Ambien: What can I expect

[Quixon]

Miz, have you had any odd side affects with Lunesta.

My friend that takes ambien can't do Lunesta. When I asked her why, she said she wakes up with incredibly bad breath when she takes it. She's tried it 3-4 times apparently, every time the same shit happens lol.

[Mizango]

Miz, have you had any odd side affects with Lunesta.

My friend that takes ambien can't do Lunesta. When I asked her why, she said she wakes up with incredibly bad breath when she takes it. She's tried it 3-4 times apparently, every time the same shit happens lol.

Nope, nothing so far. Been 11 months into it

[mightyg]

It destroyed my short term memory when I was taking it. Take it only occasionally, or expect to forget things.

[Mistress Stowastiq]

Try not to exclusively rely on it as in do not take it every single day because it is obviously habit forming if you do. I take mine when I absolutely need it but my doctor is monitoring me close and asks me how much I have used each month before re-script. She advised me not to take it every day because it is habit forming.

Side effects: husband has to put me to bed and keep me from getting up because I stay up sometimes and do aimless things, eat strange foods. Known to randomly post on bg too. (sorry Isladar ). The odd side effects happen if you stay up while waiting for it to work. Best thing is to go to bed and not fight it. It tends to make everything seem slow-motion, for instance reaching for something seems as if it takes forever like there is a weight on your arm. There is a point where the effects of aided sleep no longer work so going to bed right away prevents that. I would not advise showering or doing anything intensive after taking it. Takes about 20- 30 minutes to work.

[Andarvi]

All the accounts of grogginess are disconcerting, despite it being different for everybody. It was my biggest concern and the doctor never even mentioned it being a potential side effect, but rather broke the word down saying "ambien, a-m, bien, good morning, meaning there isnt supposed to grogginess."=/

[ZarakiKujata]

shit I've been told I already carry on conversations w/ myself in Russian while sleeping off some booze and/or weed, I should try some of this shit.

[Atreides]

I've taken so many prescription hypnotics over the years for my sleep issues, here's a brief recap:

Ambien: left me groggy, as others have said. I didn't experience the memory loss other people do-- there are stories of people who bake cakes and buy shit on ebay (someone even bought a car and didn't remember it) while under the influence of ambien lol. It definitely helped me fall asleep though. You can get addicted to it very easily.

Lunesta: Probably my favorite of all of them, works like a dream (no pun intended) with virtually no grogginess or other side effects to speak of. The downside is that since it's a relatively new drug, it's not available in generic. A 30 day supply without insurance will run you 150-220 dollars. I did have a weird metallic aftertaste in my mouth after taking it, whenever I drank water, but nothing major.

Sonata: What I currently take. It's in the same family as Ambien, the so called "Z-drugs". Sonata works quickly, and puts me right to sleep. It also wears off very quickly, coupled with the fact that it doesn't change sleep architecture (meaning you can still dream and have normal REM cycles and whatnot), I never wake up with any grogginess whatsoever. I guess the fact that it wears off in 4 or so hours means it's probably more for people who have trouble falling asleep, rather than those that have trouble staying asleep. Supposedly it's less addictive than Ambien as well, and it's also available in generic.

I've taken Xanax/Valium for sleeping but those keep you from dreaming and make you so fucking exhausted if you use them long term. I've never taken Rozerem but I hear good things, it's just as expensive as Lunesta though. A lot of psychiatrists seem to love to prescribe Trazadone/Desiryl for insomnia, which is an anti-psychotic, which left me nearly catatonic for almost 18 hours.

If I were you I'd definitely try to get your doctor to switch you to Lunesta or Sonata.

[Zalius]

http://socalkush.com/images/purple-kush.jpg
insomnia aint shit

[Quixon]

+1 to the above.

Better than any of this sleeping pill bullshit lol.

[Tagus]

I work with a guy who started taking Ambien to help him cope with a midnight shift rotation, and he's kinda been zombified. Sometimes I'll see him just standing in one place completely zoned out and rocking slowly back and forth for 2 or 3 minutes, and he'll gradually just kind of come out of it and walk away. A couple of other times, he's walked into the lab where I work and opened his mouth to say hi and a big wad of drool just fell out onto his shirt... idk man, the guy has problems. His blood sugar spikes and drops and it's just insane the fluctuations in his energy levels. He's also diabetic though, so that could be complicating matters. I'd recommend trying good old fashioned benadryl. That's what the pharmacists I've worked with have all recommended as a simple sleep aid that's quite effective... not too mention it's slightly more legal than marijuana, if that's a concern.

