Posted by Jerrympls on August 27, 2002, at 22:21:39
In reply to Re: Long-term insomnia since quitting Ambien, posted by Guy on August 27, 2002, at 14:28:21
If I am correct - if you are only getting REM sleep that's not good - there are a couple other deep sleep stages you're missing. I have taken Ambien on and off since it was first on the market. Sometimes it works better than others - but there were times I seemed to have a tolerance for it. So, my doc and I tired Restoril, Dalmane, Halcion, Ativan, Cerax, Sonata, and nothing worked. Finally I said he brought up barbituates and said that he would prescibe them but I had to understand that it would be short term only (4 weeks) because rapid tolerance develops. I hadn't had any suicide attempts so perhaps that's one reason he actually prescribed them. But, I felt so good because I felt trusted and I felt he was actually trying to help me and make my life a little less painful. He prescribed me Nembutal 200mg. First night nothing. Second night a little and third night I was out. I had the most restful wonderful sleep on Nembutal than I have evern had on any med or OFF any med. No hangover in the morning - for me - and no ill effects to my mood (ex: didn't make me more depressed). The Nembutal completely straightened out my slee-wake cycle and stopped me from craving and eating food at night. I didn't feel drugged and if I had to get up to go to the bathroom I could - it wasn't as if I was in a medicated coma or something. Anyway, they did become less effective over the course of a month and I went off them with no problems. Of course, I had rebound insomnia and went back to Ambien - which byu that time seemed to have erased any tolerance.
I can totally empathize with you. I hope you can know restful sleep soon - even if it is not with a barbituate.
poster:Jerrympls
thread:117949
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/117999.html