Does anyone have a lot of experience with this stuff? I just started using it last night to help sleep since I can only lay on my back right now (arm in a sling for 2 1/2 more weeks).

I just started using it b/c for the first 2 1/2 weeks of my sling usage I was on Percocet which also helped me sleep. But now I'm off the painkillers while still needing help sleep.

Last night I took the ambien about 1/2 hour before going to bed. Took me around 20 minutes to fall asleep and then I woke up 3 hours later. Took another 15 minutes or so to fall asleep and then woke up again 3 hours later Is there some trick to making this crap more effective? I didn't see anything helpful in the literature provided with the pills. If this stuff doesn't work better the next few nights I'm gonna need to ask my doctor for something stronger.

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 11:28 AM. Reason : whoops]

9/27/2010 11:27:40 AM

Do you normally not sleep on your back?

9/27/2010 11:40:02 AM

...apparently not


i had surgery in 2005 that involved cutting my ribcage open at the sternum. i couldn't sleep on my side or stomach, which happened to be the only ways i sleep. i hated sleeping on my back. i was in a shit ton of pain, not taking meds, & throwing up every few hours from finding out the hard way that i'm allergic to morphine. i ended up throwing up for 2 weeks. anyway, i toughed it out the first couple of nights, then started using a pillow to very very slightly prop one side up while still laying on my back. that did the trick and i actually really like sleeping that way now.

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 11:54 AM. Reason : ]

9/27/2010 11:51:27 AM

^^I do sometimes, but if that's the only position you're allowed to sleep in it becomes quite unpleasant. Plus, the sling is uncomfortable (to a degree) whenever I'm wearing it.

^I sleep with a pillow on each side of me (in addition to the ones under my head). The pillow to the left offers a little support to the arm and the pillow to the right allows me to roll over on that side a little bit.

When you factor in that I have a very sedentary lifestyle at the moment (due to recovery) its not easy to fall asleep at an early hour. Over the last week unless I took painkillers steadily through the day and night or drank a lot of alcohol at night (I haven't mixed) I fell asleep on average around 4am.


[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 PM. Reason : k]

9/27/2010 11:59:10 AM

Maybe you can get some muscle relaxers to take at night?

9/27/2010 12:03:07 PM

I dunno, like I said I'll give the Ambien a few chances to work but if I'm not getting good sleep by Wednesday I'll be looking to alternatives. I start physical therapy today, so another possibility is that the PT causes a lot of pain which would then give me reason to ask the doctor for more pain killers.

9/27/2010 12:10:59 PM

are you waking up because your in pain?

9/27/2010 12:18:42 PM

nah, I don't think so. And for the most part the pain is minor at this point.

9/27/2010 12:20:42 PM

Have you tried advil PM or anything? After a recent back injury I actually favored that over ambien as far as letting me get comfortable and sleep at night.

9/27/2010 1:34:38 PM

I can give that shot. I'm just under the impression that something prescribed to me would be more powerful, no?

9/27/2010 2:00:04 PM

different things work better for different people. i took unisom for a while, which is OTC, and worked great for me.

9/27/2010 2:02:05 PM

With Advil PM I became drowsy and pleasantly fell asleep.
With ambien I had to give in and sleep because I was tripping balls.

9/27/2010 2:29:34 PM

The only Ambien stories I've heard are that it's too strong--namely, not giving yourself a full 8-10 hours of sleep time, then forgetting chunks of time and acting strangely. Just be careful not to overdo it. If you think it isn't working, get something else, don't keep taking pills every few hours.

9/27/2010 3:13:17 PM

Unless you take the time released ambian CR it seems to wear off ~6 hours. It's worked great for me unless I don't go to bed quickly enough. Then the tripping balls, acting strangely, vaguely remembering chunks of time even though I swear I'm totally normal will occur. You could try to ask the doc for the CR's and see if this helps keeping you asleep longer. Do you feel out of sorts at all when you take it?

9/27/2010 7:05:57 PM

^as I said before, I only started taking it last night. I need at least a few other days to figure out if its effective or not for me. Unfortunately I'm not sure how good tonight's results will be - I drank 4 pints at the Saucer earlier and should be drowsy anyway.

I took the pill 20 minutes ago. Will report back in the morning!

9/27/2010 11:33:28 PM

i took mine ~20 min ago with a sam adams. Wondering if ill put myself to bed or stay up. Tonight is looking questionable Anyway, back to the point, hope tonight works better for you.

9/28/2010 12:08:06 AM

the "no-go" pills we use for flying are Ambien. Most guys swear by them. I don't think they do much at all. Several times, I've taken one and stayed up reading for an hour or two. I also routinely take one, then wake up 4 hours later.

9/28/2010 12:39:49 AM

I recommend Remeron...been taking it for > 10 years

one tablet at bedtime, read for an hour or so, and then I'm out for 8.5...9 hours

took Ambien for a few months before I started on Remeron, but it was too easy to abuse

9/28/2010 12:54:48 AM

This is exactly what ambien is supposed to do. It has an effective timespan of 2-3 hours.

