Posted by PaulB on June 30, 2001, at 8:14:25
In reply to Re: Ambien+ memory loss » PaulB, posted by Elizabeth on June 29, 2001, at 22:16:03
> > I have read quite a lot around the net and in a magazine article about the problem of memory loss associated with Ambien.
>
> Ambien is getting the Halcion Treatment in the popular press? Jeez. What mag, and what did they say?
>
> I need 20 mg too. It's common for the effective dose to cause weird behaviour if you don't go to sleep after taking it (people who take 10 or 5 mg have weird experiences too). Ideally you should take it on an empty stomach (so it will work fast) -- have dinner early, not right before bed -- and then go straight to bed (you should have just enough time to brush your teeth, set your alarm clock, etc.). If you have a conversation with someone, it should be someone you trust and you should let them know you just took a sleeping pill (otherwise you might get yourself into an awkward situation, such as having a sexual encounter you'll regret in the morning!). Don't make any long distance (or, heaven forbid, 1-900) phone calls (going on the internet is probably a bad idea too). Don't try to have a snack -- you might end up spilling something, or even burning yourself if you try to cook. Don't leave your house. DO NOT, under any circumstances, try to drive! Don't take it if you've been drinking or taking other recreational CNS depressants (barbiturates, GHB, etc.).
>
> > Part of the problem lies, I think, with the fact that Ambien has does not bring about sleep naturally like Melatonin therefore you may well get up in the night and do stuff you may not remember later.
>
> If you're taking an effective dose, you shouldn't be waking up until it's worn off. If all it does is get you to sleep, you might need to supplement it (e.g., with trazodone, a sedating tricyclic like doxepin or imipramine, or a longish-acting benzo like Klonopin or Tranxene).
>
> Anyway, I think this "natural sleep" thing is kind of a silly idea. Being "all-natural" is trendy these days, with all the "herbal food supplements" and such. People have all sorts of strange experiences during "natural" sleep -- sleep is just plain weird. (Brain wave measurements have even shown that people often go into what appears to be Stage IV -- "deep" -- sleep while they're driving.) Ambien doesn't alter the architecture and chemistry of sleep to anywhere near the extent that benzos, tricyclics, and especially barbiturates do, nor does it knock you out like a neuroleptic (I tried just 10 mg of Mellaril once when nothing else was working -- that was a mistake!).
>
> (BTW, melatonin didn't bring on "natural" sleep for me at all. The whole time I was taking it, I slept even worse than I had been without it.)
>
> -elizabethI cannot remember the name of the magazine with that particular article. Perhaps I could try Zaleplan.
poster:PaulB
thread:68388
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010625/msgs/68472.html