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Success - I went back to my most recent doctor and explained that I need 30 pills of 10mg per day. He said okay and sent the rx over. He said that he previously prescribed just that but the pharmacy only gave me 15 pills, possibly because of insurance.
I got the 30 pills just now for $5. I'm not sure why they only gave me the 15 last time.
The last three nights were horrible, I couldn't sleep until 3-4AM. I tried rum and Coke which only made me queasy. Also Vicks which had no effect.
Whatever you do, don't even think about trying Valium; as a benzo-diazapene it's highly addictive, and besides, the sleep it profferred you wouldn't be quality sleep anyway. And you'd soon build up a tolerance to it and end-up taking more and then would be on the path to Benzo addiction, which is a living hell and has just about the worst detox symptoms of any drug.
You need to get off the Ambien pronto. That stuff is also addictive--as you sound like you're finding out--and it will also make you bat-poop crazy sooner or later. The medical community is just now discovering some of its nasty side-effects, and believe me, there will be more.
Like another poster said, you should see about treating the issues that are causing your insomnia; a good SSRI anti-depressant might ne just the ticket. SOme of them, like Paxil, even have a sort of sedative, calming effect that may enahnce your sleep patterns.
Or, try some of the natural sleep aids out there. Granted, you're gonna find that most of these are kid's stuff compared to the knockout punch Ambien delivers, but one that might work for you is Melatonin; it's actually a synthesized version of a hormone your body (the Pineal gland, I think) secretes naturally. The Pineal gland actually regulates your sleep cycles, and Melatonin might help it kick-in a bit more efficiently.
As a recovering alcoholic with almost 7 years sober, I had hell sleeping when I first quit drinking. I knew that because of my addictive personality I could never use any sort of benzo or even Ambien-type drug, so I tried Melatonin and it worked like a charm. I slept like a baby (with some great, vivid dreams too!) until I finally weaned myself off of it after about three months.
Most of the potential side effects of Ambien, are the same as symptoms of severe insomnia. Including suicide. Fortunately, the more severe side effects are extremely rare, and are often evident only in people who already had some kind of mental disorder in the first place (like severe clinical depression). The medical community isn't "just finding out" things about Ambien. It's known about it, and it's included in the patient information pamphlet that the pharmacy gives you.
The same can be said about Paxil and other SSRIs - many of the side effects of taking them, are the same as the symptoms of depression - including suicide.
Also, Ambien isn't addictive. You can become dependent on it, which means, you would eventually need it to sleep, or need more to sleep. But it isn't a drug that makes you need it when you're NOT trying to sleep. On the plus side, if you're needing it to sleep, then you're taking it for exactly the right reason. If you didn't need it to sleep, you wouldn't need it at all.
AnonChick, you couldn't be more wrong when saying Ambien isn't an addicting drug. There are plenty of people that have fallen into deep Ambien addiction and have used it for everything but sleep. Do your research before you give all these people false information. I'm guessing your in denial with this because you yourself couldn't fathom the fact that you are taking an addicting drug on a nightly basis. Get off the Ambien, it leads to nothing good.
If depression and/or neurosis of other types is the "cause" of your insomnia, then treating the depression and/or neurosis is what you need; not a sleeping pill. You really need to find a qualified psychiatrist.
The pharmacy will make you wait 30 days. So have your doctor write your prescriptions out for 45 pills per refill. That way you have a 15-day window to get your next refill.
It has to track or the insurance won't process it---
If the RX says 1/day, that's 30/month. So, trying to write for 45 won't fly. Perhaps you could get the doc to say take 1 at bedtime as needed?
I was taking Ambien CR 12.5 mg, but found it was too strong. I got Ambien 10 mg, and break it in half, like another poster mentioned. You can then try to wean yourself off. I started with 10 mg, 5 mg every other night, for a few weeks, then just 5 mg every night, then 5 mg, 2.5 mg every other night (its hard to cut those pilss into 1/4, but doable), then going one night on, one night off, then increasing the time between pills.......then, if I'm having a bad night, I take the 10 mg for a one-time good night's sleep.
I take Ambien and it has been a Godsend...no more falling asleep when driving, being nasty to people, out of it during the day, or sleeping on my lunchbreak in my car because of my insomnia. Sleeping makes me a more pleasant, alert, and focused person in general, and having suffered from insomnia for over 20 years I wish I discovered the stuff sooner. Anyway, I go to a Dr. who knows my situation. She wrote me a script for 3 month @ 10 mg. I break them in 1/2 and take 5 mg on an empty stomach. Do not drink alcohol or it will actually counteract the Ambien. I'd like to be off the stuff personally, but Melatonin doesn't allow me to go into a very deep sleep and I actually don't sleep well even with higher dosages.
My PCP recently went to a conference on sleeplessness. She said that she found out that Melatonin does have to be taken nightly and build up in your system. It takes about 8 weeks to get to a therapeutic level.
Death isn't one of the potential side effects of Ambien. Perhaps your cousin was killed by overdose, or mixing it with something it isn't supposed to be mixed with, or taking it unprescribed for something other than the need to initiate sleep (recreational purposes).
Benadryl is great if your only problem is the inability to feel tired. But if you're already tired, and *cannot* sleep, even if you're tired, and drowsy, and in need ot sleep, but it just won't happen, then Benadryl isn't going to help. Neither will warm milk. And in fact, milk encourages mucous, and if you have trouble breathing when you're sleeping, can make your problems even worse.
Not to mention that drinking anything more than a few sips of something before bedtime is more likely to cause you to wake up in the middle of the night with a full bladder.
Certain meds for certain problems. No meds for other things. The OP says his sleeping problem is caused by depression. Neither Ambien, nor Benadryl, nor warm milk will treat depression. They are the -wrong- thing for his problem.
Absolutely incorrect. Lack of sleep contributes to depression. There is NOTHING wrong with taking medication for depression AND something to help you sleep. I found the perfect mix - Klonopin and Ambien together prescribed by my Dr. Thing is, I usually just opt for the Klonopin as I find it works better than the Ambien. BTW, no increase in dosage and I've been taking it for a long time.
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