depression medication question

[jfoofj]

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[TEENEE]

My dh is on antidepressants. Fortunately for me, I did not know him when the doctors were trying to find the proper medication for him. He has told me about some the reactions he had to the meds. The worst was probably stopping his car in the middle of a very busy road with his ex wife and son in the car. He just put the car in park, got out and started walking. He said every little sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard. We have figured out that he can't take decongestants with his meds. That combination caused a mild seizure. Tell your friend she needs to talk to her fiance and explain to him how he reacted so he knows he can't mix those pills in the future. Everything will be ok.

 

[Green Tea]

Ativan is totally different from his Wellbutrin and Effexor. Ambien is different from the anti depressants as well. The Ambien will cause you to not really remember what happened in the time before you went to sleep. The bad behavior isn't necessarily caused by the medicine though. It sort of shuts the brain down so you fall asleep. Not sure how he stayed up drinking and fighting after he took it.

 

[JoiseyMom]

He shouldn't be drinking while taking anti-depressants! That is just looking for trouble!

 

[pooh4evr]

There are many cases of people doing things on Ambien that they don't remember the next day- eating, walking around, i think i even heard of someone driving, - anyway If the same Dr has prescribed all 3 he needs to know about these episodes so they can find something to change to- I have taken Lexapro for a while and have recently started Pristique and they have always worked fine for me anyway.

 

[AndreaDM]

I have never taken Ambien, but a good friend has and she has said she eats and has no memory of it, just finds dishes and things the next day. She won't take it at all if her husband is out of town for fear she'd walk out of the house or harm herself. Seems like really extreme side effects to get some sleep! I don't know how you'd even feel rested after all that.

 

[jfoofj]

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[Jill in Chicago]

I take Ambien to sleep and have had many episodes where I don't remember a thing. Why do I still take it? Because otherwise I am up every hour ALL night long. With the Ambien I am "only" up 3 times.

There is a "twilight time" between when you take the Ambien and when you fall asleep. As long as you take the Ambien and immediately lay down in bed you are fine.

The problem is if you take the Ambien and then go do something else before you get in bed. You don't feel tired immediately after taking the Ambien so you think you are "fine," but you are in that middle "twilight."

So what happens is you are still functioning: walking, talking.... but you remember nothing. My husband says I speak just like I do during the day and that there is no way he can tell when I am in "twilight."

I know many people would say "no way" to the Ambien, but give it a whirl of no sleep for 2 weeks and you will do/try anything. (And yes I have given up caffeine and all the other ideas.)

 

[JessicaR]

There is a "twilight time" between when you take the Ambien and when you fall asleep. As long as you take the Ambien and immediately lay down in bed you are fine.

Cannot stress that point enough. Seems like so many people do not do that and thats when all horrible accusations about ambien get started.

Take it and go to sleep!

As far as the OP - all those drug combos are just begging to have a bad reaction. He knows it too. Adding alcohol to the mix is nuts.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yep, Ambien is well-known for causing these kind of "mania" episodes with amnesia following them; no antidepressant meds required. It's a common side-effect that some people are just prone to. People who react this way need to stay away from it.

 

[stichy]

I used to take ambien for a long time until is stopped working. It gives me the munchies. I will eat non stop because it takes a while to kick in for me. I've been intimate with DH and only vaugely recalled it the next day to the point of where I had to ask if I dreamt it or not. Once I hallucinated that there was a tiny monkey on the ceiling fan. DH turned on the light and it was gone but once he turned off the light it came back. I was adament that the monkey was there.

 

[Sparx]

One of the main neurotransmitters that is involved with depression (or bipolar disorder) is Serotonin. Serotonin is also involved with our circadian rhythems. Usually when someone is depressed or manic their sleep cycles are very hard to regulate. This is probably why he is on a sleep medication.

Effexor is a mood elevator and tends to be used as an anxiolytic.
Wellbutrin (I had to look up) is often used for bipolar disorder.

Since he's on anxiety medication, bipolar mood stabilizers, and a sleep aid, I'm thinking he may hav e been engaging in manic activities that was exacerbated by the alcohol (which he should NOT be drinking with these sleep aids).

Alcohol is a depressant, and his mood is being carefully stabilized by these two medications and if he had just taken the ambien, he should have been ready to fall asleep. I definitely think the odd behavior is due to the alcohol mixing with the medication.

As previous posters have said, ambien (and other sleep aids) is meant to be taken as you're getting into bed.

I think he needs to speak to his doctor who is overseeing his medication regime. These periods of amnesia are a side effect of ambien, but there are other sleep aids on the market he could try.

 

[gate_pourri]

It may just be the way he handles medications such as Ambien. My mothers partner doesn't handle narcotics such as Ambien or Vicodin well at all. On Christmas day last year we were all hanging out and she "blew her back out". Sometime that night she got up and took some kind of pain medication. I am not sure what it was. The entire next day she was a complete crazy person. She was very argumentative, yelling, screaming, acting in a way I've never seen. She was walking into traffic, trying to break out of the hotel room we were all staying in, etc. It wasn't pretty and somewhat ruined a nice Christmas. The next day, she had no idea what happened. She remembered none of it. She didn't remember anything past going to sleep Christmas Night. She doesn't remember what she took or when she took it.

Some people react differently to medication. I would recommend talking to his doctor about it, because it may not just be the Ambien.

I edited this to add:

Yes, we were drinking that night, so alcohol may be a factor in this. I personally can drink and take Ambien. I can also drink and take Xanax and not be affected at all. Not tired or anything (not that I would EVER drive at that point!)... Unlike my grandma, who gets completely knocked out with 1/2 a xanax and no booze. So every person reacts differently to meds.

 

[TeaToo!]

Wellbutrin can make people mean and angry.
I have first hand experience. Doc said it deffo can do that, and had to switch asap. Doesnt happen to everyone.
Ambien. Oh man, I hate that drug! It certainly can make you forget. I know someone who walked in her sleep, walked into her pool and was found there next day

I took Ambien, and yes it made me sleep but not in a good way.
The house could have burned down and I would not have known or cared.
I didnt like that feeling.

Tell your friend to be careful, and talk to his doctor.

 

[C.Ann]

I'd also tell him he shouldn't be drinking alcohol - at all! Does he ever read the info that comes with his prescriptions - or the labels on the bottles?

 

[suzannecstarr]

I remember reading a report about a decent number of cases of people taking ambien to fly and then blacking out and misbehaving in one way or another on the plane. Here's one example

http://ramblingrhodes.mu.nu/archives/173478.html

 

[jfoofj]

Thanks everyone for all the replies... hopefully he gets things straightened out (and doesn't drink at the wedding! ).

The story about the airplane kinda makes a situation I was in a couple years ago make sense... when a woman got up from her seat, went to an empty seat, pulled down her pants and peed! When confronted by the flight attendants she thought she was in the bathroom. The person traveling with her said it was a "med reaction." I'd say.