Ambien addict

nozzzzzzz · Post by **nozzzzzzz** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:15 pm

I've been taking Ambien everynight for over a year. I'm not an addict, just have a brain malfunction that keeps me from reaching stage 3 & 4 sleep. I'd be open to other suggestions to help. The doc's feel so bad for me, they prescribe 90 at a time with no objections. I have gained a lot of weight from taking it, but it's no sleep or thin. I choose to sleep.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:37 pm

Perhaps you should join the eminem discussion on ambien.

90 at a time? and have taken eveery night for a year.
Is it possible the ambien is causing the sleep level problem???.
READ THE PACKAGE INSERT.

what dx do you have for this disorder?

th · Post by th » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:20 pm

My dr writes mine out 90 at a time also. Hey, you do what you have to do for your family. I have to work. What good is it if you call in sick every day? The doctor has me on it for 7 days and 3 days off.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 12:51 am

You will build a tolerance for it and it won't work. I can take 20MG vand still not go to sleep and if so only sleep three hours. So if you get addicted, you will eventually have to go elsewhere.

Our fine pharmacist forgets that there are reasons we can't sleep prior to ambian. And there are life situations where we have to take it or else. I could not sleep 40 years before it was invented, it sure is not causing my probelm. But it has saved my life.

gracie97 · Post by **gracie97** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 2:29 am

nozzzzzzz wrote:I've been taking Ambien everynight for over a year. I'm not an addict, just have a brain malfunction that keeps me from reaching stage 3 & 4 sleep. I'd be open to other suggestions to help. The doc's feel so bad for me, they prescribe 90 at a time with no objections. I have gained a lot of weight from taking it, but it's no sleep or thin. I choose to sleep.

I've been using Ambien every night for about 3 years except for about a month last winter when I took a 10 day vacation from work and got off it.

If it is any reassurance, I didn't find it very hard to quit when I had the luxury of sleeping very badly for a few nights. My recollection was that by the 4th or 5th night, I could sleep just as well without it.

I have heaps of alpha intrusion across all sleep phases and also delayed sleep phase disorder, the latter the reason I use Ambien (to adjust my sleep schedule for a day job).

A neurologist on a fibromyalgia listserve I'm on claims that Ambien, while a good drug for getting to sleep, does not promote stage 3 and 4 sleep or inhibit alpha intrusion. For that he recommends Elavil (which may cause weight gain) in smaller doses than is used for depression, Trazadone, Benadryl, or one of a few others that promote deeper sleep. He also recommends 20 - 30 minutes of mild aerobic exercise EVERY day in order to improve sleep quality.

(I can send you that doctor's list of helpful sleep drugs if you like -- he's a fibromyalgia expert and should know as poor sleep quality such as the nonrestorative sleep issue you have is a major underlying issue of fibro.)

Grace

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:21 am

from ambien site:
http://www.ambien.com/index.asp?&PALT=& ... P_REFERER=

I urge those to go to the site and carefully review the info.

Keep in mind this is the mfg site none of the horror stories are there.

R/R - my opinion is not exclusively academic. It contains personal experiences from many years including some very dumb ways of handling insomnia.
Like I said in my other thread, ask Eminem about Ambien.
Answers are not always clear or easy.
Most will have no problems. Some will.

th · Post by th » Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:19 am

Prescription sleep aids are often taken for 7 to 10 days — or longer as advised by your doctor. All people taking sleep medicines have some risk of becoming dependent on the medicine.

or longer
-----------
as advised by your doctor.

I assume the risk and I take it. My doctor my pharmacist and Sanofi-Aventis are aware of what I am doing. I take Ambien for 7 days and then I am off it for 3 days with Lunesta.[/b]

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:54 am

I posted the Ambien.com site for the company information.
To be better informed, I searched yahoogroups.com for ambien groups and subscribed to one to read the posts.
The perspectives here are those who difinitely abuse ambien and likely other drugs.

The great majority of users of ANY drug do so responsibly with few problems.
A cetain percent will have a wide range of problems.

This is one posting:

I love this stuff for sex. I was raped over 10 years ago and being
touched in certain ways still bothers me. I can take an Ambien and in
5 minutes i tell my husband to "enjoy me". I love sharing this with
him and he loves doing the things with me that we usually cant do.
(like kiss.) He says i am awake for the whole thing, i just cant
remember a thing! Its like a perfect present for him.

