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snsr | 1 year ago

Notably, the drug Ambien disrupts the norepinephrine oscillation that is part of this process.

discuss

order

AnthonBerg|1 year ago

Once upon a time I had severe difficulty sleeping due to high and sustained levels of stress.

I had gotten prescribed some Zopiclone which is similar to Zolpidem as found in Ambien. Zopiclone makes me feel like I have a brain injury the day after. Sometimes after the first night, always after the second night if I find I need to take it two nights in a row. It’s frightening.

I came across a paper: ”Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Interactions Between Zolpidem and Caffeine”

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roberta-Cysneiros/publi...

Based on my understanding of the results that a significant dose of caffeine counteracts “some but not all” of Zolpidem’s effects on cognition—and the two Z-drugs being similar—I tried drinking a tiny little bit of coffee with the tiny little bit of Zopiclone. (I take 2-3mg; a whole tablet is 7.5mg.)

The result is that I am able to sleep and do not feel brain-damaged the day after, and the effect also seems to be that the failure rhythm of stress-related waking up at precisely 5:30 is broken. In other words, the combination seems to fix the problem.

I suspect that part of the reason might be that the caffeine counteracts the disruption of the norepinephrine oscillation you mention. (Thanks!!)

akvadrako|1 year ago

That's quite interesting. I take half a Zolpidem once a week or so and I'll try taking it with caffeine.

I've tried Zolpiclone but found it affects my sleep much more. Zolpidem is faster acting and gets out of your system quicker, while Zolpiclone continues working during the night.

So if your issue is getting to sleep and not staying asleep I would recommend you try the original.

hypeatei|1 year ago

Ambien, to me, is an extremely scary drug. People in my life have become extremely reliant on it to sleep and it has strange side effects. Sleepwalking with no recollection is one of them, not going to the kitchen, but getting in the car types of sleepwalking.

tartoran|1 year ago

I agree, Ambien is a scary drug to rely on as it can create dependency and also masks underlying issues that are causing not inability to sleep. In emergencies when one needs to get some form of sleep it could be useful to break the cycle of not being able to sleep and restore sleep hygiene. I had some sleep issues back in my 20s (luckily they haven't come back) and found that sometimes being too tired made falling and staying asleep quite hard. One thing that helped me is to forcefully yawn before going to sleep, doing it for a couple of minutes.

jamal-kumar|1 year ago

It's bad enough that there's a whole subreddit dedicated to the shit people get up to on it [1]. Telling thing: the description for it starts off with CHOP OFF ALL YOUR HAIR, probably a reference to a toothpaste for dinner comic about "the ambien walrus" which is a popular meme in the uhhh ambien community

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ambien/top/?t=all

toastau|1 year ago

I use 5mg a few nights a week to get a full night’s rest. I’ve worked hard over the years on good sleep hygiene—no screens, wearing a sleep mask, and avoiding food (especially carbs or alcohol) before bed.

No direct link has been found to this, but eating carbs has always given me deeply vivid (and often exciting) dreams since I was little. Unfortunately, from these I wake up exhausted, which isn’t great for the day.

I’ll continue being careful, and especially stay mindful when life stress—like love or money—picks up. It’s good to be aware if anything is being masked or overlooked in the process.

WarOnPrivacy|1 year ago

> Ambien, to me, is an extremely scary drug.

Meanwhile, older drugs that are less distressing aren't used any more because "We don't use it any more". -Dr: If I ask about Librium.

appstorelottery|1 year ago

I completely agree. I once took Ambien on a flight from San Fran -> London, but I didn't sleep. I suffered from crazy short term amnesia by the time I got to the other end, walking towards the Hilton just outside the airport in that long tunnel... I kept forgetting where I was and why I was there and then I'd snap back to reality. To the alarm of a friend that was supposed to be picking me up, I simply checked into the Hilton. What happened on the flight was another story altogether. I think I was repeatedly telling the attendants that I'd taken Ambien, they ended up shifting me to first class. Looking back, it was fun for reasons I won't talk about here - but belongs strongly in the recreational category. Sitter required.

outworlder|1 year ago

I personally know of one ambien addict and it's scary. He just went through a divorce and lost his job. His barely coherent (and angry) voice messages while off the drug don't seem too different from addicts of illegal substances.

FuriouslyAdrift|1 year ago

They gave us Ambien (no go pills) and Provigil (go pills) in the miltary during long ready states. After a while, I became dependent on Ambien and would sleep walk (among other things). My roomates would zip me up in my sleeping bag to deal with it.

Took me about 2 years after the military to get back to "normal"

I do miss the Provigil, though... that stuff made able to focus so well.

93po|1 year ago

i used it daily for a couple years and had no idea the impact it was having on me. i was an angry, irritable, grumpy person, and i completely changed when i finally stopped taking it.

i had an addiction but didnt abuse it. it got to the point that i craved ambien during the day for reasons i can't even explain. i just inexplicably wanted to take it. i wasnt even taking full pills of the usual dose, i usually cut them in half.

it took me a long time to learn to put my phone away before taking it. i would text people i was causally dating overly romantic and loving things and have zero memory of it. thankfully whenever it happened the people involved always just thought it was funny, and i did have the awareness to preface those texts with "maybe its just bc i took some ambien". After a few dates with someone i warned them i take ambien and might text them something stupid but loving, so they were well prepared

desmosxxx|1 year ago

I took Ambien for one of my sleep studies and I had sleep paralysis and nightmares (bordering on hallucinations because I swear I was awake or at least in a lucid state). That was my first and last time doing Ambien.