Ambien?

[OhMissScarlett]

I have this nasty sleep disorder that's part of a larger illness and my doctor perscribed Ambien. He wants to try and "jump start" my sleep cycle. Has anybody ever taken this and had good results? The list of possible side effects kind of freaks me out. I am not a big fan of drugs in general. So, am I gonna be sleep-gambling or sleep-driving/cooking or is it worth the risk????

 

[rgraham666]

Can't say but here's *HUGS* and strength for you.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Can't say but here's *HUGS* and strength for you.

Thank you. *hugsback*

I need all the strength I can get.

 

[impressive]

My son took it for a while. Didn't do a damned thing for him -- but he didn't have any side effects, either.

 

[cantdog]

My wife was given it, and it did nothing. One other fellow I know who did it used to grind it up and snort it. He ended up in drug counseling for a short time, but I don't think they list that as a side effect. Then there was Louie. He said it was absolutely head and shoulders above most sleep meds, because it worked when you took it, and it had passed off by the time you woke up, so that you didn't have to struggle to stay awake in order to make a morning deadline.

I think it is highly variable, consequently. All you can do is try. Good luck.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

My son took it for a while. Didn't do a damned thing for him -- but he didn't have any side effects, either.

Well, I'd rather have it do nothing. My major concern is that it may cause headaches, memory loss and rebound insomnia...three things I already have and don't want to get worse. The miracles of modern medicine.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

My wife was given it, and it did nothing. One other fellow I know who did it used to grind it up and snort it. He ended up in drug counseling for a short time, but I don't think they list that as a side effect. Then there was Louie. He said it was absolutely head and shoulders above most sleep meds, because it worked when you took it, and it had passed off by the time you woke up, so that you didn't have to struggle to stay awake in order to make a morning deadline.

I think it is highly variable, consequently. All you can do is try. Good luck.

Thanks for the info, Cant and I'll definitely try to avoid snorting it.

 

[impressive]

Well, I'd rather have it do nothing. My major concern is that it may cause headaches, memory loss and rebound insomnia...three things I already have and don't want to get worse. The miracles of modern medicine.

My son has a sleep disorder resulting from his oxygen deprivation at birth -- so it's neurological. He's been resistant to every "sleep" drug except melatonin (which doesn't make him sleep, but does seem to put him into "rest mode"). The one thing that works best is a short-acting muscle relaxant called Zanaflex.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

My son has a sleep disorder resulting from his oxygen deprivation at birth -- so it's neurological. He's been resistant to every "sleep" drug except melatonin (which doesn't make him sleep, but does seem to put him into "rest mode"). The one thing that works best is a short-acting muscle relaxant called Zanaflex.

Have you ever tried homeopathic stuff on him? Like hops, passion flower and chamomile? I've heard it works sometimes when other stuff fails.

Zanaflex, maybe I'll check into that. I'm taking Skelexin now and it makes me feel like I'm drunk and out on the town.

 

[JagFarlane]

Hmmmm had a coworker of mine whom got put on Ambien. Absolutely loved the stuff. As far as he was concerned, if you dedicated to ensuring you got 8hrs of rest time, it worked great.

 

[impressive]

Have you ever tried homeopathic stuff on him? Like hops, passion flower and chamomile? I've heard it works sometimes when other stuff fails.

Zanaflex, maybe I'll check into that. I'm taking Skelexin now and it makes me feel like I'm drunk and out on the town.

We tried valerian root and chamomile. Not the others, though. At the time we were dancing through the pharmacy, he was also on a parade of seizure meds. Evil things, those. Soul stealers. Finally had a 24-hr EEG and convinced the neuros to take him off the seizure meds. That's when he finally laughed for the first time. He was 5.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

We tried valerian root and chamomile. Not the others, though. At the time we were dancing through the pharmacy, he was also on a parade of seizure meds. Evil things, those. Soul stealers. Finally had a 24-hr EEG and convinced the neuros to take him off the seizure meds. That's when he finally laughed for the first time. He was 5.

EEGs are annoying enough for five minutes. I can't imagine 24 hours...

