Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness > Mental Health
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-11-2011, 12:51 PM
 
77 posts, read 131,599 times
Reputation: 59

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick View Post
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.
Just a warning - there have been blind studies done on anti-depressants. The results were those taking the placebo had the same or similar affect as the AD. Many anti-anxiety, ADs start as other drugs. They're ineffective for that which they were originally designed and turned into a treatment for something else.

Don't you all rag on me about this. It's the truth about pharmaceuticals...

So, if you're talking about treating the symptoms without pills, I'm in agreement with you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-11-2011, 02:25 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,677,110 times
Reputation: 20198
No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, that he is claiming to be treating a sleeping disorder, which he -claims- is caused by depression. Instead of actually treating the depression, which would (following that logic) make the sleeping disorder go away.

WHATEVER he does to treat depression, IF it is causing his sleep disorder - whether that be medication, or meditation, or thinking happy thoughts, or drinking more water, or getting exercise, or having sex - WHATEVER it is he needs to do, to combat his depression, will make his sleep problem go away. IF his sleep problem is caused by depression.

It's like - if your feet are always hurting, and you are wearing craptastically cheap horrible illfitting shoes. You take pain medicine to cure the pain in your feet, instead of just getting better shoes and not having pain in the first place.

Compare "taking meds for a sleep disorder when depression is causing the sleep disorder" to "taking meds for foot pain when it's bad shoes causing the pain."

Also, I don't know what blind studies you're talking about. You'll have to cite them. The only studies I know of are the ones that are pretty clear: SOME people don't respond to anti-depressants. That doesn't mean that anti-depressants are no better than placebo. It means SOME people don't respond to them. And SOME people will not respond to one, but respond to another. And SOME people respond well to one, not at all to a second, and badly to a third.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-11-2011, 06:00 PM
 
Location: NJ
23,821 posts, read 33,339,182 times
Reputation: 30677
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick View Post
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.
Its the insurance that makes you wait 30 days not the pharmacy. He can fill it out of pocket if he really needs it.

Let me rephrase- depending on what drug it is- you may be able to fill it out of pocket early by paying 100%
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-11-2011, 08:46 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,677,110 times
Reputation: 20198
True, I misspoke (in a writing kinda way ). The pharmacy abides by the insurance company's mandate, if you use your insurance when you buy the meds.

There definitely -is- a limit to how much the pharmacy will allow you to get during a window of time though, for Ambien and similarly-classed drugs. I don't recall the amount but it's something like, you can get up to 100 at a time, up to three times per year, giving you a total of 300 pills per year. Even if your doctor prescribes 150 per refill with 3 refills, the pharmacy won't be able to fill it and would probably get in touch with your doctor to check on the prescription and his instructions.

So in other words, no matter what the doctor prescribes, the pharmacy still has to limit the meds to whatever its class allows.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-12-2011, 11:55 AM
 
Location: NJ
23,821 posts, read 33,339,182 times
Reputation: 30677
I've filled my Lunesta at day 25 or 26 & my insurance allowed it; same with hubs Ambien - I haven't tried any earlier then that though
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-12-2011, 12:06 PM
 
Location: nc
1,243 posts, read 2,804,472 times
Reputation: 326
I tell you what knocks me out, ativan/lorezapam. If your going 4 something natural, I think they say lavender scents are good. Do you read before you go to bed? That can help.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-12-2011, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Owasso, OK
1,224 posts, read 3,990,948 times
Reputation: 1147
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertpasa View Post
I have to use Ambien every night to sleep, 5mg. Occasionally I have to use a little more. I've tried to wean myself off it, but I couldn't. I also tried Vicks or Excedrin PM but they didn't help.

I've tried two doctors but they would only prescribe enough for 30 days. But since I sometimes have to use more, there is a gap, and I can only get one refill every 30 days. I wonder what else I can do, apart from asking different doctors if they can prescribe more.

I had one idea: Valium, which I've never used before. Is it possible that would help?
Stop taking Ambien. It killed my cousin.

Try 2 Benadryl and wash it down with some warm milk. Stay off the computer and turn off the TV an hour before you would like to go to bed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-12-2011, 07:01 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,677,110 times
Reputation: 20198
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-12-2011, 07:19 PM
 
5,546 posts, read 9,975,273 times
Reputation: 2799
I'm not a Dr. but I am an insomniac. Here is what I have done. First, I found a Dr. who wasn't so conservative. I also take 6 mgs of Melatonin a couple hours before bed. Ambien should be taken on an empty stomach. At times I'll take a Klonopin with it (and yes, it has been prescribed this way in the past) for added effect. Two Drs have told me to add Melatonin to the mix.

Other options that have worked well for some are Trazadone (which is also an anti-depressant) and Seroquel (at very small doses and is an antipsychotic but unless you see a shrink I think you'd be hard pressed to find any PCP would give you this). I've taken the Seroquel and it's almost a bit too much, so I'll stick with the Ambien and Klonopin.

I am armed with an arsenal to sleep and it's much more harmful to not get sleep than to take safely prescribed drugs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-13-2011, 06:09 AM
 
5,546 posts, read 9,975,273 times
Reputation: 2799
Oh, and I'll also chime in about the depression thing. Often insomnia is caused by depression or the two go hand in hand, so it's important to get treatment for the depression too. In many years of dealing with this myself, I have always been prescribed something to sleep in addition to whatever depression drug. Some of these drugs are actually meant to energize so it makes sense some sort of sleep aid would be prescribed in conjunction.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness > Mental Health
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:52 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top