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Ambien


GingerA

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I just wondered if anyone else was taking Ambien. I am having a terrible time sleeping and had been taking a small dose of Klonopin at night but it made me very tense the next day so my doc put me on Ambien. I took it Friday and Saturday night but I have felt terrible all weekend. I was just wondering if any one else had this reaction or was it just a bad POTS weekend? (The weather is getting colder here too so I wasn't sure with one could be the cause.)

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Hi Ginger,

How much Klonopin are you taking? I've found that it really helps me sleep. How long have you been on Ambien? It did nothing for me but make me feel awful. None of the sleeping meds did anything for me...darn it!

Hope you get this figured out soon.

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I take zopiclone which is a similiar z-drug as ambien (zolpidem). They work great for me, I get a somewhat good nights sleep and never feel drowsy day after, zopiclone has a 6 h half-life which is quite short but zolpidem has an even shorter half-life of about 3 hours. So it shouldn't affect you that much, I think. But far as I've noticed all people with dys react quite differently to drugs than "normal" people do.

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Potsgirl,

I was taking .5 mg of klonopin and it worked great for the sleep but like I said the next day I felt like my nerves were about to snap in half. I only took the Ambien twice. The first night I slept fine but the next night I didn't really notice a difference. All weekend I have been so fatigued and depressed. i just wondered if it was the Ambien because I have been feeling better lately until I tried to take this.

Pulp,

That was the effect that the doc was trying for. (Less side effects) but like you say you never know how a potsy is going to react to medication.

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Maybe you could try it a couple more times or maybe split the pill in half? I usually settle for night with 2,5-5 mg of zopiclone which is a low dose. Usually take it standing 5 mins before I go brush my teeth and then go to bed. If I don't actively try to sleep I can quite easily stay awake but it really helps me with falling asleep as I usually have adrenaline rushes throughout the night. I can sleep some 4-5 hours quite soundly without waking up which I usually do 10+ times per night.

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I was taking Klonopin 1/2 of a .5mg pill for a few days then it stopped working. I am now on .5mg and sleep so much better.

I was on Ambien....would wake up after 2-3 hours and Lunesta made me so spaced out the next day. The MD at the Birmingham Dysautonomia Center told me that Lunesta & Ambien do not allow you to go into the REM stage of sleep which is what we need.

Good Luck!

liz

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I used to use ambien until a week into it I started to call people, get on the internet and talk to people without having any recollection of it what so ever. I would not recommend that medication to anyone. I take lunesta now and it doesn't seem to do that to me.

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I took Ambien for a year--first 5 mg and then 10. It soon stops working and one has to increase the dosage. It is habit- forming and hard to give up. I am weaning myself off it by alternating doses of ambien with doses of a supplement called Kavonace. I already feel better. I can supply more details on the weaning process if yoj like.

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I tried Ambien and Lunesta. They helped me fall asleep but caused me to have awful nightmares that woke me up between 2-4:00 in the morning. The nightmares were so bad that I would wake up denched in sweat, shaking, and panicked. Hasn't happened before or since these meds. I decided the nightmares were worse than the hours spent trying to fall asleep.

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Melatonin has worked wonders for me. The Doc prescribed TraZadone but it did nothing for me. Sorry haven't tried Ambien or Lunesta.

Ashwaganda was a suggestion of someone on the blog and I had some success with that as well ;o) Both Melatonin and Ashwaganda are natural (you get them at the Vitamin Store) but make sure to get the time released Melatonin..... Maybe this will help?

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Thanks for all the responses. I did not take the Ambien Sunday night and I was up til 2 am but I was still terribly depressed from Friday when I took the first dose until late Monday evening. Then it was like a fog lifted. Tonight I went back to my Klonopin because I am so tense that my neck is in severe pain so I know that sleep will not come without help. I guess I will just have to be cranky tomorrow. There has to be a better solution than this.

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GingerA, Have you tried something like Benadryl or Tylenol PM (which is just a combo of Tylenol and Benadryl)? When I have a hard time falling asleep for more than 3 nights in a row, I will take Tylenol PM (cause I usually have some amt of joint pain contributing to the problem) for 3-4 nights in a row. I take it early, like between 8:00 - 9:00 so I fall asleep by 11:00. It seems to help my circadian rhythm "get its own groove" back. I'm also really methodical about my bedtime ritual so my body knows what's coming. Sounds kind of kooky but it helps. I don't take the Tylenol PM for more than 4 days because I build up a tolerance. If I still can't sleep without it, I skip at least one night.

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