Advice needed: Experiences with Ambien or sleeping pills

Where did you read that only sleeping 5-6 hours a night is unhealthy? do you feel unhealthy? Are you tired after only 5-6 hours.

Personally I would kill for a good 6 hours everynight, I settle for 5 most nights and don't do too badly on it - if I get 4 or less I start feeling the effects.

I'd agree with most of the posters here - the natural / herbal remedies are the thing to go for.

Yes, Ambien is good, I used it back in 2003 for awhile. People are so afraid of addiction to these things they'd rather not sleep. Then people tell you 5-6 hours a day is enough for anyone over 18--incroyable...they know about all personages of course...agree Ambien can be addictive, but all those things are all right if used temporarily.

I use Melatonin regularly, it's very good, induces pleasant thoughts (including making me horny, too, and offering good jack-off potential which I sometimes give in to, and this further offers good sleeping after you've jacked off thinking about all of your favourite sex images...), but I might use Ambien sometime if I had any, or wasn't too lazy to go get any. I didn't know it wasn't legal in some states (I mean the Melatonin, I just buy it at Vitamin Quota). The U.S. is notoriously Puritanical about all sorts of useful drugs, although it seems perfectly happy about prescribing ADP's everywhere.

And waking up is NOT necessarily telling you that you don't need any more sleep, for chrissake. That is even cited as a sign of depression sometimes; when I'm under stress I tend to wake up, but usually can just turn over and go back to sleep.

Sleep therapist good idea if you're afraid of the Ambien. I can't say I realkly liked it that much, because it seemed to turn you off like a push-button thing rather than slowly bringing on drowziness.

Sleeping 5-6 hours a night is NOT unhealthy for some people, it simply is not enough for many other. I usually am fine with 6, but like 7 or 8 at least once a week. This is so rudimentary I can't even believe some of the things I've read about people talking as if they know what is the right amount of sleep for literally anyone.

Calm down, mate - no one is attacking anyone here - just most folks are a little wary of the stronger stuff. Also what is "they know about all personages of course..." meant to mean - just curious. Strikes me as being a slightly 'tinfoil beanie' comment, if you know what I'm saying...

Lay off. The matter of talking about sleep necessity is important. There were stupid things said here, and they needed to be pointed out as such. It's none of your business whether I calm down or whether I use figures of speech that don't appeal to you. But don't expect me to use a pleasant tone with you if you pull 'tinfoil beanie' smart-ass shit. I'll just put you on Ignore, I think. Yes, that works fine, I'm tired of the smug, condescending tones that apply only to other person, not the one disliking little details in their passive-aggressive way, with the 'just curious' crap.

Wow - way to over react to what I believe is the first time I've ever posted to you directly. Forgive me if that isn't true - if we did converse before it clearly wasn't memorable.

You have a nice day, now - those little black helicopters outside are just collecting weather information - don't mind 'em

Try trazodone. Its a terrific sleep aid and will work wonders for creating healthy nocturnal erections which will in turn elevate your libido.

Not sure if anyone has had the same problem with Lunesta - I got great sleep but had a metallic taste that lasted 2-3 days. Even drinking water was awful.

Don't sweat it, Manly, some of all of this is probably a reaction to the OP, which seems a bit upset and slightly obsessed about reading something about recommended sleep...and it sounds like, but doesn't say, that he does need more sleep. Otherwise, an article wouldn't make you think all sorts of worried thoughts. I know that when I've been sleep-deprived for too long, I have worried about things that don't merit it. I mean--when thinking about sleep deprivation, it doesn't necessarily follow to jump straight to Heath Ledger, you see. That was several medications and probably goodly amounts.

Stress is hard to manage, period. Definitely Melatonin ought to be tried. But the vast majority of people who do use Ambien are not zombified even when they have some reactions to it. There was a good op-ed a few years ago by Maureen Dowd, who admitted having some sonnambulism but not that worried about it either. It IS the U.S. political and puritanical atmosphere about medications that makes people always imagine themselves dope addicts after one single prescription. This simply doesn't exist in Europe in the same way, even though there is plenty of problem with addiction. Now that I recall it, I think I took Ambien on and off from 2003 to 2005, but never had any of those famous symptoms at all, and never missed it when I stopped it. I'm sure my annoyance is a general one, because I think American policy about medications is backward, and paradoxically makes people think there is only addiction or taking absolutely nothing--ever. And yet addiction to things like crystal meth (all those stories of Indian reservation families) doesn't exist in the family-destroying way in more liberal-minded democracries. It's almost like the attitude about drugs is itself bipolar. And I find it especially annoying that Prozac and all its descendants--which ARE nearly impossible to get off once you've started--are routinely prescribed. They'd scare me a lot more than Ambien ever would--and I came close to getting started on one of those at one time.