Ambien is only intended to knock you out initially, it wears off after a couple hours. If you are looking for a continuous release option you can try Ambien CR, but be warned it IS habit forming and cannot be taken for long periods of time. It also reduces the quality of your REM sleep.

To recap: Ambien is non habit forming and is only intended to help you get to sleep
Ambien CR is habit forming and is intended to keep you asleep. Most other prescription sleep meds work like CR as well.

Fun fact of the day: Ambien (not CR) is actually a psychotropic halucinagin. It acts almost exactly the same as LSD or mushrooms. It just happens that the sedative/tranquilizer effect usually kicks in first.

Personally when I take Ambien, there about a 20 minute window between when I think I go to sleep (lose consciousness) and when I actually go to sleep. My girlfriend and former roommates have several stories about me being a weird zombie for that 20 minutes, like totally aware and reactive to my surroundings but unable to speak or interact with anything. Weeeird stuff

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 4:37 AM. Reason : Z]

9/28/2010 4:31:45 AM

i head that if you take like 3 ambien, fight the urge to sleep, and then have sex then its like the best sex ever!!

9/28/2010 10:51:53 AM

^ you head?

and are you stealing that from that scene in role models?!

9/28/2010 10:58:49 AM

paging vinylbandit



Poor guy, he has quite a bit of experience dealing with ambian induced shenanigans

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 11:35 AM. Reason : fighting sleep]

9/28/2010 11:34:21 AM

one night i had one ambien then ended up having sex before i fell asleep

it was the worst sex ever and i will not be trying it again

9/28/2010 11:56:43 AM

^^^^^interesting. So what can I take that keeps me asleep all night and gives me quality REM? I mean I have to stay asleep the whole time. Once I wake up and have to deal with this damn sling it's game over and i'm wide awake.

Last night was actually pretty good. Fell asleep within 10 minutes or so of laying down and didn't wait up till the alarm went off (I think). But I wonder how much credit goes to Ambien, as I had the aforementione 4 pints as well as not having dinner till 930pm. (in bed 2 hrs later)

9/28/2010 12:21:30 PM

lunesta?

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 12:48 PM. Reason : ]

9/28/2010 12:47:31 PM

A couple hits off the bowl always helps me sleep. I would personally recommend it over any commercial drug, but it's not for everyone I guess.

9/28/2010 1:35:47 PM

Sadly that's not really an option for most people (random drug testing at work).

9/28/2010 3:10:11 PM

There is NO prescription drug that is a continuous release AND will keep you in deep REM sleep throughout the night.

Honestly you've hit on the best combination I've ever found. 3-4 beers + an Ambien has never failed me. As long as you're not drinking to excess, it shouldn't be a problem.

9/28/2010 10:44:42 PM

^thanks for the tip. Looks like I'll be drinking "moderately" for a good reason for the next few weeks

9/28/2010 11:20:00 PM

Benadryl + 2-3 beers knocks my ass out for a good 8 hours.

9/28/2010 11:31:17 PM

^ That's what I used to do. Then the drinkin got out of hand.

9/29/2010 12:19:36 AM

There's some sort of weird chemical reaction that happens when you combine cat food, beer, and glue. It makes you feel like extemely sick and tired and you're able to fall asleep.

9/29/2010 12:25:11 AM

AHA, Charlie.

9/29/2010 8:56:13 AM

man oh man i wish i wasnt only in my second year


good luck

9/29/2010 11:45:25 AM

Quote :

"Benadryl + 2-3 beers knocks my ass out for a good 8 hours."

I stay away from that stuff, even just one of those makes me feel drugged up for 10-12 hours. It's amazing how people react to different chemicals. You could unknowingly give me a vicodin, but try to slip me a benadryl and I'll figure it out.

Thanks Joie! I actually fell asleep very quickly last night so maybe I sold the ambien short and didn't give it a fair shot before i started complaining.

9/29/2010 12:31:54 PM

over a year experience with ambien and such.

I understand now why I was hallucinating and doing such funny shit if I didn't go to sleep right away with it. -I used to watch the wind in trees and grass in the paintings. lol.

The better stuff is restoril. nocks ya out for longer.

sometimes taking a zanax before bed will help too

but you probably need the restoril, since you are waking up through-out the night with pain.

9/30/2010 6:05:23 AM

Throughout is one word.

Do you think you're waking up bc you're afraid you'll roll over onto your arm? I did that the first couple of nights.

9/30/2010 8:37:34 AM

Thanks for the tips.


I'm not really in pain anymore. Some soreness from physical therapy but that's it. I just don't like waking up and not being able to move around and change my position if I'm uncomfortable.

Ambien worked pretty well last night I think, but I took the pill over an hour before actually falling asleep (and only 30 minutes before i tried sleeping).

9/30/2010 10:03:26 AM