wow...this ambien works like a charm...

[mark414]

been having sleeping problems lately so got a small prescription...popped one down about 20 minutes and DAMN i can just feel it kicking in...

whoa...time to go to sleep...better hurry so i can make it to brush my teeth and back...

[shawcomm]

1. You brush your back?

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. Actually, it looks like

He brushes his teeth and his back. A hairy back that needs brushing? Ick!

[LeftyMom]

3. Hopefully with two different brushes. eom

[TahitiNut]

4. I used to brush my dog's teeth and back.

:shrug: (Not with the same brush, though.)

[Not_Giving_Up]

6. Notice that he hasn't come back yet

I hope he uses two different brushes!

[mark414]

9. HA

whoops...

what i MEANT to say, was, i hope i can make it to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then make it BACK to my room before i get too tired

haha

[tuvor]

5. Hey, the same drug endorsed by bush and co!

November 13, 2003:

Powell described his killer schedule in an interview Thursday with Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, a reporter for a London-based Saudi newspaper.

"So do you use sleeping tablets to organize yourself?" Al-Rashed asked.

"Yes. Well, I wouldn't call them that," Powell said. "They're a wonderful medication -- not medication. How would you call it? They're called Ambien, which is very good. You don't use Ambien? Everybody here uses Ambien."

Careful, I hear it's got some really nasty side effects.

[punpirate]

8. One of which is, with steady use...

... delusions. Explains this administration's actions to perfection. :P

[davsand]

10. I'll vouch for the side effects.

Been there, done that, and I sure as hell didn't want the T-shirt to prove it...

Ambian sent me off the deep end within three days. Wave after wave of panic attack, crying jags, hallucinations... Up to the point the bad stuff started, it was great--I got sleep and felt great the next day.

I used to (years ago) pay for acid that was not that good. Had I not had the experience of hallucinogenic drugs messing with perception, I'm not sure I'd have stayed sane until that stuff cleared my system. My doc was floored that I'd had that kind of reaction to "just a sleeping tablet."

Since then I have done some reading and I am not the only person to have that kind of response to the drug. It is more common than you might think.

I am not saying it is a bad drug, nor am I saying it should be taken off the market. What I AM saying, however, is that if you take that stuff, make sure you tell the people around you so they can keep an eye on you if you have a reaction to it.

One other thing I have also discovered about it (from research--I threw my scrip OUT) is that you need to take it when you go to bed. If you take it and it kicks in and you are still awake and running around, it can lead to amnesia. (I'm talking black out kind of stuff where you wake up in the police station, the hospital or divorce court!)

Treat this stuff with respect!



Laura

[mark414]

11. whoa damn

well i only have a week's worth of pills, just to try to reset my natural body clock

for the last month or so i've been up til anywhere from 2-5 am, and i'm always up just as late the next night as well

so this is just real temporary...it's been working great so far, nothing that i've noticed...thanks for the tips/warnings though

[davsand]

13. Avoid Caffeine as much as you can.

There is a connection to caffeine and the panic attacks.

I'm trying to remember the actual mechanism Ambian works on--I want to say it is one of the neurotransmitters--anyhow... For some reason when you are finally metabolizing the last of the dose out of your system you are most prone to the panic attacks especially if you have been consuming caffeine.

Good luck on your sleep issues. My insomnia was of a different origin, but it did finally turn around with time. I still take an occasional 2 mg Valium if I'm having a bad night, but even that is not too often.

One thing I might suggest is exercise. I think that more than anything else I was able to sleep if my butt was just dragging due to physical exhaustion. Take that long hike if you can... go running or rock climbing (or mall crawling if you are not a physical person usually!)

When your scrip ends, you may want to do the exercise thing-- because one thing about coming off sleep aids--it can leave you with insomnia!

Good luck!


Laura

[mark414]

16. quick question also

did you ever find yourself waking up before your alarm went off in the morning?

i've only taken it 3 times so far, and every morning i've woken up about an hour before my alarm's gone off...and that never happens...

[davsand]

19. Its amazing how rested you are--eh?

I did have that happen when I was on it. I'd been running seriously short of sleep for a month (at least!) before I gave in and went to the doc for help. I was in such bad shape that I'd literally fall asleep in the middle of a conversation. Business meetings were an absolute hell for me...

The first night I took it, I woke up about an hour before the alarm went off--and that was after all that time of NOT sleeping. I think (dunno for sure here--so don't take this as absolute truth--OK?) that part of the reason you wake up early is that it finally wears off at just about that time.

One of the things they market about this drug is that it metabolizes so very quickly. That is seen as a good thing in a sleeping tablet because it cuts down on the "fuzzy headed" feeling the morning after. It can also have other impacts on your system that they DON'T talk about, (especially if you are sensitive to it) but it isn't supposed to leave you feeling mentally cloudy the morning after.

Remember the old catch phrase for Tylenol PM--"Awake with the sun, feeling refreshed..."?? That was the same type of marketing thing at work.

If you want to learn more about Ambian (and a lot of other drugs) there is a website out there that is patients' reviews of various drugs. I'll look for it and get it posted here, if you'd like. It is a wealth of information.


Laura

[mark414]

20. see that was the weird thing about me

i'd get 2 hours of sleep one night and still be up till 3 am the next...i was just never tired; not during the day, not at night, not ever...damn that was the most frustrating thing ever

[Swamp Rat]

7. If you make it back...

Did you brush your back with the tooth brush or did you use another type of brush? :)

[mark414]

12. heh

see above

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2673237#2674206

[NoSheep]

15. Take 1/2 after you get in bed. A 1/2 usually will do it and it makes them

last longer. Only use them on the nites you really feel you need them. I have had no trouble with them-but Don't walk around after you take one.

[underpants]

14. Be careful

I know someone whose life it ruined. Recently arrested busting into a neighbors house to steal checks (the shortest summary of a LONG story ever).

Seriously be careful.

[HeyManThatsCool]

21. I also know someone whose life has been DESTROYED by Ambien

Left her house during an ambien daze to drive to her childhood home some 500 miles away. She got about 3 miles before she slammed her car into some other persons car. She was arrested, sued, charged with DUI, spent time in jail, had to declare bankruptcy, house in foreclosure.

All because she wanted a nights sleep and her doctor said, here try this.

[Wapsie B]

17. It's only meant to be for once in awhile usage.

But I've seen geriatric patients who use it everyday.
Can't believe docs would write scripts like that.

[Redstone]

18. Ambien is very useful for Chronic Pain people

as a backstop, so to speak; if you have some around and you're having a really bad evening of pain, you know you can just shut everyting off for eight hours or so.

If you don't use it every day for a long time, there's no downside (in my opinion); the only thing I find a bit annoying is that, in the morning, I don't remember the last 20 minutes or so of what I'd been reading the night before while waiting to sleep.

Redstone

[miss_kitty]

22. I like Marinol for sleep

synthetic THC. Not addictive. Very gentle.
Be careful with that Ambien. Colin Powell was taking it, and look at all the trouble and lying and shit he got into, hanging out with the wrong crowd and all. It clearly affects judgment.

[Bouncy Ball]

23. Brushing my teeth makes my nose run.

I told my friend that and she thought about it and said "I think you're doing it wrong."

LMAO.