Sleepless nights consistently

[cwar]

What are the side effects of the  Ambien?   I will have to ask the doctor about ambien. Thanks!  Hubby is getting a rash on his chest and requires some cream for that too!

[Diane12855]

I did the sleep, eat thing too, and sometimes what I ate, I would never normally eat... I'm not telling you anything else about that. I did change to the Ambien CR and like Nygirl7 says above, I wake up a few times during the night, but go back to sleep... and I don't sleep walk or eat... I think it is because you are only getting a little medicine in your system at a time instead of all at once like regular Ambien

As was mentioned above, I have had horrible sleep patterns for years before ever finding out about hep c, and tried all kinds of stuff, and I like the Ambien CR best.

[Paganini]

I've been using ambien off and on for many years; it doesn't work every single time but in general it's a good drug. I'd been taking valium for many years before that, but with ambien I need a valium only every once in a blue moon. Interestingly there's a good discussion of this in the classic book THE EPIC HISTORY OF BIOLOGY, published by Plenum Press

[GrandOak]

Some people sleep eat, some have increased vivid dreaming, some are groggy the following day, the list goes on.  I would suggest looking up the product insert as well as various reports from studies to get a better list of possible side effects.

The ones I listed are those I hear most from people who have taken it.  For myself, the dreaming and grogginess was what I experienced.  So I figured if I'm groggy for most of the following day, what benefit is there to taking it?

I will say that the vivid dreams were not as dramatic as when I tried Melatonin or Valarian root though.

[DragonSlayer45]

I had to take Ambien because of insomnia when treating. It was heaven sent for me. I could not sleep prior to that. I did notice as have others that after a period of time I would only sleep 5 hours then wake up. It is addictive as tashka said. Weaning off them after TX was over was not a big deal for me. I am over 6 months post treatment and sleep like a rock every night with no sleep aides. My advice to you is if insomnia is a problem and your doctor is recomending them than take them. I was resistant to take anything other then my treatment meds when treating as I just do not like the fact that doctors prescribe way too much for people (my opinion) in general (not treating). I quickly learned to abandon that and took the ambien and some other meds (AD's and Xanax). It is a long story but reluctantly I took them and it all had a happy ending. I am on nothing now. Good luck with your decision.

[Bali05]

You can loose short term memory. That is why when you take it you need to make
sure you have the 6 -8 hrs of rest or at least not doing anything.
Anything that happens while the drug is in your system you might not remember.
If there is no other way to find sleep I would take it.
We all need sleep it is very important.
Took it on an redeye flight once , woke up and did not remember where my stuff was
and had an injured foot. A friend of mine took it on another long flight only to wake up
laying on the floor looking up at the stewardess. Had no clue who she got there.

[dejavu4ever]

I can relate, years before I was diagnosed with hep C  my sleep patterns went crazy. I would always wake up between 2-3 am,  I finally read (in a health book) that with some people with liver disease, it seems  there is a period when the liver changes function.....from  digisestion/ body toxin clearing, During this stage.. you can wake right up. Well now I take 4 mg of clonazepam, right before bed, and that usually works. The stress of being sick is enough to keep my awake. Every week or two I change to ambien and flexiril, which is a  muscle relaxer for a few days. I don't suggest this for everyone, but I am afraid I will get addicted. Flexiril also helps with musle pain. Talk to a good psyh, tell them what your going through. Remember to listen to your inner voice. There a good Doc's and bad ones.
Disabled RN  Dejavu

[tashka]

You can get addicted to Ambien. It is better not to take it every day.
And yes, doing things while you sleep-walking, talking on the phone, eating-and then not remembering anything is also possible on Ambien.

[nygirl7]

i can tell you one odd thing - I sleep eat.  Yup seriously sleep eat. Get up make food and eat and then go back to sleep again.  Sometimes it's oreo's sometimes it's a sandwich.........

Some people have been even known to sleep drive they say (but I don't know anybody who's done THAT).

Ambien was the only way that I could fall asleep, I'd take it and an hour later put my head on the pillow and be totally out.  Of course even with the CR extended version I'd wake up 4 hours later but then I was able to fall back asleep. Over and over and over but at leastl I felt like I was getting rest rather than going crazy staring at the clock!

Now I'm mentally addicted to it......I left them behind one night when I went to visit my folks at christmas and was up freaking out all night thinking I couldn't sleep - probably I could have if I'd taken a sugar pill but I was very worried.  I'm still on them as I never ever slept well all of my life and they do help me a lot.

Also for the rash keep his skin moisturized with something really good (something really thick that won't wear off quickly) and make sure he puts it on several times a day.  I used Gold Bond and found for me it was definitely the best...after a few days the "ribarash" should start to go away. But don't stop with the lotion or it will probably come right back (I learned the hard way). Treatment is VERY dehydrating and unfortunately it causes some form of eczema for us (the rash). AS newleaf said the hydrocortizone works very well for the itching. I'd dab it on the spots that were driving me nuts!

[newleaf09]

Some people, only some, develop an odd personality thing from using Ambien, becoming more outgoing than normal.  Might even be a plus for people who are normally very reserved.  I took it at EOT to control the insomnia that hits then.  I developed the personality thing (so bubbly I could not stand myself) after a few mos. on Ambien and it went away after it was discontinued.  I didn't really have problems getting off of it, but I alternated it with Lunesta.  It worked very well for me and I discontinued when it started putting me to sleep the second I turned off the light...I took that to mean that I no longer needed a prescription sleep aid.  Now on benedryl and about to discontinue it, too.

Try 10% hydrocortisone cream (it's over the counter) on the rash.