The Ambien experiences thread

[Patiod]

I'm living with my 86-yo dad (he's too frail to live alone), makes a lot of noise at night with his walker.

Worst of all are the Pet Wars - we're consolidating households, so his dog barks randomly in the middle of the night because he wants to find out what my cat is doing and the cat spends much of the night running back and forth across my head, then going to see what the dog is doing, pushing the door open (broken latch) and leaving in the brilliant light from my insomniac Dad's room (he can't sleep if his door is closed).

I haven't slept more than 2 hours in the past few nights (plus work is stressful)

My dad gave me 1/2 of one of his Ambien last night at 10:30, and slept through the night until 7:00 for the first time since the cat moved in.

My SO says that he came in to ask me something, I did a "talk to the hand" motion, looked right at him, and said "do NOT wake me up". He says the cat ran back and forth over my stomach, and I didn't seem to even notice.

I remember nothing.

I'm very refreshed physically, but feel a little stupid today. Not sure if it's the Ambien, the cumulative lack of sleep, my brain being drained by work, or all three.

Anyone here have any Ambien experience? Does it make you feel a little stupid the next day? Do you do stuff in your sleep? My colleagues use it for transcontinental flights, but what if you start talking to flight crew or other passengers in your sleep?

[mdmc]

1. I love ambien

I once walked in my sleep but other then that I had no side effects..

[Skittles]

25. dup

[davsand]

2. Seems to work great for some people, but it made me hallucinate.

First night I took it I slept great. Second night was good sleep, except the next morning I started to have panic attacks and hallucinating. I was a fairly chemical person in my younger days, and I will tell you that I've never seen a hallucinogen that could match what that stuff did to me.

Took several days for it to wash out of my system too...



Laura

[Patiod]

4. Wow - thanks, Laura

Will keep that in mind.

I used it last night because I started to see a cycle beginning, and thought it might help break the cycle and get me back into a healthier pattern.

Based on how I feel at work today handling a complicated report, I'll probably reserve it for last-ditch use only. And get the door fixed, re-situate the cat, and ask my dad to try to keep it down.

[hippywife]

27. If it's one of those old aluminum walkers

and the noise is from it skidding across the floor, cut an X in a few tennis balls and attach onto the legs of the walker. That's what we do around the old folks home. :hi:

[Patiod]

30. Oh, way ahead of you, and he took them off!

Put the tennis balls on there several months ago, and within a few days, they were gone - he said they "wore out" and he didn't like how they worked in the ONE room in the house that's carpeted.

I told him I have an inexhaustable supply of tennis balls from 6 years in a tennis group, but forget it - he has decided they're not for him, so we're stuck with the ungodly noise.

A little OT: when we first brought the cat over, she would run and hide under the bed whenever he approached - I felt bad - his feelings were really hurt.

My SO said "it's like in the movie 'Cloverfield' when that giant alien is destroying New York. That's what the cat sees - a giant alien with all these tubes coming out of him, clanking aluminum support poles, with his oxygen and walker making strange noise plus the sound of him whistling. She basically sees the monster from 'Cloverfield'. " (The poor guy whistles to get through the pain of walking). What's nice is that I gave him a shoelace and a cat-brush, and now they are best friends, and she comes in most mornings to have a String Fight and a nice brushing.

But she's still afraid of the walker.....

[hippywife]

31. Sorry about that.

The only other option, and this won't help the cat, is to find him one of those with wheels and a seat. You can probably find a used one pretty easily.

And I was going to get back to you on the Ambien thing, too. The person I know who is taking them said he's built up a tolerance and now they don't work hardly at all. He's not sleep walking...he's just not sleeping.

Good luck. :hi:

[Haole Girl]

3. I hate that shit

Not only does it make me moody, I left work a 1/2 hour too early the day after taking one last month. It's great for sleeping, but not so great for the rest. :-(

[Patiod]

5. Did it make you feel stupid, or just moody

My baseline is somewhat cranky, so it's hard to tell if it's affecting my mood.

I can't tell if the stupid coming from the cumulative sleep deficit or the Ambian.

