Posted by paxvox on July 18, 2003, at 18:38:57
In reply to Early morning awakenings, posted by utopizen on July 17, 2003, at 1:59:51
Yes, that's the problem with Ambien, Sonota and other short half-life "sleep" meds. They help you GET to sleep, but very often cause you to wake up earlier than you were before. Dose increase won't change this. Taking Ambien at bedtime, then perhaps Sonota if you wake up in 3 hours or so might work, but I doubt your doc or your insurance company would approve of that. The other option is to take Ambien along with a Benzo, like Klonopin. That way, you can GET to sleep, and hopefully have the Benzo keep you from waking up. A sustained release Ambien-type medicine might work OK, but I wonder how it would make you feel when you got up in the morning. I have taken Ambien before for up to three years. However, my insurance company has been trying to make you jump hurdles to get it for more than a month w/o a letter from the doc. My Pdoc doesn't want me to take Ambien, even though my previous GP had given it to me for years. So, some are lucky to have it available while others of us.....well, it's like I said. Good luck.
PAX
poster:paxvox
thread:242779
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030718/msgs/243303.html