Posted by King Vultan on October 15, 2004, at 16:54:05
In reply to Ambien with Effexor XR???, posted by Tracy U on October 15, 2004, at 12:49:00
> I am trying to get some feedback.
> I have taken Effexor XR for almost 3 years now, 225mg, and just recently increased it myself..to 300.
> I had a complete abdominal hysterectomy, and 10 days post op, my military husband leaves me and our three boys for duty.
> The oldest one is 19, mentally handicapped, so 4 mentally and my youngest one has Tourette's syndrome.
> SO, I have been dealing with a lot and trying to survive...
> I can't sleep, that's not new, I have had insomnia for years, post traumatic stress from being sexually abused by my dad for years.
> Anyway, I got ambien, and read that it can interact with the effexor, but it didn't say how.
> I tried a 10 mg, but it didn't help much, and I want to know if anyone has tried 20mg?? If anyone has had success with this,or what?
> I am desperate to get sleep, and relieve some of this stress and depression. Anyone have advice/feedback or am I just doomed to get worse and worse until the world swallows me??
> Tracy
Usually 5 or 10 mg is what people take, and if 10 mg doesn't work, it's best to try something else. I would suggest considering a sedating antidepressant that could be taken every night, and probably the best one to try first is trazodone. Beyond that, you might also consider a sedating tricyclic such as doxepin or Surmontil, perhaps even nortriptyline. I hesitate to recommend amitriptyline because it is so anticholinergic, not that the other tricyclics I mentioned can't have these effects (dry mouth, constipation, etc.) as well.Ambien is a very safe and innocuous med but is not a true benzodiazepine and is not as powerful as a high powered benzo sleep aid such as Halcion/triazolam or Restoril/temazepam. The problem with the true benzos is that they should probably only be used three or four times a week to avoid dependence and tolerance issues. So they are okay for occasional use, but if you have a chronic insomnia problem, you have to find something else for the nights you can't take the benzo. This is the situation I am in, and I have to fill in with OTC sleep meds such as diphenhydramine (plain Benadryl, Simply Sleep) or Unisom tablets (doxylamine succinate).
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:403386
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041012/msgs/403514.html