I wouldnt say i am addicted to ambien, it just helps me sleep a lot.
My doc quit prescribing it. Any help on how i can get more? Thanks!

sleeping like a baby · Post by **sleeping like a baby** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:48 pm

Hi,I take ambien,but not every nite,it does help me sleep,but just the nites when,it is obivious that I'm not going to sleep.I'm also on other drugs for several other health conditions.
I guess mys leep mac.is an older verison it is bulky,its a virtusos lx,I couldn't use the mask they gave me,found this site and use thesleep pillows with the mask I bought on line,they work well,i have a seperate machine that connects to it for moisture.Thanks sleep

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:29 pm

I understand what you are saying tomjax but if one reads ANY labels or warnings one would not take ANY drug. They have to cover their liability so much now, they warn of anything. Their warnings that the side effect may cause drowsiness really kills me.

Fact is in an ideal world we would not take any drugs, but this is not an ideal world. If the side effects are less than the problem we are treating, then we need them...and should not feel guilty.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:54 pm

R/R, your reasoning sounds a bit like Roche Labs, the manufacturer of Rohypnol, the date rape drug.
After I saw a special on the effects of this, I called Roche and asked them why a company like Roche would market such a drug.
The person I talked to was a female doctor.
She pointed out how MANY people used it successfully for sleep and these reports were disturbing, but no reason to remove the drug because it was such an effective drug.

You are probably one of the great majority who takes it responsibly.
You are also correct in that there will never be any drug with a zero side effects profile. No easy question- no easy answers.

Janelle · Post by **Janelle** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:25 pm

There are drugs made specifically for giving stage 3/4 sleep, some help you get to sleep, others don't. Gabitril is one such drug. While it does help develop "some" stage 3/4 it didn't give me more than 5%, and I gained 15 pounds, one of the side effects. I also took Neurontin, 300 mg a night after the first two nights. When I refilled my rx I didn't notice that I was given 300 mg capsules, and thought it was still 3 a night, so I did. Right until after my sleep test, where I still didn't have much stage 3/4, one 3 times the amount prescribed. I had no side effects from this overdose, So, then I was put on Xyrem. This one will definitely put you to sleep and sometimes very fast. They recommend taking it IN BED. Sure, there is literature out there listing all the cautions if it is abused, but point is tomjax that most people are NOT going to abuse the drug, any drug knowingly.

Lunesta, Ambien, Benedryl, Sominex, etc. are not going to give you stage 3/4 but they will help you to sleep. But if you have lack of stage 3/4 you are not going to feel that rested in the morning.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:01 pm

Well tomjax,

you imply to be able to apply my reasoning, but by yours because one person might abuse a good drug, you propose to ban them all. How did you ever become a pharmacist? You seem very jaded against the product of your trade.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:50 pm

I am not at all suggesting sleep aids be banned any more than alcohol besause some become alcoholics or narcotics because some become addicts.

I am suggesting people be aware of the drugs they take and be warned of the problems they CAN cause and take them accordingly.
I also know the futiliy of warning patients of such if it is something they want to take.

If you think I am rough on sleep aids, you should get me started on antibiotics. IMHO, about 80 pct are improperly prescribed and unneeded and just may be the cause of an impending plague that may just do us all in.
Now I can really get PASSIONATE on this subject and will get the same reaction from all the moms who go to the peds with any little problem.
Our society could probably be more healthy with about 1/3 the drugs they take.
If I would drop my weight 90 pounds, stop smoking and get exercise and stay off this ^%^&%&^ computer, I would not need most of the drugs my lifestyle choices cause me. Maybe even get off PAP too.
I am totally to blame for most of this.
Same for many others.

3isles · Post by **3isles** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:36 am

Ok, I was just prescribed ambien on Thursday, I haven't taken it yet.

Its not because I can't sleep, its because I can't sleep with xpap on. Also I have acute panic reaction to being tied down by the hose. At first it was the mask and the air blowing, but I am ok with the air now and have Aura and IQ mask (I know not many use it but I really like it) to use that are tolerable to wear until I turn off the light, then its like there is a timer to a bomb ticking away inside of me. I am sweating, total fight or flight reactions, and I always finally have to rip off the mask and even then it takes leaving the room and occupying myself with something else to stop the panic. Thats what I need a drug to address.

My sleep doc prescribed ambien because she said it is less compromising to breathing if I sleep without the mask. She said that the drugs for anxiety are more likely to cause more apnea problems if I still can't keep the mask on. She gave me a 30 day supply. The idea is to break the habit of associating xpap with panic.

Now I am afraid to touch the ambien.
what do I do???