Ambien

[a3a2]

I would love to hear from someone who has taken Ambien, either long or short term.

I have no history of addiction, do not drink alcohol, and Ambien works great for me.....BUT.....I am nervous about becoming addicted. It is the first medication I have ever taken that works so well that I am nervous about never being able to get off.

Currently I am trying to rotate Ambien and xanax.

 

[2quilt]

I took Ambien's free seven day free trial last year, and after the trial, I could not sleep because the Ambien was not tapered off. I slept like a baby while on it. I got a script for it for 30 days, no more. I cut them in half and made them last. I slept nine peaceful hours a night. Loved it.
I had people tell me So What if you're addicted? If you need to sleep, that's more important. Without quality sleep, you're suffering in many ways.
If your body is in pain, real pain, and you're not taking , say, Oxycodone, to get high, your nerve endings get the benefit of the drug and you cant get addicted. Its when you have no pain that your brain gets addicted to a painkilling drug.
Same with Ambien. If you need it, take it.

 

[cherryblossom]

I take zolpidem, (I believe the same drug?). My GP is reluctant to prescibe it very often, because of the possibility of addiction. I take it maybe once or twice a week, just to get some decent rest every now and then. I equally don't want to become reliant on it, so I never take it every night. From what I have read about it - not only can you become dependent on it, but if used a lot, it will stop working.

I have used it on consecutive nights on a few occasions. Whilst I sleep well for those nights, I find I have an increased frequency in bizarre dreams the following nights.

As far as I know, this drug decreases the time taken to fall asleep, increases the length of time sleeping, but also causes an increase in deeper stages of non-REM sleep, and maybe a decrease in REM sleep. All these sleep cycles are important for processing memories, and general well being, so I try not to mess with it too much and only take it when I'm totally exausted and in need of sleep.

You might want to look at this thread too - [DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/thread8445.html[/DLMURL]

Regards, CB

 

[Mina]

A former colleague of mine, non PTSD-sufferer with insomnia, used to take Ambien fairly regularly. He developed a pretty strong tolerance for it.

 

[sigh]

I took ambien for a long time. Switched to a few other meds (in succession), then switched back and went to ambien CR while still taking trazodone. I do not sleep without help. The CR has help over the regular, however, I still have problems sleeping. I am not addicted (I could stop if I wanted to), I am dependent (I will not sleep without it).

Beware of the ambien get up in the middle of the night and clean or rearrange your house. This really happens. It happened to Bill Clinton. It happened to me. With the trazodone (which I do not like), it does not happen.

Good Luck,
s.

 

[2quilt]

Yes, I have heard about people eating and driving while on Ambien, but it didn't happen to me. Hopefully you live with someone who could hide your car keys while you sleep, alarm the house so that if you walk out the front door, the alarm would wake you, and maybe you could put something like your alarm clock on a string like a cow bell on the bedroom door so that if you walk out, it would wake you.
I wonder if Bill Clinton signed any laws or made out with any interns while under the influence of Ambien...

 

[a3a2]

Thanks, all, for your thoughts.

I cannot fault my GP for perscribing it. I had been complaining about my insomnia for two years before he perscribed anything. And, it has helped me. I no longer have the "electric" feeling I had when my nerves were on "overdrive". The Ambien allowed my nerves to recover.

I have decided to continue rotating the meds....and maybe some sleepless nights....in order to avoid an addiction. I also plan to use the smallest possible dose.

If any of you have some less addictive sleep ideas, I am very open. I have tried camomile tea, calcium, and melatonin (bad nightmares).

 

[Mina]

I had the same experience with melatonin, a3a2. Like my dreams and nightmares aren't already all kinds of messed up...that was a whole new level of bizarre!! My T reports that a number of her clients have that problem as well.

Also tried the calcium/magnesium thing...no noticeable effect.

Personally, I like Lunesta. I take about .5 mg (1/4 of a 2mg pill) about once a week, maybe twice. Works extremely well for me when I need it.

I also try to shut off the computer or DVD about an hour before bedtime, and dim the lights...supposedly the lack of artificial light source aids in the production of natural melatonin. Lighting a scented candle, playing a calming CD, and drinking a cup of honey-vanilla chamomile tea is part of my nightly routine as well. Helps a fair bit, I think.

 

[This Ends Now]

a2a2,

I have recently been prescribed ambien as well. I know some friends who also took it recreationally and they became addicted... but they were doing things like mixing it with adderol or other uppers.

