Need insomnia help with klonopin and ambien?!
Question: i have been awake for 5 days with 3 hours of sleep.
everynite i take 1.5mg of klonopin and that ussually gets me about 3 hours of semi-sleep. this stopped working about 5 days ago. today out of desperation i got a 5 pill prescription for generic ambien. i took my 1.5mg of klonopin, waited half an hour and took 10mg of ambien. 2 hours later i was more awake then before. so i took another ambien (as the doctor told me to if the first one didnt work) and it did less then nothing. it just made me hungry and awake.
what should i do?
am i suffering because i am using the generic form of ambien? i have read lots of reports that it is complete garbage and that the only one that works is the name brand ambien.
its saturday morning now, and all the doctors are gone. this will be day 6 with no sleep and im losing my mind litterally.
i am a very sane and normal person aside from this sleeping problem but i can see myself slipping away more and more.
should i go to the ER?
Answers: i have been awake for 5 days with 3 hours of sleep.
everynite i take 1.5mg of klonopin and that ussually gets me about 3 hours of semi-sleep. this stopped working about 5 days ago. today out of desperation i got a 5 pill prescription for generic ambien. i took my 1.5mg of klonopin, waited half an hour and took 10mg of ambien. 2 hours later i was more awake then before. so i took another ambien (as the doctor told me to if the first one didnt work) and it did less then nothing. it just made me hungry and awake.
what should i do?
am i suffering because i am using the generic form of ambien? i have read lots of reports that it is complete garbage and that the only one that works is the name brand ambien.
its saturday morning now, and all the doctors are gone. this will be day 6 with no sleep and im losing my mind litterally.
i am a very sane and normal person aside from this sleeping problem but i can see myself slipping away more and more.
should i go to the ER?
To determine if you have a sleep disorder or how serious your sleep disorder first pay attention to your sleep habits and daily routine. Since your planning to visit a doctor it is helpful to record your sleep habits. Your sleep history will help you and your doctor find the cause of your sleep problems. A doctor who specializes in sleep problems is most skilled in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. Sometimes sleep specialists work out of a sleep center and others are independent. Medical professionals diagnose sleep disorders based on a number of factors including your description of symptoms, your age and gender, and your psychological and medical history. Along with your sleep diary and the answers to a sleep questionnaire your doctor should interview you to figure out the cause of your sleeping problems. The doctor will want to rule out possible medical conditions and may want you to make behavioral and environmental changes as first steps of your treatment. In addition, your doctor may recommend any number of common tests used to diagnose sleep disorders. If your physician refers you to a sleep center a team of sleep specialists will use the latest technology to monitor you while you sleep. You will be given a private room where a technician will attach a variety of monitoring devices to your body once you are ready for bed. Sleep specialists who are on premises studying several patients at any given time,will observe your sleep patterns using these devices which monitor brain waves, heart rate, rapid eye movements, and more. While sleeping with a bunch of wires attached to you might seem difficult most patients find they fall asleep very easily. The next morning the technician will remove all the monitoring devices and you will be able to go straight to work or on to your daily activities. The sleep specialists will analyze the results from your sleep study and either they or your referring physician will set up a time with you to go over these results and design a treatment program if necessary. A sleep center can also provide you with equipment to monitor your activities both awake and asleep at home. Without adequate sleep the immune system becomes weak and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease. In the meantime and if you feel it's necessary, you could visit the nearest ER, where a doctor could prescribe other medications, to help you sleep. What ever you do, don't start mixing any of these various sleep medications you have in your possession or you may easily have an accidental overdose leading to death. Note********Since you are sleep deprived right now it's easy to feel some panic. Stay calm, visit your ER and explain your situation. Many doctors will be cautious in prescribing stronger meds for fear that you may be just abusing meds. What you need is to break this cycle. Ask for an older class of stronger sleeping pills. There are still some of the older class pills around. Something like Restoril should knock you out for a good nights sleep and break this cycle your in. Then you will need to find a way to get to the sleep clinic next week for proper evulation if your problems continue. This older class of sleeping pills WILL do the job!
I totally understand what you are going through. I have been there. It's awful. My insomnia started when I was 16. I am now 56. My story is at http://www.fms-help.com/insomnia.htm - a list of things I've tried for sleep is at http://www.fms-help.com/sleep.htm - a list of things I'm currently using is at http://www.fms-help.com/what.htm - I do get restorative sleep most nights now with the help of supplements and drugs.
By the way, zolpidem is one of the things I use now. For me it works as well as ambien. When it went generic, it saved me a ton of money. My prescription is now $10 instead of about $90. Since sleep is absolutely necessary for life and health, I had no choice but to pay it.
You just have to find what works for you - it is a frustrating process (and expensive...) About taking klonopin followed by zolpidem (generic ambien), I have never tried that. Klonopin was the first drug prescribed to me many years ago by a rheumatologist. I soon gave it up to try other things. Can't remember why, but I think back then Halcion (hypnotic) was the latest thing for insomnia, jet lag, etc. Well, you can read my list. Have you tried anything in the anti-anxiety category, such as lorazepam (generic ativan)?
PLEASE WRITE ME dombush@bellsouth.net if you want to discuss insomnia further. This is a subject near and dear to my heart, as you can imagine after 40 years of battling it. I also heard from a man (in his 70's) who developed insomnia at age 18 in the military. He said, "If you think boot camp is rough, try it without sleep!" (SHUDDER!!!!!) Sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in POW camps, so we know how bad it really is!!!!!!
If you go to the ER, maybe they can knock you out with something. Then you need to see your doctor and let him work with you on trying different things. I never had a sleep study done. My docs always tried to help me. Sleep is a function of the brain, brain glands and brain chemicals and hormones.
I wish you had some anti-anxiety medication around which might help you relax into sleep. Not sleeping sure increases feelings of anxiety - I call it "bed dread."