Ambien + Xanax = Insomnia ? (depression, doctor, symptoms, eyes)

[heydade]

Anyone take Ambien one night....and the next night NOT take Ambien, but take Xanax (which usually works just as well as ambien) and were not able to sleep ? I think the two drugs work in opposition of each other possibly or have some bad effect that actually PROMOTES insomnia. Yes...Ambien was taken 24 hours before, but still lingers in your system I suppose

[veuvegirl]

Xanax actually wears off in the middle of the night (for me) causing me to be wide awake.

[heydade]

I just took 3mg lunesta...let's see if that does the trick. I am in a pretty bad insomnia phase right now. What do you take veuvegirl ?

[chicago_bound]

My doctor prescribed me Ambien and I don't really like it. It doesn't make me tired, instead it makes me feel kinda weird......and I start to hallucinate! So I'm sticking with my melatonin which usually works OK, and sometimes Klonopin but I try not to take that regularly.

[DreamWeavin]

I take 3 Xanax a day(for anxiety-not for sleep issues) and it never makes me the least bit drowsy. It should be taken for what it was intended for-anxiety.

Lunesta didn't do anything for me-zilch!
Ambien scares the crap outta me. I've had friends take it and they had BAD side effects. One ended up in the ER

[fauve]

I ended up in the ER with Ambien too. Evil drug. The side effect for me were progressive stroke-like symptoms that finally scared me enough to go in. All tests were clear. Stopped ambien, and symptoms disappeared within 2 days. My primary doc thought it might have been a bad drug interaction with neurontin that I take for RLS since both effect chemicals in the brain. Anyway, now I take a xanax and along with the neurontin, I fall and stay asleep. Less hangover effect the next day too.

Also, ambien is very easy to become dependent on. heydade, it may not be the xanax that is causing the insomnia but simply that you may becoming dependent on ambien to sleep. Lunesta is a very similar drug to ambien so it should work fine tonight. I'm sure you're already asleep. Be careful about needing these babies to sleep. It's a tough dependence to break.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by heydade

I just took 3mg lunesta...let's see if that does the trick. I am in a pretty bad insomnia phase right now. What do you take veuvegirl ?

I used to take Ambien on a regular basis. I finally weened myself off of it and occassionally take a xanax to help me fall asleep. I hate not sleeping, but hate taking drugs more.

[heydade]

Originally Posted by fauve

I ended up in the ER with Ambien too. Evil drug. The side effect for me were progressive stroke-like symptoms that finally scared me enough to go in. All tests were clear. Stopped ambien, and symptoms disappeared within 2 days. My primary doc thought it might have been a bad drug interaction with neurontin that I take for RLS since both effect chemicals in the brain. Anyway, now I take a xanax and along with the neurontin, I fall and stay asleep. Less hangover effect the next day too.

Also, ambien is very easy to become dependent on. heydade, it may not be the xanax that is causing the insomnia but simply that you may becoming dependent on ambien to sleep. Lunesta is a very similar drug to ambien so it should work fine tonight. I'm sure you're already asleep. Be careful about needing these babies to sleep. It's a tough dependence to break.

When I first started with insomnia...real bad.....I tried Rozerem and another script sleep aid....did not help. I took Ambien for a while and it worked well, but then I started to feel very groggy and strange in the morning. Went to the doctor and she told me I probably have generalized anxiety disorder which I agree with her on. Started with Ativan..didn't touch me, then took Xanax and it worked very well ! Just 1mg every night before bed and slept peacefully like a human being should sleep.

My insomnia comes in bouts. One month I sleep nicely without any medication, next month I need Xanax. Lately, I have had to take Xanax every night. WELL....3 days ago I couldn't sleep and I was about to pop a Xanax but noticed I had some Ambien left in the medicine counter. Said to myself, hey....let's give this a shot in lieu of the Xanax just for giggles sake. Took it, slept like a baby. The next night I needed to take something again, so I took just the Xanax like I usually do. Could not fall asleep ! Took another Xanax...now up to 2mg...STILL could not fall asleep. Woke up exhausted, had to call in sick (I GET FURIOUS WHEN MY INSOMNIA AFFECTS MY WORK AND I HAVE TO BURN MY SICK HOURS). Last night I told myself I am going to ween myself off of Xanax....so I took Lunesta which I also happen to have. 3mg total. WOW....I know what people that are in near death situations talk about when they say "out of body experiences" What a strange drug Lunesta is. Yes I slept..but it was sort of a scary sleep....I remember at one point being frightened by my out of body experience that I would force myself to wake up..my eye would open, but my mind was still asleep ! Sounds weird, but true. Finally after keeping my eyes open, my mind snapped out of it.

