i am on 50mg of Pamelor which is an anti-depressant. its a low dosage and is used to prevent chronic migraines rather than depression. i’ve been having trouble sleeping lately and want to take an Ambien tonight. would the combination cause any weird problem for me?
Chosen Answer:
It shouldn’t just take one ambien, and it shouldn’t effect you in any negative way, i am on anti depressants, and was on ambien and it didn’t do anything bad.
by:
on: 12th March 11
My counsoler suggested I try to try to get off of ambien that I take every night to sleep. I wanted to know if anyone might know how long it might take for me to wean myself off, I have been taking it for over a year.
Chosen Answer:
I’ve been taking Ambien for years, and haven’t found a way to get off it sucessfully. I did have a horrible time getting off of Effexor (it felt like what it would be like to detox off of crack). The only thing that enabled me to survive was a natural supplement I bought at Whole Foods. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was a small blue vial and there were a lot of them together and each one was a remedy for some sort of ailment. The one I got was for nasua (my main compaint) and for some reason it minimized all of my other symptoms. I’m not sure this one would work for you, but I’m sure they have something for sleeping issues or whatever it is when you go off Ambien. I’ve just decided to embrace my life on Ambien and I’m now blogging about it.
Trust me…I’ve been on Ambien for years. I’ve given up trying to fight it…I just embrace it! I’ve even written a blog about my ambien adventures. (It’s called “Ambien Nights”)
Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing.
by: Ambien Girl
on: 16th August 09
I’m suffering from chronic insomnia and feel extremely tired during the day and a lack of energy. It has been like this for me for many years now and has taken a huge toll on my career and private life. I’m currently in a relationship I care very much about, but it seems to break apart as well. I have already tried all kinds of prescription medications for sleep, but do not want to take them anymore. Is there may be a herbal supplement or another method that could help?
Chosen Answer:
My mother suffered from chronic insomnia from ages 9-60. Two hours of sleep was a GOOD night. Many nights, no sleep. She ached of tiredness. Finally , at the age of 60 she found the right doctor through a sleep clinic. He taught her that she needed to train her brain with a “circadian rhythm.” You’ll have to figure out how many hours of sleep you require, and what hours you want to sleep, according to your work, etc. We’ll pretend that you want 8 hours of sleep from 11pm-7am. First you buy an alarm clock that has a loud alarm (they make those.) You set it across the room and set it for 7am. When it rings you jump out of bed, turn it off, and you don’t return to your bed until 11pm. The bed is only for sleep and sex. I don’t care how sleepy you are. Jump in the shower if that’s best , have a cup of coffee, just don’t get back in bed. That night go to sleep at 11pm. Get up when the alarm rings at 7. Your brain will get used to it. There’s more. The doctor put my mother on 200 mgs. of Elavil and .5mgs of Klonopin. You take those meds at 10:30pm. My mother is now a vibrant 79-year old happy woman. She didn’t realize how depressed she was. The Elavil is for Depression AND sleeping. She now sleeps 7 hours straight through. This is the closest thing to a miracle I’ve ever seen. Print this out and get this to a doctor ASAP. You don’t need any long , lonely dark nights any more. This is the answer you’ve been looking for. I only give this full answer to people that really sound like they are true insomniacs. You can start the schedule tonight. No napping during the day!! There are a few more tricks that I’ll teach you later, but this is quite enough to get you started. No caffeine after 6pm. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. This is what I’m here for. I have your name so I’ll know who you are. Good luck. 
by:
on: 3rd August 07
I just started taking effexor on Thursday for depression, anxiety, muscle pain, and migraines. Before I started taking it I would always wake up early in the morning (6 to 7 am) and not be able to fall asleep but now I also am waking up about 4 times throughout the night and having a hard time falling back asleep. My question is will this go away after the 1st couple weeks of taking this drug or will I continue having insomnia the whole time?
I have always avoided taking pills but my depression/anxiety got so bad I just lay on the couch and watch tv day from the physical pain it causes me.
Chosen Answer:
I had that too when I first started taking Effexor. After about 10 days my sleeping patterns were back to normal, and after a month the benefits of taking it far outweighed the first couple of weeks of insomnia. If you’re still sleeping badly in a couple of weeks you should see your doctor, as with any other side effects that haven’t gone away by then. God luck!
by: Rain Dogs
on: 20th February 09
if i have rare nights when i cant sleep i usually take xanax and ambien together, doctor said those 2 are fine.
but since i just got done taking zithromax today can i still take those tonight? or no?