 

[OhMissScarlett]

We tried valerian root and chamomile. Not the others, though. At the time we were dancing through the pharmacy, he was also on a parade of seizure meds. Evil things, those. Soul stealers. Finally had a 24-hr EEG and convinced the neuros to take him off the seizure meds. That's when he finally laughed for the first time. He was 5.

Oh, wow, poor baby. The formula I have is the Hyland's Calms Nervous Tension and Sleeplessness. It's about the only thing that can knock me out some of the time.

 

[Molly85]

I have this nasty sleep disorder that's part of a larger illness and my doctor perscribed Ambien. He wants to try and "jump start" my sleep cycle. Has anybody ever taken this and had good results? The list of possible side effects kind of freaks me out. I am not a big fan of drugs in general. So, am I gonna be sleep-gambling or sleep-driving/cooking or is it worth the risk????

I took ambien for a while. I loved that I got a good night's sleep but then I was told I was doing things I have NO memory of. I went to the store with some friends and supposedly was eating donuts right out of the case. LOL. I also have some pretty messed up conversations on it...

Make sure you're not going to try to stay up after you take it. Don't take it and do your last minute before bed rituals. Lay down and take it. It only takes a FEW minutes to kick in.

The benifits are great and under doctor's supervision and "order's" you should be fine.

 

[SlickTony]

Here's my experience with Ambien, FWIW: a few years back I was suffering with a pinched nerve in my neck. I had pain in my shoulder and these electric-feeling jolts that went from my shoulder to my right hand, and my right forefinger had gone numb. At the time it hadn't occurred to me to seek help from a chiropractor for it and the clinic I went to prescribed painkillers for it, and Ambien, because I was involved in the Redneck Soap Opera, which just about murdered sleep for me. The Ambien seemed to work for a while, but then...

One night I found that I not only couldn't get to sleep, I was just convinced that I was never going to get any better with this arm thing, and not only that, it was going to spread to my other side, and I would end up not being able to work and would have to go on disability. We have these vertical blinds downstairs, and the windows were open; the slats of the vertical blinds rattling reminded me of bones. It was a little like a panic attack without the hyperventilation. I went downstairs and got on the computer; fortunately my sister, who lives in California, was up and I was able IM chat with her for a while and I felt better.

When I was visiting my incarcerated friend who's probably forgotten more about drugs than I ever knew, I told him about this and he said that what put me in such a state of existential terror was probably the Ambien.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I tried Ambien for a while. Unfortunately it never helped. I then tried melatonin which help me sleep but the next day I was still sleepy and could barely function. No abnormal behavior except to take a nap the minute I could.

Now I use Xanax as a sleep aid.

 

[SlickTony]

Tamazepam's OK if I take it early enough in the evening. Otherwise, I oversleep and am draggy-assed the next morning.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I took Ambien. It works fine. In fact, it's probably the best and safest prescription sleep aid presently available. They certainly know more about the side effects of Ambien than they do the side effects of Valerian root, which has probably never been clinically tested. It's gentle, the sleep's natural and there's no morning drug hangover. Also, it's almost impossible to overdose on. I still take it when I can't sleep.

The only thing is, if you take it and can't fall asleep, stay out of the kitchen! You can buzz your way through a quart of ice cream without even knowing it. You get high without realizing it on Ambien.

Also, if one doesn't work, don't take two. Too much Ambien acts as an amnesiac where you'll do things you won't remember.

 

[cantdog]

I took Ambien. It works fine. In fact, it's probably the best and safest prescription sleep aid presently available. They certainly know more about the side effects of Ambien than they do the side effects of Valerian root, which has probably never been clinically tested. It's gentle, the sleep's natural and there's no morning drug hangover. Also, it's almost impossible to overdose on. I still take it when I can't sleep.

The only thing is, if you take it and can't fall asleep, stay out of the kitchen! You can buzz your way through a quart of ice cream without even knowing it. You get high without realizing it on Ambien.

Also, if one doesn't work, don't take two. Too much Ambien acts as an amnesiac where you'll do things you won't remember.

The dude who was snorting it seduced his female acquaintances and wound up in a messy divorce. All with little or no record in his memory. Many of his sex partners were married. It was a very big mess. Still...

