Anyone Have Trouble Taking Ambien?

[sue1234]

I began Ambien Sunday, and it does help me sleep. I have used Xanax for a few years, and recently tried Klonopin for two weeks before the Ambien.

The issue is, in the mornings I feel awful! I feel out of it, like off/on head rush. I don't really know how to explain it, and I've had alot of symptoms with POTS for many years! I also seem to have adrenaline rushes that are unrelated to my low blood sugar. It's like I am spending all morning just trying to get to my normal yucky self by noon.

I read up on Ambien, and it said that people with a history of heart, liver, blah, blah, blah, shouldn't take it. But, the unusual condition that was listed in the middle of that was myasthenia gravis. Since alot of people here have symptoms similar to MG, I was wondering if the Ambien was affecting whatever that causes us to be tested for MG??

Any thoughts?

[songcanary]

I don't know about the MG, but I can't tolerate any more than 5mg Ambien. The 10mg works super but puts me in a coma for the next day! I don't take it every night because I don't want to become dependent. But it does help, even though I wish I could take the 10mg--I know I would sleep better.

[sue1234]

Songcanary, it's funny that the next day I don't feel sleepy or anything. I just feel very wired and such. I was expecting to having lingering sleepiness issues, but I didn't.

So, not many others taking Ambien?

[Katybug]

Hi Sue,

I couldn't take it b/c I would fall asleep beautifully and then eake up a few hours later from horrific nightmares. I can't remmeber the other big name prescription sleep med, but, that did the same thing to me. It was like my brain was in overdrive while I was sleeping.

[GingerA]

I recently tried it and I felt TERRIBLE!!! I quit after two days. I was so sleepy & depressed the next day that I could not function.

[Chaos]

I just started it a couple weeks ago. Started on 5 mg and didn't have nightmares but definitely had some weird dreams. A friend of mine who doesn't have dysauto told me she takes 1/3 to 1/2 of a 5 mg tablet and it made all the difference. I've been doing 1/2 a tablet and it's been great. I've been in a flare for a couple months(preceded starting the ambien) so haven't been doing well enough during most days to know if the ambien is having a negative affect. LOL I'm just so thrilled to sleep more than a couple of restless hours.

Supposedly Ambien is short acting and is considered "clean"... as in it's not supposed to affect the ANS like Xanax or Klonipine do. Of course, meds rarely work in us like they're supposed to.

[rubytuesday]

I was Rx'd Ambien in 2003 after 2 sleep studies showed that I do not get into the deep phase of sleep, spend what little sleep I did get in stage II, with over 200 alpha wave intrusions in my sleep and a narcoleptic pattern seen in patients with fibro (I have fibro but did not reveal that to sleep doc, and tests were done at 2 different labs by 2 diferent docs). Rheume was one who said I must take Rx strength med (Melatonin did nothing for me) and Rx'd Ambien. I got along fine with it until the winter of 2004. I would get up for work very early, so would lay clothes/shoes out soas not to make much disturbance when getting ready for work. When I would get up, maybe shoe would be gone or changed. Sometimes when I got home, I would find empty food packages/candy bar wrappers in my room (I never eat in the bedroom and wasn't a night time snacker). One morning I woke up and my nails had been polished.

I worked in hospital and ran into my PCP and told her that I was concerned that I was 'losing time' (had no memory of any of this) but I knew I didn't have Alzheimers. She sent me back to sleep doctor. This was before the black box warning and awareness from drug manufacturer that it could cause sleep walking and sleep eating. My sleep doctor was not aware (nor was I at the time) and instructed me to get an alarm pinned to my jammies so if I were to get up, DH would awaken (not--he's heavy sleeper). He also told me to put alarm on my doors as I could go outside. He said I was doing things subconsciously (I think--but not yet in deep phase of sleep) that were parts of routine for me at different parts of the day. Once I must have gone into our unheated (closed off) room on a step stool to change out a cami. Once I 'awoke' to my DH yelling at me and g-baby crying (I had gone to bed but baby must have been hungry--DH was babysitting but I had come out and made him toaster french toast and had syrup all over the place, including the baby). DH said he'd always thought I was awake as after I'd gone to bed, sometimes I'd come through the living room and talk or go into kitchen.

Thankfully, when I retired just a few months later, our Rx plan changed and Ambien was higher co-pay and all the news about its affects were being on media. I was put on Temazepam (Halcion)--very mild, sometimes works/sometimes not, not so good sleeping pill. B

Also when I was on Ambien, I thought I would fall asleep fairly quickly but within about 3 or 4 hours I was wide awake. When my Temazepam didn't work so well, my PCP tried the Sonata and the Lunesta but I had the same thing as far as getting to sleep fairly quickly (one of them didn't get to to sleep til later but I can't recall which) and neither would sustain my sleep. After just a few hours, it was like somebody turned the lights on, the sun was shining and wakey wakey.

[sue1234]

It doesn't seem to work well for anyone here. Especially Ruby! That sounds so scary. While I tried the Ambien last week, I gave my Xanax pill bottle to my husband to hide, because I was so afraid I would get up in the middle of the night and take some.

Of course, the joke was, if I got up and drove somewhere, well that would be an improvement on my life. I don't drive in real life!!