Chosen Answer:
Xanax is extremely addictive and should’nt be taken for sleep disorders. Ambien should do the trick alone. Be careful w/ the xanax!
by: Z
on: 28th October 08
My doc prescribed 5mg of Ambien to take as needed at bed time for “restless leg syndrome”. I take it most nights and it helps a lot and doesn’t make me feel groggy which is good. But I’m a little concerned about my baby. I’ve been taking it for a couple weeks on and off. I still feel him move regularly and my doctor did prescribe it so she must know what she’s doing, I’m just concerned. Any personal experiences?
Chosen Answer:
http://www.safefetus.com/DrugDetail.asp?DrugId=148&TradeName=Ambien&TradeId=4910
Here is the link to the drug rating. It rates a C–so does Tums. This site is really helpful in rating anything. I was worried when my doc prescribed my Tylenol3 with Codeine for my migraines, but i got 2 other opinions of doctors as well as the pharmacist when I picked up my prescription, and they all assured me it was safe, as long as I only take it when I really need to and follow directions. The pharmacist assured me there isn’t enough codeine in it to harm my baby, and I’m sure your doc prescribed you a low enough dosage to be safe to take.
Congrats on the pregnancy and good luck!!
by: Kyler’s Mommy
on: 17th March 09
Sometimes, humans can be trouble falling asleep when we want to sleep. Whenever humans feel that we need to be asleep, sometimes we have trouble falling asleep.
While insomnia is extremely common in humans, there isn’t much news about dogs, cats or other mammals with trouble falling asleep.
Chosen Answer:
Humans abuse themselves so much more. Look at the crap we eat, look at the lack of exercise we get, look at all of the unhealthy levels of stress we undergo. Animals have a very simple mission: Eat, reproduce, run away from predators, and sleep. If life were that easy for us, we’d all be getting our 8 hours just fine.
by:
on: 17th December 11
for better sleep? I have been on Ambien for years and now the Dr wants me to get off ambien and take Melatonin. I want to add the melatonion (natural ) to my ambien. What say you?
Chosen Answer:
i think that it should be fine, considering that both of them have different mechanisms for assisting sleep; however, the usage of each is slightly different.
what i mean by this is that because they work differently, they should be taken at different times.
ambien works rather quickly, and will knock out probably within 20 minutes or so of taking it i believe. it`s a hypnotic that makes you really drowsy – it retards motor function and basically helps you relax as well [although this effect is not as pronounced at low-level dosages]
however, metalonin doesn`t knock you out in the same way; melatonin is moreover just the bodily hormone that helps to regulate the circadian cycle – your biological clock so to speak – melatonin is barely present during the day, and as the daylight wanes and your eyes pick up on the dimming light, messages are sent to your hypothalamus to increase melatonin production, making you increasingly drowsy as the night progresses.
you won`t really feel its effects until it hits the bloodstream, which may take up to an hour if it has to be absorbed through the intestines [which i think it will because it seems to be a relatively large molecule]
smaller molecules, like alcohol, can bypass that process and slip directly into the bloodstream from the stomach. but i don`t believe melatonin can do this.
i hope this has been somewhat informative for you -
so all in all:
it should be safe to take the two together, just make sure you time it well.
and know that with these things, i don`t know how long they`ll keep you asleep.
ambien has a half-life of about 3 hours, so its effects should wear off within 4-5 hours.
melatonin on the other hand, the levels would be controlled by your circadian clock and respond to light cues, so i`m not really sure what to tell you about that one. the levels should wane as the day gets lighter tho`.
but quite honestly, mixing things like this, you should probably just give your doctor a phone call to be safe.
by:
on: 25th July 09
I don’t want links to websites about insomnia or suggestions for different types of meds. I just want to know how other insomniacs like myself deal with it. How do you deal with your day at work/school? At the end of the day what do you do to help your body fall asleep?
Chosen Answer:
If you have real insomnia you either don’t go to sleep at all or you go to sleep for only a few hours.
I went through a period of about three months where I didn’t and couldn’t sleep at all. I am a single mom of three kids, full time college student, and could barely function. I had a difficult time concentrating on anything.
A friend of mine gave me sleeping pills to try but that only put me to sleep for about 3 hours.
Then a nurse friend gave me B-12 and calcium to take.
Once I got started on that I was able to get more sleep.
Some other friends helped take care of my kids while I could sleep some. After about two weeks my life starting getting back to normal.
by: Jenn B
on: 8th September 08
I have really bad sleeping problems. My doctor is a quack and won’t prescribe me any sleeping medicine. Is there any over the counter medicine that’s as powerful as Ambien?
Chosen Answer:
by:
on: 1st January 70
What Is Ambien (Zolpidem) ?
Ambien is a sedative, also called a hypnotic. It affects chemicals in your brain that may become unbalanced and cause sleep problems (insomnia).
Ambien is used for the short-term treatment of insomnia (difficulty falling or staying asleep). This medication causes relaxation to help you fall asleep.
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