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Xanax is what I take to fly, and I get them very sparingly from my doctor. Most doctors don't like to see someone on them for long periods of time because they are every bit as habit forming as a sleeping pill. That being said, I do believe in moderation, I took xanax during my divorce and it was my saving grace, and as I said I could not step foot on an airplane without one!
Okay, smartie pants, I use a pill cutter too! But, to get precisely 3mg when the pills offered are 5 or 10mg is where the "wonder" about how to get "3" comes from... I take the generic now & they do NOT easily split from 10 to 5 - I'd NEVER get them smaller without destroying them...
Ok, I use two different pill cutters, one from Walmart which I use to cut the 10mg in half, then I use one from the dollar store which I use the cut the half in half, it works great. Maybe you need a new pill cutter, I also use the generic also and don't have a problem.
Really? I noticed a difference the first time I took one, groogy the next day and I never experienced that before. I cut mine in half with a small knife, works every time.
Since moving to the generics I've had to use a pill cutter rather than just splitting on the manufacturers scoring.
I have a darn good pill cutter, but I think it may be the generics - they crumble around the cut - no matter what I try - splitting them again or using a knife just would not do at all!
Also, while the active ingredient is the same in both, there MUST be some significant difference in the fillers. I am having a significant change in reaction to the generics over the brand name.
As for Xanax, it is so highly addictive that a responsible doctor just is not going to prescribe it for chronic sleep problems nor for long-term use except under extreme circumstances. I have family who go to a quack - he gives them whatever they ask for in large quantities, which they often proceed to sell. I have a serious anxiety disorder & still find it problematic to find a physician who will prescribe Xanax just until I can begin to overcome the anxiety.
Since moving to the generics I've had to use a pill cutter rather than just splitting on the manufacturers scoring.
I have a darn good pill cutter, but I think it may be the generics - they crumble around the cut - no matter what I try - splitting them again or using a knife just would not do at all!
Also, while the active ingredient is the same in both, there MUST be some significant difference in the fillers. I am having a significant change in reaction to the generics over the brand name.
As for Xanax, it is so highly addictive that a responsible doctor just is not going to prescribe it for chronic sleep problems nor for long-term use except under extreme circumstances. I have family who go to a quack - he gives them whatever they ask for in large quantities, which they often proceed to sell. I have a serious anxiety disorder & still find it problematic to find a physician who will prescribe Xanax just until I can begin to overcome the anxiety.
More later.... BB8 for now...
In your original question you asked about sleep amnesia do you experience that from the Ambien?
I just started with the generic and I don't like it as much as I did the "real" thing. I feel kinda hung over in the morning, need to take more of it on my sleepless nights, and my memory is getting worse...........but that could be my age, or not.
I once had the real thing, and then I was given generic. It didn't seem to work as well for me either and still doesn't.
Those small round ones don't cut easily so I cut them in half and then break them. I get a different dosage whenever I take one. Trying to get off them. I sleep so much better when they are out of my system, but I end up taking them when I have company and get too wired to sleep, and then I get hooked again.
I had 10mg Ambien prescribed to me years ago. It didn't seem to work. The stupid doctor I saw thought I was becomming addicted so he reduced my prescription to 5mg, even though I told him it wasn't helping me sleep. There aren't any prescription sleep aids that help me when I can't sleep. Alcohol or Lortab seem to help. But fortunately, I rarely need assistance in falling asleep.
I've never heard of the Ambien/amnesia connection. Thanks for the info.
All that glitters is not GOLD! Ambien & medicines like it certainly can be glittery, can't they?
I have been on & off of sleep aids for at least 4 years - since all my health, disability issues started. I'm the sort of person who never took even "Tylenol" unless desperate. I've never used any sort of illegal drugs - not even once - ever!
I have access to a supply of pain meds because of my health issues but have always been very conservative in their use. But, when you have all sorts of health issues sometimes we make what we think to be "slight" compromises in our stand on things.
I suppose, having help sleeping in the midst of the rest of the madness of my world has been my compromise. Until now.
I had sort of just "written off" the strange & concerning side effects I've experienced from Ambien, calling it the price I have to pay because there isn't any other way right now.
I have hallucinated - seeing the walls ripple, my monitor move in waves like psychedelic colours swirling in rainbow colours as I've pushed my hand through the monitor to the other side... I've said & done things after taking it that I cannot remotely recollect ever again... in the early days I drove after taking it & never remember leaving the house (thank god I never hurt myself or anyone else) - after realizing I did that I would hide my keys from myself so that I couldn't / wouldn't go anywhere... I've fallen asleep like a drunk on the toilet... I've called people & places after taking it & said things that apparently were very funny... I've been dizzy - almost drunk... I've felt all sorts of crazy side effects.
These symptoms, I discovered for myself, were largely from the 10 mg dose. The 5 mg ceased to work well for me - in my mind - in reality it really just didn't "knock me out" the way I suppose I wanted it to. I have a mind that never sleeps - I even dream about deep things. 10 mg of Ambien helps quiet my mind - 5 mg still requires effort on my part to "GO TO SLEEP" & "SHUT DOWN THE THINKING". Work I have felt unable to perform.
I've been having very undesirable effects from the generic - I feel hung over all day long & one night recall taking additional pills in my 1/2 sleep... I was on the phone, late at night & couldn't fall to sleep... I had taken 10mg generic already & wasn't "passing out".... So, I had to have gotten up at least twice to take more - how much total, I have no idea. Given that I have one of the lowest possible resting heart rates, it's feasible that I may have never woke from my sleep.
The generic doesn't seem to work. I went to my doctor & asked for him to get me an override to dispense the brand name rather than the generic. After doing so & waking up one morning with a serious hang-over, I had a lightbulb moment:
I just can't live like this anymore. I don't know what addiction feels like but this is as close to it as I want to come & I am done. Done. Done. Done.
In most areas of our lives we tend to justify our actions in one way or another. My life has been tough & I'd be hardpressed to find anyone who would find fault in my use of Ambien or anything else for that matter. I don't know that it's a matter of "fault" or not & it really doesn't matter.
I know that I have been justifying my life for the last good many months - justifying it in my own mind - because it just isn't fitting my picture of acceptable. I do have terrible sleep trouble. I do have severe pain. I do have several health issues. But... I just can't & won't let those things control me any longer.
The truth is that fear is our greatest enemy - our only one really. It is the thing that keeps nation from understanding nation... neighbor from knowing neighbor... & religion from understanding/accepting religion... etc.
It is also the thing that stops us from daring to face that great unknown head on. That fear produces anxiety & that anxiety keeps us from sleeping - in this case.
I have gone 3 nights now without any sleep aid & I am still alive & doing better than I had been while taking them. It's not easy all the time. It's not easy most of the time. But, I have taken control back. My life is my own & I don't need an easy pill (although taking meds for things like this hardly seems like the "easy" way when I was caught up in doing it).
Our thinking, even about things like "I can't sleep without it" controls "who we become". We get to be in control of our own thinking - whether we like to think of ourselves as holding that great of a responsibility or not. It is not better to believe that someone or something else is responsible - because it takes our personal power away & hands it to an external source that we absolutely have no control over. My life is my own & I'll be dayumed if I give up this easy.
This is just the beginning...
Viva la Revolución (Evelución)!!!
Peace to all of you...
(this is my 50 cents on my journey)
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Ambien NIGHTMARE!!!
