Tell me about Ambien

[jamimb]

I have been really sick lately and not sleeping at all so today my doc prescribed Ambien. I am a little leary about taking it. Anybody want to share their exerience with it????

 

[MushyMushy]

It worked really well for me! No hangover in the morning, and I woke up from it just fine.

BUT, the first night I ever took it I had a hallucination from it. Not a really big deal, but it was kind of freaky. It didn't last long, and I'm glad it was just the first night. You might want to start out on half a pill the first time.

 

[jamimb]

It worked really well for me! No hangover in the morning, and I woke up from it just fine.

BUT, the first night I ever took it I had a hallucination from it. Not a really big deal, but it was kind of freaky. It didn't last long, and I'm glad it was just the first night. You might want to start out on half a pill the first time.

That would most certainly freak me out!!!!

 

[KimR]

I love ambien!! I don't really have hallucinations per se (seeing things that aren't really there), but I do get strange visual effects. Stationary objects start moving around or I see odd 3-D effects on the computer. I like it though because I can get a good nights sleep and wake up feeling refreshed without that groggy hung-over feeling.

 

[FantasiaGirl]

I took it several years ago. Aside from some strange dreams it didn't really have an effect on me, and since it has potential to be habit forming I quit taking it. Getting rid of certain stress in my life proved to be the key to a decent night of sleep for me.

 

[jamimb]

I love ambien!! I don't really have hallucinations per se (seeing things that aren't really there), but I do get strange visual effects. Stationary objects start moving around or I see odd 3-D effects on the computer. I like it though because I can get a good nights sleep and wake up feeling refreshed without that groggy hung-over feeling.

Okay now Im really freaked out and dont know if I will take it. Anybody take it and not see weird things?

 

[clutter]

I didn't have halucinations from it, but it did knock the crap out of me. And I wasn't hungover, but I was tired the next day. My dr changed to the smallest dose, and I break it into half or thirds.

 

[dcentity2000]

From my archives:

Zolpidem

Brand names: Ambien®, Hypnogen®, Myslee®, Nimadorm®, Nitrest®, Sanval®, Stilnoct®, Stilnox®, Zoldem®, Zolfresh®, Zolt®
Formula: C19H21N3O
Half life: ~ 2 - 2.6 hours
Single unit dose: Unknown
Recommended outpatient dose: 10mg [Verified]
Maximum outpatient dose: 10mg [Verified]

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.

http://www.seratis.net/page5/page25/page70/page70.html

I took it for a week and, whilst it initially worked, it quickly became less and less effective.

One for the short term.



Rich::

 

[swanmom]

My DH took it for a while. He had two observations:
First, you MUST be sure that you have at least eight hours to sleep straight through after taking it. If your sleep is likely to be interrupted, or you have to be able to hear a kid crying, or you only have about 6 hours to sleep.......don't do it. For him, it totally, totally knocked him out and if he didn't get completely through his eight-hour sleep cycle, he was incoherent and irrational.
Second, he did have bad nightmares and distrubing dreams on Ambien. Never suffered from them before. This was the reason he finally stopped taking it.
I'm sure that the drug has different effects on different people but these were his experiences.

 

[jamimb]

Anybody have any good experiences? Anybody just take it and have a great nights sleep?? Anybody??/

 

[dcentity2000]

Anybody have any good experiences? Anybody just take it and have a great nights sleep?? Anybody??/

To me, yeah, to begin with. It was like sinking into a warm bath



Rich::

 

[Fintastic]

I took it a couple years ago. The doctor made a point to tell me over and over that once I took a pill, I had to go RIGHT to bed. It worked THAT FAST. Well, the first night I experienced some double vision, but it still took me a few hours to go to sleep. I never had any more double vision or weirdness after that, but it still didn't put me to sleep right away and keep me asleep. So I quit taking it after a few weeks. Not a lot can touch me when I have insomnia.

 

[JessicaR]

Take it and get in bed. Don't play at the computer, don't go eat, and don't try and hold a serious conversation.

 

[dcentity2000]

For more long term sedation, you could try a very low dose of another sedating psychiatric drug of a different family, such as 25-50mg Dothiepin (a TCA)



Rich::

 

[FantasiaGirl]

I took it a couple years ago. The doctor made a point to tell me over and over that once I took a pill, I had to go RIGHT to bed. It worked THAT FAST. Well, the first night I experienced some double vision, but it still took me a few hours to go to sleep. I never had any more double vision or weirdness after that, but it still didn't put me to sleep right away and keep me asleep. So I quit taking it after a few weeks. Not a lot can touch me when I have insomnia.

Me either. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I'm pretty well up for the day at that point. It's annoying, isnt it? On the up side, thats when I get some things done, too.

 

[imabrat]

Take it and get in bed. Don't play at the computer, don't go eat, and don't try and hold a serious conversation.

I've fallen asleep in the middle of eating and in the middle of talking to my mom. Initially, Ambien works. Perfect night sleep, felt a little sluggish in the morning but I was refreshed and energized. Yep, I got the hallucinations too.

 

[horseshowmom]

Take it and get in bed. Don't play at the computer, don't go eat, and don't try and hold a serious conversation.

That's what a friend of ours says about his. He has to go straight to bed. The only problem he's had with it has been that he's had several phone conversations with people that he has no recollection of. Generally, he would later start to tell somebody something, and they would say something to the effect that he had already told them that when they talked on the phone.

He says that it works great, but it's a little unnerving.

 

[MickeysMommy]

I take it - not all the time as I am only alloted a certain amount with my insurance so I try to spread it out to make them last longer...I have been on it for a couple of years - it works for me.

 

[Green Tea]

Okay now Im really freaked out and dont know if I will take it. Anybody take it and not see weird things?

I dont see weird things but it starts to work quickly. Vision gets kind of unfocused if i try to fight going to sleep. ( just take it, lay down, close ylur eyes, and wake up refreshed)

 

[jax677]

I have chronic sleep problems and have tried many things. I tried Ambien and the problem was if I fell asleep in a chair my husband couldn't wake me up to go to bed. I didn't like the knocked out effect.

I have also tried Lunesta, didn't work for me.
I have tried Restoril, worked for a few weeks and then stopped.

Right now I am just dealing with it on my own. I tend to fall asleep but then wake up at 2 am and can't get back to sleep. Grrrrr