CPAP and Ambien

I told my doctor that I was having problems with waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep so he prescribed Ambien. Is there any danger in taking Ambien when using CPAP therapy.

Not danger, per se. I would just imagine that your apnea would be worse under medication like that. An Auto would be able to compensate. An xPAP set to CPAP would not because the pressure is fixed.

How many hours are you sleeping before you awake? What do you think is waking you early? Do you have any thoughts on your mind other than you are awake but want to be asleep.

BeanMeScot wrote:Not danger, per se. I would just imagine that your apnea would be worse under medication like that. An Auto would be able to compensate. An xPAP set to CPAP would not because the pressure is fixed.

My CPAP machine is set to CPAP, although I can set it to auto, maybe I should. Are you saying that in AUTO mode, it "knows" when to adjust it up or down? I was thinking I tried AUTO before and all it did is gradually increase the pressure in increments.

Ive been on my cpap now for a little over a week now. Ive been taking Ambien CR the whole time, mainly because for 32 years ive never had this aperatus on my head and air being shoved down my nose! haha Honestly, I dont think I could fall asleep without Tylenol PM or Ambien. Ive NEVER taken any sleep pills in the past, hopefully this will be temporary but im still going through the "mask journey"....and I feel like until I get that solved, Ambien will be a part of my life. Also, the nights where I didn't take an Ambien (had a few glasses of red wine and didn't want to take it with ambien!) I would wake up with any mouth breathing or my hose dragging/tuggin my mask. The Ambien for ME just helps me falls asleep and STAY asleep.....I know what your going through with Ambien though!

good luck, you should get some great advice here!!!!

Mike

gregnga wrote:I told my doctor that I was having problems with waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep so he prescribed Ambien. Is there any danger in taking Ambien when using CPAP therapy.

There is a big danger in taking Ambien if you have sleep apnea. Ambien will hold you in a deeper sleep and make apneas longer.

Ambien wrecks normal sleep architecture by reducing the amount of REM sleep.

IMO, you should not use Ambien and instead practice rigorous sleep hygiene. This is what I do but I still have the same problem you have with "premature awakenings". For me this is a lesser evil than the side effects of Ambien or any other sleepin pill.

Mike081376 wrote:Ive been on my cpap now for a little over a week now. Ive been taking Ambien CR the whole time, mainly because for 32 years ive never had this aperatus on my head and air being shoved down my nose! haha Honestly, I dont think I could fall asleep without Tylenol PM or Ambien. Ive NEVER taken any sleep pills in the past, hopefully this will be temporary but im still going through the "mask journey"....and I feel like until I get that solved, Ambien will be a part of my life. Also, the nights where I didn't take an Ambien (had a few glasses of red wine and didn't want to take it with ambien!) I would wake up with any mouth breathing or my hose dragging/tuggin my mask. The Ambien for ME just helps me falls asleep and STAY asleep.....I know what your going through with Ambien though!

good luck, you should get some great advice here!!!!

Mike

I wouldn't mind trying the Ambien without using my CPAP machine and mask. The only problem is that I snore if I don't use the machine and I don't snore when I do use the machine

greg,

I am like you; sometimes my doctor will prescribe Ambien to help me sleep. I would NOT take Ambien without using the cpap. Ambien will cause you to relax even more, and you will experience even longer and stronger apneas. I do notice that when I take ambien that I sleep more deeply, I am less aware of leaks, and my AHI is higher. Also my doctor tells me to never use Ambien for more than a week.

amos

You guys have a point about the deepness of sleep on Ambien.....maybe that is what is causing me to sleep so deep im breathing out of my mouth??? I think tonight I will try Tylenol PM instead. I only have samples of Ambien, 1 pill left anyway so if the Tylenol PM works then I should be good to go. Hopefully I wont need anything eventually!!!!!

amos wrote:greg,

I am like you; sometimes my doctor will prescribe Ambien to help me sleep. I would NOT take Ambien without using the cpap. Ambien will cause you to relax even more, and you will experience even longer and stronger apneas. I do notice that when I take ambien that I sleep more deeply, I am less aware of leaks, and my AHI is higher. Also my doctor tells me to never use Ambien for more than a week.

amos

You said that you would "not take Ambien without using CPAP" because "you will have even longer and stronger apneas". NOT taking Ambien without using CPAP implies that you suggest that one should take Ambien along with CPAP. Did you really mean that you do not suggest Ambien and CPAP together.

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong.

Thanks for responding

I took Ambien for as long as it's been on the market (around 15 years?) due to severe, intractable insomnia. When I was prescribed a xPAP, I asked my sleep doc about it and she said that it is preferable to not take sleeping meds like Ambien with or without xPAP but that if I couldn't get to sleep at all, then Ambien was preferable to losing that much sleep.

I always skipped the ambien on Friday and Saturday nights (no work the next day) to avoid the potentially bad rebound effects if I tried to stop. That apparently worked because in December when I felt I might be able to stop ambien, I did so "cold turkey" and had no problems. I had started a new antidepressant adjunct 2 months before (deplin) plus 5-HTP (melatonin precursor) and found I could fall asleep without problems.

So I look at it from the perspective of what's the worst condition that needs to be treated and concluded it was the OSA. I left the sleeping pill issue alone until I was ready to deal with it. Worked for me.

Mindy

I've been taking 12.5 mg AmbienCR most nights since my first week of CPAP. No problems so far, but it worries me for all the reasons usual to taking drugs, plus the fact it makes the basic OSA condition worse.

On the other hand, with or without OSA, I have always had trouble falling asleep. Rigorous sleep hygiene has not much helped, though it's true I still struggle to retire at a consistent time each night.

I have tried not using AmbienCR and found it cost me a night's sleep; I haven't tried successive nights because I want the sleep, more: I am still recovering, in my view, from a long period of sleep deprivation.

What keeps me awake is simply my mind racing. AmbienCR slows it down. Yoga and attempted meditation does too, but not so reliably, and I really want reliable sleep for a while!

But long-term, I hope to not use AmbienCR.

Having said that, are there OTC sleep inducers people have had success with? I see Tylenol PM mentioned, but have never tried that sort of product.....

Of course you know that Ambien has a few peculiar side effects, namely you can do bazaar activities while asleep and with no recall the next day. People have been stopped driving a bit erratically to find they were asleep. The drug is in a class of hypnotics and essentially you are more hypnotized than fully asleep. If you have dreams about walking down the street nude with your mask on and hose dangling from your face, you might try something other than Ambien.

OldLincoln wrote:Of course you know that Ambien has a few peculiar side effects, namely you can do bazaar activities while asleep and with no recall the next day. People have been stopped driving a bit erratically to find they were asleep. The drug is in a class of hypnotics and essentially you are more hypnotized than fully asleep. If you have dreams about walking down the street nude with your mask on and hose dangling from your face, you might try something other than Ambien.

Yep - I have had a few bizarre results when taking a higher dose. I've learned never to turn on the TV once I've taken ambien and then don't fall asleep and get up again. I've been known to order some rather expensive items from a home shopping channel and then forget I did that

Mindy

Since Ambien CR is supposed to help you stay asleep, I'd be interested in knowing what happens for those people that have to get up to use the bathroom, like people that have prostate problems. Are they able to get back to sleep or do you end up sleeping through it.

I never have trouble getting to sleep, it's getting back to sleep after I wake up that's the problerm