Hello and thanks for the query.

I think the main challenge for you and your body is that a sudden discontinuation of a medication is difficult to tolerate. Usually with medications like these, I have a patient taper the dose slowly over a number of weeks or months. I suspect that when you stopped the medication, this was somewhat of a shock to your body and does require a period of adjustment.

From what I understand of your question; you indicated that 7 mg of ativan is required to sleep? This is a very high dose of ativan and hardly safe in my opinion. I think that it is likely that you need some kind of mood stabilizer which will help the Ambien work as it should. The klonopin and ativan are tremendously sedating and will make it difficult to function for you after taking these drugs - even after an overnight period of sleep.

There are a host of mood stabilizing agents (prescription drugs) including celexa, lexapro, and prozac as well as zolofta among others which may provide you a true benefit. Finally, I must emphasize the need for daily regular exercise of at least 45 minutes duration. If you are not exercising you will not ever truly control the anxiety. In addition you should try to eliminate any stimulant foods or drinks such as caffeine, coffee or tea.

To get back to your main question - 11 days is long enough that the drug is out of your system which makes me concerned enough that I prefer that you see your doctor again to talk about the alternatives which I suggested.

I realize that this is a stressful situation and I hope I have provided an adequate and informative response. Should you have additional concerns I am available to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

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