I’ve struggled with insomnia on and off throughout my adult life, mostly relating to stress or loss. (Had a terrible time after my dad died, for example.) I’ve been very leery of prescription sleep aids, because of hearing that some people have problems with addiction or rebound insomnia.
There is an over-the-counter product called Percogesic (everyone asks, but no, I don’t mean Percocet) that has helped me. It’s marketed as a pain medication, and it is fantastic for menstrual cramps and tension headaches. It’s basically Tylenol plus a little bit of antihistamine. I discovered that when I take two of them, I fall fast asleep.
Dosing information on Percogesic allows you to take it every 4 hours, so I don’t worry about not being able to sleep long enough. And it’s not addictive.
I think it works for me because my problem is with falling asleep (not staying asleep) and that problem is because of anxiety/stress. The Percogesic relaxes me enough that I zonk out.
If your wife’s issues are different than mine, it may not work for her. But a couple of my friends have had success with it as well. Might be worth a shot.
I used to take Ambien several years ago. It worked great for me when used as directed, and there was no drowsiness the next morning even with less than 8 hours of sleep. However, you’ve got to be really careful about the habit forming part. At one point I started abusing it, taking multiple doses (sometimes with alcohol!) and deliberately staying awake to enjoy the hallucination. I realized it was a dangerous and stupid thing to do, however, and I gradually weaned myself off it. I don’t use any sleep medication now. I try to keep my insomnia under control by keeping to a regular schedule, and when that doesn’t work, well, I’ll just have to deal with it the next day.
Never had any crazy side effects from Ambien. The only thing I noticed was a slight metallic taste once or twice while taking it. Other than that, it worked pretty well. I only got 5-6 hours out of it though, even with the CR formula.
Lunesta seems to give me a better, more refreshing sleep. Again, I only get 5-6 hours but that’s better than nothing!
As others have said, take it right before bed. It’s not like I’d fall asleep in the bathroom or anything, but I was out shortly after my head hit the pillow. Oh, and if the fire alarm goes off, you do wake up. It’s not like you’re unconscious!
My experience with Ambien (or the generic thereof, rather):
[ul]
[li]for the first 1-2 weeks, I get crazy, vivid, all-night-long dreams. Which, oddly, both vanish from memory the instant I wake up, and seem to have no adverse effect on how well-rested I feel.[/li][li]If I take it continuously for more than about 2-3 months, it stops working.[/li][li]Before I’ve developed a tolerance, however, it takes about 10 minutes for it to affect me. I usually feel mildly stoned, rather than sleepy, but being stoned causes me to fall asleep quickly, if that makes sense. [/li][li]I wouldn’t recommended attempting to do anything other than sleep after taking it either, but because I get stoned rather than specifically sleepy, it is possible for me to continue to stay up for hours if I really wanted to. If I do that, though, I will not fall asleep that night, even after lying down.[/li][li]It does not, necessarily, keep me asleep after getting me asleep. Getting to sleep is usually the (bigger) problem, though, so this usually isn’t an issue for me.[/li][/ul]
I can’t speak in particular to how long one “should” stay asleep on Ambien/generic, because I can’t function on less than 8 hours (and preferably more) on a continuous basis anyway. I might pull it off at 7 a night for a couple nights in a row, but if I do even 5 days of that, I’ll need to basically sleep the entire weekend in order to catch up again (from recent experience… boy did that suck).
For those of you taking some form of Tylenol/acetaminophen to fall asleep: acetaminophen taken continuously over long periods of time can really fuck up your liver. High enough doses can cause liver failure. Liver failure, obviously, causes death. Proceed with caution.
Anyway, just wanted to add that I’ve never had issues with Ambien/generic being habit-forming, beyond building up a tolerance so it no longer worked (and I stopped taking it after that point, and things were no worse). I also have not, to my knowledge, experienced any sleepwalking side-effects, though I do live alone so maybe I am and am just not leaving evidence behind. I do usually wake up at somewhere around 3-5am and go to the bathroom (which I remember doing), which is not normally how I sleep when not medicated; without meds, once I fall asleep, I stay that way the entire night.
Xanax is a lot less safe than Ambien. They’re the same class of drug, but Xanax is a lot more addictive. To the point where many doctors I know won’t even prescribe it.
And the hallucinations are more like half-awake dreams, at least, for me. It’s like I halfway fall asleep, dream something happens, wake back up, and it takes me a bit to figure out that it isn’t real.
I don’t disagree that Xanax is less safe, but they’re not the same class of drug at all. Xanax is a benzodiazepine, Ambien is not, cite
Anyway, to the OP: I’ve taken Ambien, and it worked for me for a while, actually really well. I agree with everyone else that when Ambien works, it hits you like a ton of bricks in a very short time. I never even remembered closing my eyes most times, and suddenly it was morning, kaboom. I did some hangover in the mornings, but it was tolerable.
