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I don't take them together. And, as an FYI, my Dr. has written me for 7 more months of Ambien PLUS a giant quantity of Seroquel, so you'd really have to ask him why. I don't know.
Just as an aside, if you don't understand why you are taking a medication, I wouldn't put it in your mouth. If your doctor won't tell you why, find another doctor. If you don't ask why, start. Medications produce side effects. Mileage varies by person. Often the side effect is worth it if the medication fixes the problem it was prescribed for.
But when you are taking 5-6 medications for various things, it's time to start asking hard questions about which ones you really need, and if interactions between them couldn't be exacerbating the problems until you feel worse than you did before. It's at least worth a conversation and if you haven't already tried other therapies as an alternative (as someone suggested melatonin) then it might be worth a shot (under a doctor's supervision.) Some people absolutely need a lot of medications to stay alive and functioning, but the fewer you can exist on, the healthier you'll likely be overall.
Don't laugh at me for suggesting somthing simple, but what about taking melatonin? As long as you don't mind a few vivid dreams a night, it works pretty well and doesn't leave you feeling tired in the morning.
My dad takes Ambien and a bunch of other things, and his short-term memory is gone, hopefully just temporarily.
Thanks, I've done that. It does add a certain kick to the cocktail and my Dr did say to add six mgs of melatonin too. So I won't laugh at you at all as you are correct in your suggestion!
In my case, I don't know whether it's ADD (have been diagnosed) or just age or early onset of Alzheimers but I do forget a lot (Alzheimer's runs on both sides on my family. )
Thanks, I've done that. It does add a certain kick to the cocktail and my Dr did say to add six mgs of melatonin too. So I won't laugh at you at all as you are correct in your suggestion!
In my case, I don't know whether it's ADD (have been diagnosed) or just age or early onset of Alzheimers but I do forget a lot (Alzheimer's runs on both sides on my family. )
I'm not intending to be critical but man, all of those drugs are not going to help with your forgetfulness! and they will indeed compromise your overall health!!!
What in the world are these m.d.'s doing for gods sake.
"First, do no harm".
And just to add to that:
My father, at the age of 80, broke his femur bone and was hospitalized.
He was in a very respected hospital.
He was having dementia like symptoms.
Fortunately, my cousin is a fairly aware nurse.
She saw the list of the "cocktail" of drugs that these supposedly good m.d.'s had my dad on and flew across 2 states and challenged them.
They made some changes and his head cleared up and he was eventually fine.
Don't blindly assume that a doctor knows what he's doing just 'cause he as a degree.
Educate yourself and see another m.d. if necessary.
Just to clarify, this is not an M.D. I am seeing (well, he is an M.D. but a psychiatrist as well, thus well versed in these drugs). He is also very expensive and supposed to be the best in town, but I cannot afford $75 for a 15 minute phone call, hence my waiting until the 19th to spend $150 to talk to him in person for half an hour.
I think the idea was to shift me from the Ambien to the Seroquel for sleep. I'll admit, it does knock me out, but too much when I have to walk to use the bathroom. The Zonegran is to combat any potential weight gain from the Seroquel (if you know anything about Seroquel, you know it packs on the lbs). Regular doses of Seroquel go anywhere from 400 up to 1200 mgs per day for various conditions, yet I'm only taking 25, so as you can see, this is VERY low dose. Ironically, the lower the dose the better for sleep in cases like mine.
In a perfect world I would not need anything to sleep. But it's not a perfect world. It is good to know, from a previous poster, that Ambien doesn't work for everyone. It's also possible I just need more than the average Joe in terms of Ambien due to my very high tolerance level for sedating drugs.
Just as an aside, if you don't understand why you are taking a medication, I wouldn't put it in your mouth. If your doctor won't tell you why, find another doctor. If you don't ask why, start. Medications produce side effects. Mileage varies by person. Often the side effect is worth it if the medication fixes the problem it was prescribed for.
But when you are taking 5-6 medications for various things, it's time to start asking hard questions about which ones you really need, and if interactions between them couldn't be exacerbating the problems until you feel worse than you did before. It's at least worth a conversation and if you haven't already tried other therapies as an alternative (as someone suggested melatonin) then it might be worth a shot (under a doctor's supervision.) Some people absolutely need a lot of medications to stay alive and functioning, but the fewer you can exist on, the healthier you'll likely be overall.
I agree. But start with talking to a pharmacist. Many physicians know very little about drug interactions. They pretend they do, but actually med schools require little study on pharmacology in general, let alone interactions of specific drugs.
I was once hospitalized in a top university teaching hospital FOR A WEEK, as doctors with many different specialties poked and prodded me because of rather dire symptoms I was experiencing that led them to believe I had an exotic disease. When I showed some improvement, they released me without a diagnosis as they remained stumped. As I packed to leave, an intern came over and whispered that she thought I was having a reaction to a prescription medication I told them I was taking when I was admitted, but I hadn't used while hospitalized. She said she had suggested this to the teaching doctors, but they poo-pooed her idea. She suggested I stop at the pharmacy on the way home and discuss my experience. I did that immediately and guess what? The pharmacist immediately produced paperwork from the manufacturer, issuing a warning about the medication and telling doctors to take patients off it if they were experiencing my symptoms. Problem solved -- after I almost died and heaven knows how much money was spent addressing my "illness."
Sort of like how Zonegran is NOT prescribed, even off-label, to "combat any potential weight gain." Off-label, it -is- prescribed for obesity. But that isn't potential weight gain. That's actual obesity. On-label, it is a powerful anticonvulsant prescribed to people suffering from grand-mal epilepsy. Drowsiness is one of the most common side effects. As I said in previous posts, I think her doctors are giving her medications for things they're not telling her about. She's posted about taking antipsychotic meds, she's said she's been diagnosed with all kinds of mental illnesses, plus sleeping pills, and she's been adjusting the meds on her own, taking a little more of this, a little less of that...
Either she's lying, or she is being intentionally misled, or she is completely misunderstanding what she's being told. Regardless, no amount of advice from an online forum of strangers is going to be of any help to her at all, unless the advice is to discuss ALL of this with her doctor, and with a pharmacist, and hopefully with a responsible adult who doesn't take any of these medicines present to make sure she is understanding what she's being told.
Thank you, a normal response. I see my Dr. on the 19th and will ask him. Until then, I'll half the seroquel and continue with the Zonegran. I'll forget about the Ambien. And the Klonopin is something for Anxiety (although was prescribed at bedtime too and at three mgs per day and the standard dosage is 2 to 4 per day). I never exceed standard dosage and often don't even take one at night.
How many MG of Klonopin are you taking? You need to be very careful of benzos because you get addicted very quickly I mean a couple of weeks which causes additional anxiety. Your DR should probably take you off them if you have been on them more than a couple weeks. A Doctor is really more than just a pill dispenser.
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