them about 15 times a day previously.
I have never suffered the eating problems, sleepwalking or sexual side effects of Ambien, but I do feel it caused me signficant weight loss (35 lbs), muscle weakness, headaches & eye blurriness. I am hoping I can lick this addiction I had to it; it worked great to keep me asleep, but otherwise has so many problems with it.
Prior to this drug I took Lunesta a short while, and that had more pronounced effects like dizziness, headaches, eye blurriness, etc., which showed up within days of starting to use it. The Ambien side effects took much longer to surface. Prior to Lunesta I had used melatonin, amitryptaline, 5HTP, and over the counter stuff on occasion. The amitryptaline was the most reliable with no side effects in my experience (it just lost its impact after several years of usage). I have been ab insomniac for about 20 years, so it's been a tough battle. But I don't think I'm going back to Ambien!

"Dwight, I just learned from my Internist that I have a serious Vit. D deficiency. She put me on mega strength Vit. D - 50,000 u for the next 4 months. I looked up symptoms of Vit. D. deficiency and insomnia is listed. Also high blood sugar - which I also just learned I had and depression. My cholesterol was 290 while on Ambien - in that area I got good news in that it's now 248. Still high but not super high. I was on 5mg. of ambien for 5 yrs.;I've been off it completely since June. No more headaches, no more anxiety. I had many more symptoms but all have disappeared. Ambien lists high blood sugar and high cholesterol as rare side effects. I believe the Vit. D deficiency is also a side effect but can't be sure. I just took my first mega dose of Vit. D and could barely keep my eyes open past 9 pm.
I too had blurry/double vision while on Ambien and that is no longer a problem. Went to opthamologist recently and had near perfect vision - no glasses needed. Had I been checked while on Ambien I'd be wearing coke bottle lenses!

Try and stay off Ambien. It is a drug that should be taken for a short amt. of time - as prescribed. Long term use and it's detrimental to ones health.
Good luck!

Dwight wrote:

I was taking Ambien CR for about 2.5 years (12.5 mg) until Saturday. I have quit cold turkey as I was getting such debilitating headaches I could hardly function, and I have many responsibilities. The headaches were in my left temporal area, and behind my left eye. I was also getting contant blurry vision.
I had my eyes checked several times, and began seeing a neurologist. He ran a battery of tests and found that I had low Vitamin D levels; he has not come up with a solution except a steroid gel to rub on my temple area to reduce the swelling from the blood vessels in that area.
It is now Wednesday and the for the prior two days I was headache free, for the first time in months and months! Last night when I lay down to bed a mild headache came back, but it has subsided this morning. Also, my vision is considerably better; I went all day for the past 3 days with relatively good vision... only had to use eye drops maybe once all day, whereas I was using them about 15 times a day previously.
I have never suffered the eating problems, sleepwalking or sexual side effects of Ambien, but I do feel it caused me signficant weight loss (35 lbs), muscle weakness, headaches & eye blurriness. I am hoping I can lick this addiction I had to it; it worked great to keep me asleep, but otherwise has so many problems with it.
Prior to this drug I took Lunesta a short while, and that had more pronounced effects like dizziness, headaches, eye blurriness, etc., which showed up within days of starting to use it. The Ambien side effects took much longer to surface. Prior to Lunesta I had used melatonin, amitryptaline, 5HTP, and over the counter stuff on occasion. The amitryptaline was the most reliable with no side effects in my experience (it just lost its impact after several years of usage). I have been ab insomniac for about 20 years, so it's been a tough battle. But I don't think I'm going back to Ambien!

Dwight,
Please keep us posted. We do hope it was the Ambien. It's been 3 months now since my spouse has been Ambien free.

Sleeping drug free wrote:

<quoted text>"Dwight, I just learned from my Internist that I have a serious Vit. D deficiency. She put me on mega strength Vit. D - 50,000 u for the next 4 months. I looked up symptoms of Vit. D. deficiency and insomnia is listed. Also high blood sugar - which I also just learned I had and depression. My cholesterol was 290 while on Ambien - in that area I got good news in that it's now 248. Still high but not super high. I was on 5mg. of ambien for 5 yrs.;I've been off it completely since June. No more headaches, no more anxiety. I had many more symptoms but all have disappeared. Ambien lists high blood sugar and high cholesterol as rare side effects. I believe the Vit. D deficiency is also a side effect but can't be sure. I just took my first mega dose of Vit. D and could barely keep my eyes open past 9 pm.
I too had blurry/double vision while on Ambien and that is no longer a problem. Went to opthamologist recently and had near perfect vision - no glasses needed. Had I been checked while on Ambien I'd be wearing coke bottle lenses!
Try and stay off Ambien. It is a drug that should be taken for a short amt. of time - as prescribed. Long term use and it's detrimental to ones health.
Good luck!

Thanks Sue, for your input. Reading over a lot of people's posts in the last 2 years it looks like a lot of people have had noticable Vit. D deficiencies, which I find interesting. I will definitely try your recommended amount; it would be great to solve the problem with a natural substance. I do know you need to supplement your calcium with intake of Vit. D, so I hope you're doing that. I am encouraged to hear someone else had their vision improve and the headaches go away; I thought for a while I was going to have a stroke sometimes, the pressure was so bad. I am in good shape, too, not a time bomb, so to speak. I have had cholesterol around 225 with the Ambien; it will be interesting to see if it goes down now. I am not taking meds for it as I don't want more problems from those meds!

Thanks again for your input!

I'm trying to get off Ambien, it is awful, panic attacks, headaches, dry mouth, my jaw hurts. This is just cutting it in half. I'm so depressed too and very snappy. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my boyfriend in this phase of my life too, This is horrible, never been addicted to anything in my life I would rather not sleep than be on this crap!!!

Shelley wrote:

I'm trying to get off Ambien, it is awful, panic attacks, headaches, dry mouth, my jaw hurts. This is just cutting it in half. I'm so depressed too and very snappy. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my boyfriend in this phase of my life too, This is horrible, never been addicted to anything in my life I would rather not sleep than be on this crap!!!

Shelly, please contact your doctor. You are not alone.

It is interesting that you say your jaw hurts. I have been also struggling with this for a while and have posted a few times on here in the last month or two. However, since then, I have visited my dentist who found small cracks in my molars...signs of stress clenching. I wonder if those of us who rely of Ambien to sleep on the same people who clench their teeth? The dentist told me that 80% of headaches are TMJ related. I have just started using a bite plate so I will report more when I see how it works!

It's weird but I was having those symptoms of my jaw hurting, teeth clenching, as well as the panic attacks, headaches in the left temporal lobe, depression and also joint pain prior to my coming off the Ambien CR.

I have now been off it for about 10 days and my blurry vision, headaches, teeth clenching and panic have gone away. I also had dental neuralgia which would travel around my mouth, going from one side of my upper molars to the opposite side (right vs. left), on different days.

I went through hell the first two nights without it (horrendous nightmares and fitful sleep with hardnly any REM time), but starting the third night I was able to relax and get a decent night's sleep, and have been since then. I think the drug is evil in its own way, and ought to be pulled off the market, but that's just my opinion...