I'm taking my first Ambien tonight!

[lillygator]

I could probably use this. I can't sleep nor can I stay asleep

 

[Feralpeg]

I loved it when I first started taking it. I would go right to bed, after taking it, and slept great. After awhile, I started having terrible gastric problems and I began losing weight. I also found, after a couple of months, that I would not sleep through the night. When I was asleep, I had very vivid nightmares. Finally, after losing almost 30 pounds, the doctor told me to stop taking it. I was having some type of reaction to it. Losing the weight was great. The way I was feeling was terrible.

OP, just be careful and watch for side effects.

 

[136368]

Ah, good old Ambien. Worked well for me. You shouldn't take it strictly for more than seven days in a row but fear not! There are many other hypnotics you can switch to that are just as good

Edit: for more info on sleep meds Inc. Ambien go to www.cocoa.uk.com/seratis/ and choose Hypnotics from the treatment menu.

 

[Pembo]

I know a woman who broke her leg because of Ambien. She took it before bed, woke up in the middle of the night to use the facilities and couldn't walk very well, fell and broke her leg!

 

[MushyMushy]

I know a woman who broke her leg because of Ambien. She took it before bed, woke up in the middle of the night to use the facilities and couldn't walk very well, fell and broke her leg!

I wouldn't blame Ambien for that -- it could have been any sedative, or even an antidepressant for that matter.

I know I'm very careful when I have to get up in the middle of the night. I have dogs to maneuver around, and I make sure to hold on to the walls as I walk to the bathroom.

 

[136368]

Just to quote:

Zolpidem

Brand names: Ambien®, Hypnogen®, Myslee®, Nimadorm®, Nitrest®, Sanval®, Stilnoct®, Stilnox®, Zoldem®, Zolfresh®, Zolt®

Formula: C19H21N3O

Half life: ~ 2 - 2.6 hours

Prescribed to fight insomnia in the short term only, prolonged use can cause tolerance to build up, causing the effectiveness of the drug to decline. It works very quickly (usually within 10 to 20 minutes) and has a short half life. Interestingly, the USA army prescribed the drug to pilots to aid their sleep between missions, allowing them to recoup their lost energy. Off-label, Zolpidem is used to combat restless legs syndrome and there is anecdotal evidence that it can help in cases of persistent vegetative states. At ten times the normal dose Zolpidem acts as a anticonvulsant and at twenty times the normal dose it acts as a muscle relaxant; these two uses are never applied, due to the manifestation of side effects at such high doses, such as hallucinations. Side effects may include anterograde amnesia, hallucinations, delusions, ataxia, euphoria or dysphoria, increased appetite, decreased libido and impaired judgement/reasoning; upon cessation of treatment, patients my be subject to rebound insomnia. Be warned: this drug has been shown to cause cancer in some patients.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I have safely taken Ambien for almost 15 years using this rule. I swallow it in bed, then turn out my light. It helps if I set my phone to play nature sounds for 30 minutes. This gives me something to listen to until the Ambien takes me under.

Do you take it every night?

I can count on one hand the the number of times I have slept through the night in the last 20 years.

It's starting to take it's toll and I'm ready to seek help. I don't want to take something every night, but I would love to be able to sleep through the night once a month.

 

[136368]

For more serious treatment of insomnia that lasts more than a week, I'd recommend Dosulepin @ 50mg per night or Quetiapine @ 200mg per night.

Dosulepin is a TriCyclic Antidepressant BUT at such low doses it doesn't act as such, although you may feel more relaxed. It's a fantastic medication.

Quetiapine is an Atypical Antipsychotic but again, it doesn't act as such at such low doses. As far as sedatives go, this is the bee's knees. Take it and BONK! You're under for 14 hours. It's the most potent hypnotic I know of.

 

[emer95]

OP here... thank you for sharing your stories with me.

I was a little disappointed in my very uneventful night. It didn't work instantly. I laid awake for a long time (as usual) but much of that may have had to do with the fact that my daughters were having a sleep over and were very noisy. I think I slept well, for once. I do not fall asleep and I definitely do not stay asleep. My mind races and I just think and think and think. I hate it. I'll lay there and think, "I'm SO tired!" It has become a major problem for me, where I'm exhausted at work, and absolutely need a cat nap as soon as I come home.

I only have 12 pills in my prescription, so I have to be sparing. I'm going to try to save the pills for Sunday nights, which are by far the worst. I'm off from work this week so this coming Sunday will be extra tough trying to sleep.

I was very, very tired and groggy when I woke up, but that's nothing new.

Thanks again for sharing your stories. It's a small comfort to know I'm not alone!

 

[Kat77]

OP here... thank you for sharing your stories with me.

I was a little disappointed in my very uneventful night. It didn't work instantly. I laid awake for a long time (as usual) but much of that may have had to do with the fact that my daughters were having a sleep over and were very noisy. I think I slept well, for once. I do not fall asleep and I definitely do not stay asleep. My mind races and I just think and think and think. I hate it. I'll lay there and think, "I'm SO tired!" It has become a major problem for me, where I'm exhausted at work, and absolutely need a cat nap as soon as I come home.