I have not seen any signs of addiction yet with this medication, and it is SO nice to get a full night of no nightmare sleep. My doc suggested that I take it 4 nights a week or less.

Other things I have tried for sleep include but are not limited to:
Xanax: effective for 4 hours, but highly addictive
Valium: effective but hard to get a prescription
Xanax ER: much like xanax but worse with the addictive properties
Colonzepam: mostly effective and less addictive than xanax, currently prescribed this 3 times daily in addition to the ambien
Valerian Root: effective in high doses, but it tastes aweful
Kava Root: good for muscle pain, not effective for sleep
Melatonin tablets: effective at doses of 10 mg or more
Various herbal teas: somewhat calming... look for chamomile, hops, kava root, valarian among the listed ingredients.
Light therapy: find someplace with no windows or electric lights (in my house it is the computer room, produces melatonin naturally and for free. Highly effective.
Stretching (specifically forward folds and chin tucks): helps with anxiety, but not enough by itself for sleep.
Guided meditation tapes: always relaxing, sometimes effective on sleep
Magnetic Chanting downloaded from buddhanet.com: always relaxing, sometimes effective on sleep
Books on Tape: same as the above two if the book is chosen correctly, something relaxing and a little dry with a good voice actor.
Music: ditto.
Benadryl (same drug in tylenol pm and tylanol simply sleep): short term effectiveness, but similar problems as alcohol if used long term
Alcohol: have learned to hate this drug, addictive if used long term, causes brain damage, disrupts REM cycles, hangovers are no fun, REM rebound is nasty.
Pot: I miss this one, but it is illegal in some places.
Exercise to the point of exhaustion: sometimes works, sometimes backfires
Snack before bed: sometimes helps but produces dramatic weight gain.
Reading a nice boring textbook: sometimes helps and when it backfires at least I have learned something.

I could keep going, but I am getting sleepy.

I wish you all the best.

Liz H.

 

[a3a2]

Not only did you give me some valuable info, you made me laugh. Gotta get to the library and find a BORING text book!

 

[trapped]

I had HORRIBLE experienced on Ambien, but that's just because of how it reacted with me... I ended up hallucinating and having memory loss I didn't enjoy and was way way way out of it... The doctor that put me on it kept telling me "just keep taking it- your body will adjust soon" even tho I told her I had hallucinations. At first it wasn't too bad- I just gave my roommates and friends surfing lessons (I was laying on the carpet "swimming", thinking it was the ocean), and provided lots of entertainment for them... once I was asleep I slept great, but it was getting me to sleep that was tricky. My roommates would have to physically hold me down because I started seeing sharks swimming in the "ocean" (the floor) and thought my bed was trying to eat me and was afraid to sleep because it was trying to eat me... then once they got me to lay in bed calmly, but I bolted out of bed running around trying to catch my tattoos that I thought were flying away... I kept telling the doctor every day about what my roommates told me happened the night before (since I had the memory loss once the drug was in my system, I remembered very little on my own), but the doctor kept saying give it another chance- I fired that doctor after it escalated to the point I injured myself when I jumped off our second story balcony- I apparently thought all my friends and roommates were flying around the room, and somehow that made me think I could fly too... that combined with me engaging in behaviors I normally would never do (like somehow going to the store- I'm assuming I probably drove but to this day I still really hope I didn't- and shoplifting a bunch of stuff... well, I'm assuming I shoplifted cuz I woke up the next morning with a LOT of random stuff from the store and none of my checks were missing, none of my cash was missing, my bank statements and credit card bills never showed any charges...)

I've tried other sleep meds that have worked pretty well for me... Melatonin makes me have horrible vivid dreams... I recently started taking Buspar again because I knew it helped me sleep great at night, only I forgot one of the reasons I stopped taking it was it also produced vivid dreams and so now I'm sleeping less when taking it. Alcohol works, of course it's not the healthiest thing for you but sometimes if you weigh the alternatives, it's not so bad... I've found what works best for me though is this supplement called L-Theanine... two of those babies and I'm out, but without any of the side effects from traditional medications, and it didn't give me vivid dreams like Melatonin. The combination of L-Theanine and L-Tyrosine at night is a combination that seemed to help my sleep, mood, anxiety levels, and really lessened the severity of all my PTSD symptoms.

 

[sigh]

ooo I had an ambien attack. Pulled a stopped out of something. Have no idea what. And placed it on my night table beside my bed. Usually I clean, I was kind of hoping for that one.

sigh—who has something in common with Bubba