Anyhow, I think I can pinpoint what caused this recent terrible bout that started 3 days ago....me taking that Ambien. I should have never touched that thing. Ambien is very well known for REBOUND insomnia after abruptly stopping it.....thats what happened to me, I'm pretty sure since Xanax (1mg) has always worked very well for me...and that night (2) Xanax didn't do squat. I know these drugs are horrible....but I have to take something, if not, I don't sleep and there are only so many sick hours to burn at work. Not only that, but I cannot go to work exhausted. If I do that, I put peoples lives in danger and that is not something I am willing to risk. Insomnia is horrible. People have no clue what it is to wake up and not feel refreshed, to lie there your body exhausted, but your mind racing. Awful. It's a horrible disease that I wish on no one.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by heydade

When I first started with insomnia...real bad.....I tried Rozerem and another script sleep aid....did not help. I took Ambien for a while and it worked well, but then I started to feel very groggy and strange in the morning. Went to the doctor and she told me I probably have generalized anxiety disorder which I agree with her on. Started with Ativan..didn't touch me, then took Xanax and it worked very well ! Just 1mg every night before bed and slept peacefully like a human being should sleep.

My insomnia comes in bouts. One month I sleep nicely without any medication, next month I need Xanax. Lately, I have had to take Xanax every night. WELL....3 days ago I couldn't sleep and I was about to pop a Xanax but noticed I had some Ambien left in the medicine counter. Said to myself, hey....let's give this a shot in lieu of the Xanax just for giggles sake. Took it, slept like a baby. The next night I needed to take something again, so I took just the Xanax like I usually do. Could not fall asleep ! Took another Xanax...now up to 2mg...STILL could not fall asleep. Woke up exhausted, had to call in sick (I GET FURIOUS WHEN MY INSOMNIA AFFECTS MY WORK AND I HAVE TO BURN MY SICK HOURS). Last night I told myself I am going to ween myself off of Xanax....so I took Lunesta which I also happen to have. 3mg total. WOW....I know what people that are in near death situations talk about when they say "out of body experiences" What a strange drug Lunesta is. Yes I slept..but it was sort of a scary sleep....I remember at one point being frightened by my out of body experience that I would force myself to wake up..my eye would open, but my mind was still asleep ! Sounds weird, but true. Finally after keeping my eyes open, my mind snapped out of it.

Anyhow, I think I can pinpoint what caused this recent terrible bout that started 3 days ago....me taking that Ambien. I should have never touched that thing. Ambien is very well known for REBOUND insomnia after abruptly stopping it.....thats what happened to me, I'm pretty sure since Xanax (1mg) has always worked very well for me...and that night (2) Xanax didn't do squat. I know these drugs are horrible....but I have to take something, if not, I don't sleep and there are only so many sick hours to burn at work. Not only that, but I cannot go to work exhausted. If I do that, I put peoples lives in danger and that is not something I am willing to risk. Insomnia is horrible. People have no clue what it is to wake up and not feel refreshed, to lie there your body exhausted, but your mind racing. Awful. It's a horrible disease that I wish on no one.

I agree. I also have it bad, but since I'm self-employed it's okay when things get out of whack - just ruins quality of life. I took ambien for years. I tried to stop it and for 6 months I could not sleep more than 3 hours at a time. It was horrible. I ended up back on it. This time really scared me, and I know I can no longer tolerate it. I only take .25mg of xanax and along with a neurontin I can sleep and it feels very natural. The last couple of nights I haven't had any xanax (ran out of rx on Friday with no refillls). Well, the last couple of nights - guess what? I have fallen asleep on my own with just the neurontin! I think I may have finally kicked my ambien dependence!

I have a history of out of body type experiences, etc. as well. This definitely is a disease as you characterized it and our brain chemicals are out of whack. And, I have a history of generalized anxiety disorder and depression as well which fits into this pattern. The medications are helpful, but there is no silver bullet. I imagine as time goes by they'll get much better. Now it's a lot of hit and miss.

[virgode]

Originally Posted by chicago_bound

My doctor prescribed me Ambien and I don't really like it. It doesn't make me tired, instead it makes me feel kinda weird......and I start to hallucinate! So I'm sticking with my melatonin which usually works OK, and sometimes Klonopin but I try not to take that regularly.

That ambien has some weird side affects, I took it about 10 yrs ago,
would never take it again. The melatonin works great for me, I've
always been a nite person trying to force myself to be a day person,
thats my problem.