How to Get Off of Ambien--or any other sleeping pill

How to Get OFF of Ambien in Three Weeks-Without Expensive Rehab

Ambien works wonderfully well. It has given me the best sleep I have ever had in my entire life. It is also viciously addictive.

When I mentioned in an on-line forum on insomnia that I used to take Ambien, I was besieged by emails asking me how I had gotten off of it. The answer is both simple and hard. It is simple because all I did was follow a macrobiotic diet for three weeks. After three weeks on a macrobiotic diet, I stopped needing the drug, so I stopped taking it. The hard part is that following the diet takes a great deal of self-discipline and the sacrifice of favorite foods. Adhering to a strict macrobiotic diet also interferes with one's social life: eating out with friends is pretty much a thing of the past.

If you want to try a macrobiotic diet to get off of Ambien, this is what you do.

1. Give up the following foods:

a. Meat of any kind except small amounts of ocean fish.

b. Eggs and milk products
c. This is very important: give up baked flour products like breads, cakes, pies, pastries, and crackers. It also helps to give up "hard" foods like chips.

d. Sugar, honey, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners of any kind.

e. Any food with dyes, preservatives, monosodium glutamate (which can be disguised as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, among other things)

f. Caffeine and alcohol.

2. Eat the following foods:

a. Whole grains three times a day. Brown rice is the best grain. For variety, eat oatmeal for breakfast-no sugar or milk. You can eat whole wheat noodles, quinoa, millet, and whole barley for variety. Buckwheat should be eaten in small amounts during the winter only.

b. Leafy green vegetables three times per day. Try collard greens, kale, dandelion, and mustard greens. Turnip greens and daikon greens are good if you can get them. This is one of the most important recommendations. Leafy greens are a rich source of alpha-lipoic acid, which helps the liver. Poor liver function is a major cause of insomnia.

c. Small amounts of beans for protein. Try lentils, chickpeas, a Japanese bean called Adzuki beans, and white beans. Use fermented soy products like tempeh, miso, and natto. Too much tofu is not healthy but small amounts once or twice a week can be used.

d. Use only small amounts of good quality sea salt. Be sure to avoid iodized salt because the additives used to stabilize the iodine are not healthy.

e. The only animal products eaten should be small amounts of fresh ocean fish.

f. Use spring or well water or water bottled in glass. Avoid foods or beverages packaged in plastic.

g. If you need a beverage other than water, try small amounts of kukicha twig tea. This tea has very little caffeine and will not disturb your sleep if used in moderation.

Trust your instincts. You will know when you have practiced the diet long enough and you are ready to do without sleeping pills.

When that day comes, go to the health food store and buy barley malt, which is a sweet syrup. Before bed, stir a tablespoon of barley malt into a cup of hot water and drink. (Don't add too much water because you don't want to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.). Brush your teeth because falling asleep immediately after consuming carbohydrates rots your teeth. When you have been practicing the macrobiotic diet long enough and carefully enough, you will fall into a healthy sleep and awake at the proper time.

Other tips for improving sleep:

1. Reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields from computers, cell phones, wireless computer networks and security systems, and cell towers. A Japanese researcher, Tetsuye Nakazawa compared two groups of sedentary office workers. One group worked in front of computers for 5 or more hours a day while the other group did not. The workers using computers were significantly more likely to suffer from insomnia, irritability, and depression. Here is a link to the abstract: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/99017826/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

2. A link to another Japanese study showing a similar result is at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120846067/abstract

3. Take up one of the eastern forms of exercise like Do-In, Yoga, Tai Chi, or Qi Gong. Because these systems of exercise emphasize energy flow rather than raw power or exertion, they are often more helpful for treating insomnia than other exercises. Western exercise is often too stressful for people who are already exhausted while Eastern exercises are less strenuous but often just as effective.

4. If you fall asleep easily but awaken between 1 and 3 A.M., you may have a liver problem. In that case, be especially sure to avoid alcohol, baked flour products like breads, cakes, cookies, and pastries, and vinegar. Be especially sure to avoid meat and too much salt. Eat LOTS of leafy green vegetables. Add foods with a natural sour flavor to your diet. Lemon juice squeezed into hot water is good. Ume is a Japanese plum. The pickled plums are too salty but ume concentrate, which is unsalted, is reputed to balance the liver. Especially suspect a liver imbalance if your insomnia started after a period of heavy drinking or drug use. By drugs, I do not necessarily mean street drugs. I am referring to any medication: Tylenol, anti-depressants, or repeated rounds of antibiotics.

5. If you awaken between 3 and 5 AM, suspect a lung problem (or anything in the respiratory tract like the sinuses). In this case, avoid dairy products and foods that produce mucus like baked flour products, nut butters, and oily, fatty foods.

6. If you have trouble falling asleep, eliminate all caffeine, sugar, and fruit juice.

7. Often, anxiety is at the root of insomnia-and then the insomnia stresses the adrenal glands and the insomnia will have a physical cause also. The fact is that we are particularly powerless and defenseless when we sleep. If we have experienced a trauma, the realization of our powerlessness can prevent us from sleeping deeply. If we awaken at the slightest noise, anxiety may be an issue. It is difficult to give specific advice because each situation is different. I can only encourage you to trust your own inner wisdom. All of us have an inner knowledge that we have learned to ignore, often because it is inconvenient for other people. Trust that inner wisdom and find your own answer. The answer is there. It may be something as simple as buying a dog, installing an extra lock, prayer, meditation, or some other solution.

8. You will find that as you practice macrobiotics faithfully that your anxiety will lessen and you will sleep more deeply.

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