Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
Has anyone ever tapered off Ambien or other sleep meds....
And found their sleep patterns had some how normalized?
Or are these just stop gap measures to give a couple of weeks of
relief to a poor soul?
Why do Doctors prescribe it month after month, ramping up the dose because of tolerance?
I thought it was a short term drug therapy?
For me it is like paying for sleep on a bad credit card....when I want off, I pay dearly in days of no sleep + interest,
until I "normalize" back into the same old 2-3 nights up = 3-6 hrs of real sleep pattern I've had for years.
I barely get a 1 week honeymoon before my tolerance starts keeping me up when I restart any typical sleep medicine.
I've had it. I'm so freakin tired of this. Gimme S. Pentathol or hit me with a hammer.
And found their sleep patterns had some how normalized?
Or are these just stop gap measures to give a couple of weeks of
relief to a poor soul?
Why do Doctors prescribe it month after month, ramping up the dose because of tolerance?
I thought it was a short term drug therapy?
For me it is like paying for sleep on a bad credit card....when I want off, I pay dearly in days of no sleep + interest,
until I "normalize" back into the same old 2-3 nights up = 3-6 hrs of real sleep pattern I've had for years.
I barely get a 1 week honeymoon before my tolerance starts keeping me up when I restart any typical sleep medicine.
I've had it. I'm so freakin tired of this. Gimme S. Pentathol or hit me with a hammer.
Amitrityline is an old drug originally developed for depression that is no longer typically prescribed for that problem due to a "poor side effect profile." However, one of the undesired side effects is that it makes people drowsy even with doses that are much lower than what would be prescribed for depression. Its effect will not knock you out, but seems to me to help me fall asleep more naturally, IMO anyway. Another side effect; it can help many people with nerve pain problems. These two "side effects" have really helped me and my wallet.
I know that this is not your goal (switching sleep MEDs), but this idea may help with the transition. At the low dosage used for sleep, stopping it is not a problem since it is not addictive at these low levels.
BTW - - Many young doctors may not have even studied amitriptyline, so you my have to suggest it if your doctor is relatively young.
people struggling through the sleepy side effects with amitriptyline for depression, but I never made the connection.
I eventually failed using Trazodone on the same basis. It just stopped working one night.