I only have 12 pills in my prescription, so I have to be sparing. I'm going to try to save the pills for Sunday nights, which are by far the worst. I'm off from work this week so this coming Sunday will be extra tough trying to sleep.

I was very, very tired and groggy when I woke up, but that's nothing new.

Thanks again for sharing your stories. It's a small comfort to know I'm not alone!

You could try taking half a pill with some melatonin to stretch the prescription out.

 

[Lucky4me]

I take ambien about twice a month.
It gives me exactly five hours of sound sleep, then I'm instantly wide awake ready to go. No sleeping pill hangover at all.
I only take it when I wake up before 2am and can't get back. If I take it at 11, I'd be up at 4 and exhausted by 2pm.

 

[minkydog]

You could try taking half a pill with some melatonin to stretch the prescription out.

Just be sure you aren't taking an extended-release version. You should never cut that sort of pill in half as you will get ALL the medicine at once, could make you pretty sick.

Another thought I had for all my insomniac buddies: consider having a sleep study done. There are several types of sleep disorders that can cause poor sleep and insomnia. Ambien is a great drug--I swear by it. But it's not enough to just take a sleep aid endlessly. It is equally important that you learn "why" you can't sleep or cant stay asleep.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I was going to say take 1/2 the pill too. My DH almost never takes the full tablet because it doesn't work any better than 1/2, so why bother. The benefit is he can take the other half if the first doesn't work or if he wakes up too early. You have to be careful though, the 10 mg in a 24 hour period is the maximum. There have been cases of people dying who forgot they took a 10 mg and repeated the dose

BTW, when my DH was finally put on the medicine I went with him to the Dr and explained MY concerns for my husbands health and safety. I wanted to make sure the Dr understood this wasn't about convenience and that DH had a chronic issue unrelated to anything else he was doing (like caffeine ect.) I told the Dr how he's had insomnia since he was in his 20's that I've observed first hand (actually he's been this way his whole life but I could only talk about me), how he can go days without sleeping and how afraid I am of him driving home from work in a sleep deprived state. If you really need Ambian, I'd suggest making a follow-up visit and asking your DH to join you and speak on your behalf, with stuff like this family members can be much more persuasive because it removes the question of drug seeking behavior from the equation.

Good luck

 

[cm8]

I used Ambien CR and would do the craziest of things, none of which I would ever admit to in public


OP, I read that you had trouble staying to sleep as well, so I curious as to why Ambien CR was not prescribed? That is used for those that need help sleeping and staying to sleep.


You want to hear something funny, I was prescribed 12.5 x2 ( that was OVER the recommended amount)
Amnesia anyone?

 

[7165red]

I have taken it and had no problems what so ever.. I don't get a full 8 hrs. out of it. Don't work yourself up about it remember mind over matter results. The mind can really take control. Just take it an d go to sleep.

 

[ilovejack02]

I always take half a pill, seems to work better for me than the whole. If Ambien doesnt cut it , ask to try Lunesta . Lunesta didn't work for me as well as Ambien, but everyone is different.


Good luck, I know how you feel.

 

[Kellydelly]

I work nights and sometimes take Ambien to ensure I will get decent sleep if I am working two nights in a row. I have 10mg pills but only take half of one. I would have told you to take only half a dose to see how you fare if I had seen this before you tried it! I never have had anything weird happen. I take the 5mg and within 30 minutes I am drowsy and hit the pillow. I have taken it and then eaten a snack, watched tv, or surfed the net without anything strange happening before I fell asleep. My script is a year old, I have made 30 pills last that long, and I still have at least half of them left.

 

[Maridw]

OP - I am just like you. Right now I am not working but still have trouble getting to sleep. I was on Ambien until my Primary Care Manager at the local AF base took me off of it. I was a basket case for 5 days until he finally said that he would put me on Lunesta. I actually like Lunesta. It doesn't make me sleepy but it relaxes me so that I can get to sleep and basically turns off my mind, so it is not going ninety miles an hour.

My DH is on Ambien and my DD & I laugh at some of the things that he has done. He even jokes about it too. He bought a couple things on Ebay and didn't remember until he got the notification by email.

The only thing I ever did was when I was reading before going to sleep. I would get in bed and read for awhile. DH would find me asleep with my book in my hands and my glasses on. It did get to where it took longer to work with me. DH has no problem. I can tell when it has started working with him.

Good luck with your Ambien.

 

[waltsgirl]

I took it for quite sometime and never had any side effects or did any odd things. I took it right before going to bed but I almost always watched tv before falling asleep. I would sleep soundly for about 6 hours and then be up.

 

[kathie859]

I've taken Ambien a few times over the years (the last time for a month about 2 years ago) and was always pleased with the results. I fell asleep quickly and stayed asleep and had no side effects other than a great night's rest.