[Haole Girl]

6. I've taken it twice

First time, almost adopted four cats that were about to be euthanized. That counts as stupid-- since we have two very wild (and not de-clawed) felines already, who don't even get along with each other! Luckily, for all of us in my household, the cats were already adopted before I got to the shelter.

Second time, I was also moody and stupid. If I left work .5 of an hour early (which I got written-up for) God only knows what else I did that day. :-( I can't be stupid in my job (can anyone?). I'd do better on NO sleep than how that stuff interacted with my mind. Oh, and, after reading about the hallucinations up thread, I remembered it made the ceiling fan look like it was moving as I fell asleep. Personally, I don't feel it's worth it. Though I envy people who don't have bad side-effects... because it sure put me to sleep!


On edit: Both of these incidents occurred the day after taking it, of course.

[tinymontgomery]

7. Not to make lite

but your paragraph about the cat and dog is really funny. We have one cat (old and cranky) and a dog that still thinks she is a pup. They act just like that, what one is doing what, who has the best spot on the couch, who is getting petted more.

[Schema Thing]

8. does it make you horny?

I ask because I have a long distance friend who sometimes text or e-mails me late at night a note about what she wants to do to me sexually, and then blames it on Ambien the next day.

Not that I'm complaining, but I'd never heard anyone call Ambien an aphrodisiac.

[Schema Thing]

9. meant to post that under the topic thread, btw

[Patiod]

12. Oh god, please tell me this isn't going to continue

for the rest of their lives. Your description fits our situation exactly, especially who is getting petted or spoken-to more.

They're both old, set in their ways, and used to being the Only Pet.

The dachshund now cries whenever anyone says anything to the cat. He gets especially upset when the it's time for the cat food to be delivered to the bedroom (where we originally put her to get acclimated), and he attempts to follow us upstairs so he can monitor.

The cat now watches furiously, tail twitching, whenever the dachshund is fed, or given water, or petted or spoken to. I caught her sitting on a chair next to the kitchen doorway, looking EXACTLY like a tiger on a tree limb waiting to jump on the back of whatever passes underneath. She has already slugged him twice (I give her credit for not using her claws, clipped though they may be).

They spend way too much time simply glaring at one another (well, he looks sort of interested - she is definitely glaring)

Why did I figure this would go away and they'd just get used to having each other around. All we want is Pet Detente.

[msanthrope]

10. Let me tell you about why I will never take Ambien again--

took it, and the first time was fine. Got up, went to work. Second time I took a pill, I was up 5 hours later, walking in my sleep and raving.

Husband could not wake me up, although I was walking, talking, swearing--then I peed myself and he had to throw me in the shower. Then he took me to the emergency room. The dr. on call said this was not an uncommon reaction.

I remember nothing of that day.

[Drunken Irishman]

11. I took an Ambien on a cruise and nothing happened.

I had even been drinking.

I was majorly bummed.

[SCantiGOP]

13. there are chat rooms about this

You can find them through Google. Reading them is why I never took the samples a Doctor gave me several years ago. One woman said she got up to find that someone had vandalized her kitchen: the refrigerator had been cleaned out and food thrown everywhere around the kitchen, including on the ceiling. She ran in to wake her husband and found him sound asleep but covered with food. He didn't remember a thing about his midnight rampage.

[SoxFan]

14. Sleep Paralysis

The first time I took Ambien, I had a creepy case of sleep paralysis the next morning. Only happened that one time.

[Demoiselle]

15. I've taken Ambien many many times and I've had no bad side effects.

Five milligrams is enough for me for a good night. No side effects at all. I sleep soundly, wake up feeling good and not groggy.
I haven't noticed any more stupidity than my usual daily quota of stupid either.

[caitxrawks]

16. LMAO

I've been taking Ambien for almost a year now.

I've fallen asleep sitting up lots of times. My husband says I snore louder when I take it. I also have sleep apnea, so I use a CPAP.

S
E
X
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
!!!!

Right?

=)

[FedUpWithIt All]

17. I took it once and hallucinated. I saw little 2 inch men repelling down my TV.

I wasn't at all bothered by this occurrence until my friend, who i happened to be talking to over the phone, informed me that seeing two inch men was not normal.