Unfortunately, many insomnia meds don’t work for some people, and I’m one of those people. A common pattern for us stubborn insomniacs is that meds will work for a moderate time before insomnia returns and something else must be tried. I went through this patten with Ambien, Lunesta, Rozerem, Sonata, three different antidepressants, and probably other things I’ve since forgotten. Finally my doctor had me try a low dose of Seroquel in the evening, plus a backup dose of Temazepam as needed (most days I don’t need it), and that did the trick and I sleep well almost every night.
Good luck! Insomnia sucks, and I hope you hit the right combination that gets you to sleep, using meds or something else, as soon as possible.
I tried Ambien, and it was like turning off a switch and then turning it on 8 or so hours later. My problem was that when I awoke, I was in the exact same state of mind as when I fell asleep. I didn’t exactly feel tired, but I didn’t exactly feel rested either. I talked with my doctor about it. My difficulty falling asleep issue was due to anxiety. She prescribed Desyrel (aka Trazadone). She told me it’s an old anti-anxiety drug with the annoying side effect that it makes most people sleepy. For me, it was perfect. It does not seem to me to be habit-forming. When I’m on vacation I don’t take it at all and I’m fine.
I’m one of those weirdos who gets jittery from the active ingredient in Benadryl. I take that and I can almost guarantee I’ll be awake for at least 4 hours. Fuzzy-headed and unable to concentrate, but unable to sleep either.
I think everyone will have differing experiences with sleep aids. Mine are:
Benadryl: Make me wacky, tachycardic and ended up in the ER thinking I was dying and/or having the worst. panic attack. ever. Doctor said benadryl does that to some people.
Ambien: Weird dreams and woke up feeling worse than I did on nights with not taking anything. Didn’t try it again.
Xanax: Works for me. I take 0.25 mg on bad nights (a very small dose) or 0.125 mg on most nights. Lets me “turn off” to be able to go to sleep. I am not worried about addiction or the side effects of withdrawal. I am on such a low dose no one really bats an eye. I don’t take it during the day, only at night if I need a little help getting in the “sleep zone”.
Most of the 'script hypnotics are benzodiazepines. Has she any experiences with these? They are not cute, cuddly drugs.
She might want to try good old valium for a relatively mild experience with a benzo.
Lunesta and Sonata are non-benzo, so they have that going for them.
Stay away from triazalom - as benzzo side-effects go, this one tops them all - its list includes death!
Go google “hypnotic drugs”.
Temazepam also works for me.
I strongly caution anyone from getting hooked on a drug for a function as fundamental as sleep - it is really scary that I need the permission of both a doc and a druggist just to sleep. (yep, for me: no pill, no sleep - I’ve tried). What really pisses me off is that the old, scary-but-OTC cocktail of vodka and Sominex gel caps no longer works.
Don’t be surprised if the first pill she tries doesn’t work - just have a doc who will go down the list with her.
Xanax is very bad news. You are so right! When I was in detox to get off alcohol in '02 there was a pharmacist in there coming off of Zanax. He told me it would take 3 weeks to wean him off of it because he worked up to a dose that he said would kill a horse. Bad Medicine!
As with anything else, Xanax and the like has its place. I used it every night for two years and had no addiction problems or problems discontinuing it. It knocked me out and kept me out, as needed. There’s no need for fear-mongering, but if there were, I’d be much more afraid of a medicine that makes some people drive and do things with no memory of it later than of a benzo taken once a day.
What it comes down to is that all these sleep aids are tools, and like most tools, they can hurt you if used in a careless or improper manner. That is, of course, why you’re supposed to be under the care of a doctor with a lot of them.
They can help some people a great deal. In other case they are not so good. So… consider your choices and choose wisely.
If you want to try another herbal option, this tranquil sleep stuff helps me a lot, when nothing else does. The dose is two tablets, but I can generally get to sleep with just one. Good luck; insomnia is a bitch.
If you have an iPhone, I have been using Andrew Johnson’s hypnosis apps. I didn’t start using them for sleep, but they zonk me right out. I often don’t remember the last half of the program and the sleep I get is some of the deepest I’ve ever had. I think he has one specifically for sleep. At $2.99, it might be worth trying. These things have mildly changed my life, and I can’t say enough good things about them.
On the herbal front, Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea has an extremely strong effect on me. Way more than melatonin. I can’t drink this stuff in the daytime because it will make me sleep.
I also second staying away from Xanax. It’s one of the most addictive drugs out there, even small amounts can lead to physical addiction quite quickly. The withdrawal process is a full-on drug withdrawal along the lines of a hardcore alcoholic. I have several friends who taken Xanax for panic disorders, and all of them report that the tapering off period (and you must taper off, since even clinical doses can be physically dangerous to go off of cold turkey) was one of the more difficult times in their life.
Sure, that may not happen to you, but why risk it if there is another way?
Ambien put me right out. However, I found that I would wake up with a “drug hangover.” I was groggy and tired for much of the morning. I also believe it was giving me headaches (they stopped when I stopped taking it.)
I do usually wake up at somewhere around 3-5am and go to the bathroom (which I remember doing), which is not normally how I sleep when not medicated; without meds, once I fall asleep, I stay that way the entire night.