[Atreides]

You definitely can't take benadryl (or any of the over the counter sleeping pills, like tylenol PM, they're all just anthihistamines anyway) long-term. Most of them leave you really groggy as well, an effect which really gets amplified over time, at least for most people I know.

If you're going to be buying something over the counter to help with sleep I'd definitely get melatonin instead. Maybe valerian root, although that's more for relaxation than sleep, and I'm not sure how well it works. Melatonin definitely works though.

[Tagus]

You definitely can't take benadryl (or any of the over the counter sleeping pills, like tylenol PM, they're all just anthihistamines anyway) long-term. Most of them leave you really groggy as well, an effect which really gets amplified over time, at least for most people I know.

If you're going to be buying something over the counter to help with sleep I'd definitely get melatonin instead. Maybe valerian root, although that's more for relaxation than sleep, and I'm not sure how well it works. Melatonin definitely works though.

Melatonin gave me fucked up dreams. I've heard good things from many other people though.

[ZarakiKujata]

Do not buy melatonin over the counter. Shit is 1000x what your body actually needs and will fuck you over long term. If you want to try it that badly, I've heard of docs giving the actual dosage of what your body would produce in mg in which case it would be better than sleeping aids.

Valerian root has done wonders for me and I would definitely recommend it. Just get it in capsule form as the tincture tastes fucking nasty.

[Odesseiron]

My co-worker's husband was on ambien for a little bit. Told us some interestering stories while he was on it. Put pillows in the oven like in Step-Brothers, also thought he had to go to work (he's a truck driver) and tried to get in the car and do his thing. Luckily she stopped him. He also slept walked a lot. I think the funniest thing she said aside from the pillow thing is that he wanted to go swimming in the bathtub.

I've honestly heard nothing but bad shit about it. Avoid it like the plague and find something else. or if you don't get drug tested at work, weed. That shit knocks me out at late night.

[Militant]

Then there was the other time where I explained in detail why ballskin would make a great trampoline for ants that were jumping off burning buildings.

This is great.

[Max™]

Sonata: What I currently take. It's in the same family as Ambien, the so called "Z-drugs". Sonata works quickly, and puts me right to sleep. It also wears off very quickly, coupled with the fact that it doesn't change sleep architecture (meaning you can still dream and have normal REM cycles and whatnot), I never wake up with any grogginess whatsoever. I guess the fact that it wears off in 4 or so hours means it's probably more for people who have trouble falling asleep, rather than those that have trouble staying asleep. Supposedly it's less addictive than Ambien as well, and it's also available in generic.

My girlfriend and I have fun fucking/talking/whatnot on Sonata sometimes, but if you're not careful you get "sonata-dick" where it works, but won't QUITE let you finish, which is maddening.

Once she got all loopy before I did, turns to me and says "Ya know, Nietzsche really wasn't such a bad guy", and another time I apparently christened her 'angeltits' which is fantastic.

[Atreides]

My girlfriend and I have fun fucking/talking/whatnot on Sonata sometimes, but if you're not careful you get "sonata-dick" where it works, but won't QUITE let you finish, which is maddening.

I have this exact problem after I take valerian root actually. I had quite a few 75+ minute fapping sessions before I realized what the problem was.

I don't get loopy like that from the sonata, just tired, but maybe it's because I'm taking a relatively low dose (10mg) or because I've been taking it for so long. How much did you guys take?

[Vuitton]

I like Max's stories the best so far.

[Max™]

Oh shit, 10 mg is nothing, I think we take like 30 mg when we wanna be goofy, might be 40 mg?

I'm quite proud of 'angeltits', and still call her that. I told someone in FFXI about it, he posts here sometimes (Kilee), he said "that's a beautiful compliment, dude", I agree!

[Jimmyus]

Seconding (or something) the fucked up dreams while taking Ambien. I actually am taking it now to try to go to sleep at reasonable times (lol posting @3 a.m.), but every time I take it I have the same dream where I am making a survival horror porno.

Also seconding the driving in the car thing, the guy who works at the 7-11 near my house asked me last week how long it took me to eat 5 boxes of hot pockets and a donut. It would be really funny if I had remembered that happening.

The dreams are really fun sometimes though. Maybe 3 months ago my mom made me take one when I had already taken one and I dreamt about flying around as an Xbox 360 controller.

Idk, there are more stories but I don't remember every one of them. Needless to say, take it and keep an open mind (or a dream journal, my mom did one when she started ambien and holy jesus are some entries mind blowing)