Ambien

[jas]

Has anyone here taken it before? I have some and have not taken it yet. I have heard and read all sorts of things about it.

Can you cut a tablet in half? I need sleep but I am not sure about this medicine. What other stuff is out there. I have heard Lunesta, not sure if it is different from the Ambien.


TIA

[starsapphire]

I took Ambien once, years ago. Doctor gave me a sample pack of 2. Boy did it give me crazy dreams. I took the valium he gave me instead.

[savvy_sniper]

I have heard of problems. But I have also read that you should take it AT bed time; not in the middle of the night when you have been tossing and turning for hours. For the first time, I would NOT take it when you have to get up, drive, go to work, etc.

Ask your pharmacist for any input he/she might have. Read the information that comes with it. Do you have problems with other drugs?

[jas]

I have heard of problems. But I have also read that you should take it AT bed time; not in the middle of the night when you have been tossing and turning for hours. For the first time, I would NOT take it when you have to get up, drive, go to work, etc.

Ask your pharmacist for any input he/she might have. Read the information that comes with it. Do you have problems with other drugs?

The stuff I have read online from people who have taken it and also a friend of mine have said you have to be all ready for bed. Teeth brushed, jammies on, in bed right when you take it. They have said that you have about 10 minutes and you are out. If you fight it you do and say wierd things. A lot of people have said they get up and eat in the middle of the night and have found they have gained a lot of weight.

I don't have problems with anything else I have taken. I get restless legs at night and after a few nights I can't take it anymore. The medicines for that sounds pretty bad too. Sudden urges to gamble, sexual stuff geezzzzzzzz.

[Gotonenerveleft]

I've taken Ambien for a couple of years now. No crazy dreams or anything. Think the problems really come with the time released one....ambien CR or something like that. I take the plain kind....pills are 10 mg but I cut them in half so the dosage is 5mg....thats the only way insurance will pay for them. Anyhow I take them at bedtime and they work wonderfully. If I take them earlier the sleepiness wears off and they don't work....HTH

[jas]

I took Ambien once, years ago. Doctor gave me a sample pack of 2. Boy did it give me crazy dreams. I took the valium he gave me instead.

Oh my gosh, I have read people had bad dreams for very vivid ones.

[shoiji]

I have had problems sleeping for years now. You might want to try the ambien. Maybe once every other night to see how it affects your system.

The whole planning ahead to get ready for bed before you sleep is just a good idea in general. I find that if I feel to wound up or my shoulders just seem tight at night I need to sit in quiet or lay on the floor and do some deep breathing exercises to help relax me. I get plenty of sunshine. Every night at 8:00 pm means that it is time to relax and stop doing whatever it is I am doing.

I still wake up sometimes and can't get back to sleep because my mind wanders and I start thinking of what I need to do that day. But doing deep breathing exercises usually helps me to get back to sleep or relax me enough so that I do not feel wide awake.

Also try and get some exercise even if it is just doing some jumping jacks. It always seems to help especially with stress. UTube has some great quieting meditation music you can listen to.

Hope you find something to help you sleep better.

[jas]

I've taken Ambien for a couple of years now. No crazy dreams or anything. Think the problems really come with the time released one....ambien CR or something like that. I take the plain kind....pills are 10 mg but I cut them in half so the dosage is 5mg....thats the only way insurance will pay for them. Anyhow I take them at bedtime and they work wonderfully. If I take them earlier the sleepiness wears off and they don't work....HTH

Thanks I was wondering if I could cut it in half. I would take it right as I am gong to go to bed.

[MaryCarney]

If restless legs is what's keeping you from sleep - I'd take THAT medicine first and see what happens. I've given the restless legs drug to hundreds of people, never had anyone complain of side effects. Having said that - try magnesium supplement OR see if your MD will give you a script for quinine. Two old school (read that cheap and they really work) restless legs treatments.

Just remember, all the side effects listed for a drug are things that happened to study participants - not necessarily CAUSED by the drug. That's why when you hear of a side effect like 'nasal congestion' for an allergy medicine you gotta figure the people they test allergy medicine on HAVE ALLERGIES!

If a large group of people were testing a BP med during a flu outbreak and came down with it- 'influenza' would, by law, have to be listed as a possible side effect! Really!

[jas]

Thanks for the advise I will be looking into it for sure.

[Neeley]

I was given Ambien in June while hospitalized and thought I was going to die - literally. I was in a deep sleep, so deep my breathing was very labored. Even though I was in such a deep sleep, I was aware that I was having trouble breathing but could not wake myself to hit the nurse call button for help. My head was telling my arm to lift and go to the button, but my arm would not do it. I kept praying to just stay alive long enough for it to wear off. Luckily my telemetry unit came unhooked and about six hours into the ordeal a nurse came and woke me so she could reattach the telemetry unit. I was still groggy to the point I could not talk for a few hours after she woke me. It was the scariest and freakiest thing I have ever experienced.

I told my DH the next morning to tell the nurses to never, ever give it to me again. I was at my doctor's office today and had her put it in my chart that under no circumstance was I ever to be given Ambien again. I am having it put on all of my charts no matter what that doctor treats - my endocrinologist, surgeon, ophthalmologist, OB/GYN, even my dentist.

[jas]

I was given Ambien in June while hospitalized and thought I was going to die - literally. I was in a deep sleep, so deep my breathing was very labored. Even though I was in such a deep sleep, I was aware that I was having trouble breathing but could not wake myself to hit the nurse call button for help. My head was telling my arm to lift and go to the button, but my arm would not do it. I kept praying to just stay alive long enough for it to wear off. Luckily my telemetry unit came unhooked and about six hours into the ordeal a nurse came and woke me so she could reattach the telemetry unit. I was still groggy to the point I could not talk for a few hours after she woke me. It was the scariest and freakiest thing I have ever experienced.

I told my DH the next morning to tell the nurses to never, ever give it to me again. I was at my doctor's office today and had her put it in my chart that under no circumstance was I ever to be given Ambien again. I am having it put on all of my charts no matter what that doctor treats - my endocrinologist, surgeon, ophthalmologist, OB/GYN, even my dentist.

That sounds like a horrible experience I understand completly why you would put it in all your medical records.

[Gotonenerveleft]

It just dawned on me that if you have the time-released kind it probably can NOT be cut in half. The coating on the pill would be what causes the slow release and cutting it would mess that up and you might get too big of a dose at once.....better check your pill bottle.

[jas]

It just dawned on me that if you have the time-released kind it probably can NOT be cut in half. The coating on the pill would be what causes the slow release and cutting it would mess that up and you might get too big of a dose at once.....better check your pill bottle.

no it is a solid pill. I think it even has a line down the center. IIRC.

[Gotonenerveleft]

no it is a solid pill. I think it even has a line down the center. IIRC.

It can still be time-released even if it's solid. Most are solid. Just check and make sure it's not Ambien CR (or some other letters after Ambien). Just Ambien or the generic Zolpidem should be fine to cut in two.