Anyway, no offense, and anyway I always like being reminded of helicopters and/or trucks.

The OP didn't actually state why he thought he had a sleep problem and why he only got 5 hours or so a night. I have that problem from time to time, but not because I wake up early. I sometimes have a period where I am a relentless night owl.

The feeling at 11PM or so is that it is way too early to go to bed, and I simply must accomplish something important before I do go to bed. It is a kind of free-floating angst about declaring the day to be over, or something.

Anyway, during those periods, my 5 hours comes from going to bed too late, not waking up too early. I wonder if that is what the OP is experiencing?

1) HyperHulk, you never say anywhere that you feel the need for more sleep. If you sleep soundly for five or six hours and have no difficulty waking up in the morning and staying awake throughout the day, then there is no point in trying to sleep more or seeking any artificial aids for doing so. People vary in the amount of sleep that they need; you may be one of those who need less than most people. Hardly anyone needs ten hours of sleep per night.

2) I have taken Ambien for years, though never more than three times a week, without any ill effects. I have also used Sonata, which has the same primary virtue -- that it has no lingering effects. Neither drug makes me sleep through the night, which is the point on which I have the most difficulty, so I mostly use them only for getting back to sleep when I have awakened in the middle of the night. Their advantage over non-prescription sleeping medications (antihistamines) is that they don't make you drowsy for more than a few hours.

3) I tried melatonin for a while, and it seemed to cause me to lose sleep and to have anxiety dreams. It certainly did not help me sleep.

4) I have tried Valerian root and chamomile and have never observed either to have the slightest effect on my sleep, beneficial or otherwise.

I have apnea and have for many years. It's debilitating. Sleep disorders in general really erode the quality of life and aren't good for your overall health. I'd recommend to anyone with concerns about how they sleep to go to their doctor and see about getting a sleep study done.

There are many forms of sleep disorders and insomnia, and it takes a good physician to figure out which kind you have and what you'll respond to whether medicinally or otherwise.

Melatonin has mixed reviews on efficacy but I don't think it can hurt. If sleeping seems to be related to stress, the obvious thing to do is to address the stress. That's not an easy thing to do, I know, but in the long run it will help you more than just addressing the sleep problem if its only cause is stress.

Ambien, Lunesta, and other prescription sleep aids work very well for many people. There's no reason to rule out using them if they work and you can tolerate any side effects. As far as Benadryl goes, you can get psychologically dependent on it and, for me, it has really bad side effects that I can't tolerate (hallucinating and disturbed sleep). Just because Benadryl is over the counter doesn't mean it's not strong or that it doesn't have side effects. For you, it works well, and that's what is important.

These things are of no use to me either. Sometimes I think those are for people who are very not really very anxious to begin with and they just add a soothing element. Problem with chamomile is I've never even found any that has any real flavour, but knew I was too hard-core for it to help with sleep (not the warm milk type either.)

Interesting what you say about anxiety dreams from melatonin, because I didn't take it for years after I first started it. It didn't give me bad dreams, but did cause death thoughts just as I would begin to get drowzy. I think I forgot about these, or might not have started using it again. I have no idea why it affects me differently now than it did 10 years ago.

Something that was touted as good for sleep back in the 80s was Tryptophan, which I found worthless.

Of course, all the tranquilizers are good sleep-inducers, but they're definitely addictive and out of favour with almost all physicians.

I was frankly surprised that Melatonin works so well for me, given my past experience with it.

Surprised to hear this about a drowziness-inducing cold medication (it is, isn't it?). In the one period (1989) where I had HUGE sleep disorders, in the middle of some professional stress I just couldn't manage, I used Contac and Benadryl, and they always made me feel wiped out, plus seemed to affect the circulation somewhat because of their usual functions as decongestant. This cause the Restless Legs Syndrome problem, and I went through a period of about 6 weeks in which I got no deep sleep at all, and never felt rested--this was close to a nervous breakdown, and a doctor finally had to give me a temporary prescription of Ativan, which I used for two weeks, and it helped me make the transition. But Restless Legs Syndrome can be hideous.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is used for a lot of things outside of its use as an OTC antihistamine. Most of the OTC sleep remedies are diphenhydramine. It's used in hospital settings to combat the side effects of some antipsychotics. Histamine receptors are all over your body including in your brain, which is why it makes you drowsy. I was very surprised that it made me so loopy when I used it for sleep because I'd used it as a child as an antihistamine.

Ativan and the like can be very effective in the short term for short-circuiting stressful thoughts before bed so you can get to sleep. It does have the potential for abuse and addiction, but used judiciously it works very well. Doctors are starting to come back to using Ativan and other benzodiazepines because even with the risks they are safe and effective. I take Ativan for anxiety and it works very well as an adjunct to my primary medication. I've been taking it for many years and so far haven't had any problems with it.