:crazy:

[LynneSin]

18. While on Ambien, I decided to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night

Only problem - the opening to my stairwell is right before the door opening for the bathroom.

Then I walked to the hospital (this is 3 in the morning). Fortunately the hospital is about 3 blocks away, but probably not the best thing to do in my neighborhood and while on Ambien. I think it was sometime during the walk to the hospital I started realizing what had happened. I just remember going there with a hodge-podge of mis-matched clothing on and with my jammie bottoms. And I used a long umbrella as a walking cane. Mind you I fell down a flight of steps and I have vague memories of what happened but I can't tell you the complete story because I don't really remember. But I do remember the pain.

What's worse - the hospital refused to give me pain killers. Not sure if it was because I was on Ambien or because most the people who show up at the emergency room at 3am in the morning are drunks & junkies from a nearby neighborhood. (and I been more lucid, I would have gone to a different hospital about 8 blocks away).

What I do know is if you take the stuff, make sure you are ready to go to bed. Don't take Ambien then decide to read or do stuff around the house. Take the stuff and a glass of water and then crawl into bed and go to sleep.

BTW, I got a letter from the state a few weeks later confirm that my fall down the steps was not due to an act of domestic violence.

[Patiod]

19. An amazing story - LynneSin zombie-walking Wilmington

Almost makes me glad I have two insomniacs around to keep an eye on me.

I just wish the pets weren't such Destroyers of Sleep

[LynneSin]

21. Why not give the pets the Ambien?

:hide:

[Mopar151]

20. They ain't foolin about 8 hours

I took it 5 hours before the alarm, came out of the coma state 30 miles from home - fortunately, on the right route to work, in the correct lane, driving the speed limit. What happened before that? I dunno, me.
Take it very rarely now, only when there's someone around to watch me.

[Patiod]

23. That's scary. Where you in pajamas or work clothes?

I actually was more conservative about the time, and went for 9 just in case.

Fortunately, I have two insomniacs in the house, and my SO is used to listening for my dad (in case he falls or knocks something over).

Given the stories here, I no longer think I'd take it when I'm travelling.

[abbeyco]

22. My brother nearly killed himself sleep-walking

He made it out of the house in PJs and barefeet in -15 weather. He was trying to set up a lawnchair in the yard (with about 4-5 inches of snow on the ground) and his SO had not wakened for about 30 minutes of his adventure. She woke to the cold draft in the house and went to find him. On the way back into the house, he walked through a plate glass sliding door and about severed his femoral artery with a glass shard. He didn't remember anything except for the paramedics loading him into the ambulance.

He returned the remainder of his 30 day prescription the next day - and he'd been on it for 7-10 days.

[Patiod]

24. I wonder if it's a function of length of use

maybe using it a day here or a day there is OK, but consecutive nights screw you up.

That's a very scary story

[Skittles]

26. I fed my cats

Poured out a huge bag of cat food that completely covered their bowl and was about a foot high - I'm sure they loved it but poor me; I woke up and was like, W.T.F.

[hippywife]

28. I know someone who takes it every night

and has for several months, maybe even a year, without any problems. I take it once in a great while when I haven't slept well for several nights. Never any weird reactions, either.

I guess it's one of those things you have to try to be sure how it will effect you personally. Everyone is different.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

29. I had violent dreams -- "violent" in that I was being killed.

I've probably taken it a dozen times. I rarely felt clear the next day; was fuzzy and in need of a power nap. A former co-worker dreamt that someone was stabbing her in the neck. A friend said she hallucinated. I won't touch the stuff again! If I need a little help, I take an OTC Simply Sleep.

Good luck getting everyone in the house "situated"!

[NV Whino]

32. Stay away from that stuff if you can

And under no circumstances take it without a prescription. During my recent incarceration in a nursing home, I took one and hated it and said "no more." I was then later given one on two separate occasions without my knowledge (mixed in with other pills) or permission. Nearly killed myself getting up in the night to go to the bathroom and stumbling around incoherently. Couldn't wake up the next day. Nasty stuff. Read about possible side effects. You won't like them.