 

[Wildcard Ky]

I've taken Ambien for years. I think the person that invented it should win the Nobel peace prize.

It works wonderfully for me, and I've never had an issue with side effects at all.

The one thing to be careful of is getting the full 8 hours of sleep. If you wake up and try to function after just a few hours, you're really out of it.

 

[shereads]

I'm an Ambien addict.

Oops. I mean, I'm an Ambien user.

It works well; the hard part is sleeping without it after you've grown used to it - and your body will build up a tolerance.

Caution: You MUST go to bed immediately after you take it - or you'll find yourself behaving like a drunk: a burst of energy, followed by what seems like a really good idea, such as pruning the shrubbery by flashlight.

Edited to add: I second what WildCard said about getting the full eight hours. Once you're asleep, you'll be down for the count.

In other words, DON'T DO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DO: pop an Ambien at 1:15 a.m. and expect to have a productive morning of apartment hunting.

 

[Noor]

I liked ambien but I could only take it for about 5 days continuously before the weirdness set in. It does help reset your sleep clock, BUT you have to be careful to take it and go to bed, and sleep at least 8 hrs or else you can do weird things.

My sleep doctor doesn't want me on ambien long term, I don't have anymore.

Other drugs that have worked, small amounts of amiltriptyline 30 mgs at bedtime, flexeral 25 mg. I have some nerve problems from a bad car accident, and amiltriptyline quieted those down and made me sleep. After 9 yrs I got long term side effects that were fairly bad. Flexeral quiets them but doesn't help me sleep anymore.

Sometimes I will try narcotics but they don't really work either, plus the waking up is hard. Tried benadryl, did nothing.
Right now I am trying B-50's, flexeral, and black cohosh before I sleep, with an occasional 1.5mg of Melatonin. The melatonin helps me fall asleep but its wears off and I wake up. Lately I have been having very graphic weird dreams, borderline nightmares, but things have been upsetting so who knows...
When I wake up in the morning I go outside on my balcony for awhile. Soon I will get blue blocking glasses or go off line and shut off all fluorescent lights and tv several hours before sleeping.

I have a few things going on. The light thing is a circadian rhythm thing, mine is off.

Anyway Ambien is okay, addiction can happen after 5-10 nights.

Oh if you have a sleep disorder, and you haven't been to a sleep clinic it is probably a good idea. With me it mainly just ruled things out and supported what I was telling them, but I did find out that the reason I wasn't getting much rem sleep was my breathing was very shallow at that stage probably due to the flexeral as I don't have apnea. I am obviously get some now or I wouldn't been having weird dreams.

 

[Noor]

Well, I'd rather have it do nothing. My major concern is that it may cause headaches, memory loss and rebound insomnia...three things I already have and don't want to get worse. The miracles of modern medicine.

None of these happened to me, a friend even tried to see if it would work like a truth serum, it didn't. I was having memory problems before the sleep clinic. I use a vpap, which is sort of like a cpap machine, but it varies the pressure depending on how I breath back. It stopped the headaches and memory stuff, more importantly I haven't fallen asleep while dancing since I got it. The little sleep I get is better than 8 hours before the machine. If I can fall asleep without flexeral, I don't need to use the machine.

The best thing for me for sleep is my kindred spirit, it doesn't seem logical, but when he is about I fall asleep much better. A friend said the other day that his daughter was back so all was right with the world, I suppose its like that.

 

[English Lady]

Tamazepam's OK if I take it early enough in the evening. Otherwise, I oversleep and am draggy-assed the next morning.

Doc perscribed that to my husband and it was knocking him out for 14,15,16 + hours a day. He doesn't take a sleeping pill atr all any more.

I don't know wether you've tried it, but I swear by it, Lavender. either dried lavender in a bag under your pilow or a few drops on a piece of kitchen paper/ hanky slipped underneath the top layer of your pillowcase or some in a bath before sleep. It's very relaxing and promotes sleep. Wroks like a charm on my daughter and it works for me, too.

No so much on the hubby, but he's awkward.

 

[rgraham666]

Jammies swears by lavender as well.