Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire insomnia ......

Ambien is my very occasional solution when I absolutely gotta get a full night's sleep... Being tired is tough. And tough on those around me.

I have to give a 30 minute presentation in front of 30-40 people tomorrow for work. The worst thing you can do to me is make me speak in front of a crowd. Let's just say I haven't slept in a week. Can't wait until it's over with.

That stuff leaves me feeling chitty in the morning. I use it though. I prefer the liquid form, Walmart's version, alcohol free.

What kinds of problems?

I got an RX for that from a ENT specialist. 3 months into it I visited my Opthamologist for a yearly checkup. She said my vision had changed and that particular RX will aggravate cataracts and make them larger.

DUI's, texting/calling people saying crazy stuff with no recollection, hallucinations, wandering around the neighborhood nude/partially nude, eating odd stuff such as sticks of butter, all kinds of weird behaviors. And most people require increasing doses in order to get the same effect over time and have a hell of time getting off of it. Yeah, they say it's non habit forming, but try going off of it and see how that works out.

I've heard of those things, but I've never experienced anything like that.

Pills do work, but being on call 24/7 doesn't much allow them. Never know when the pager goes off.... hopefully the reward for that volunteer work is in heaven.

Not sleeping sucks.

Finally falling asleep at 430 am sucks almost as bad.

didn't read the whole thread, but in case nobody mentioned it, get some melatonin. between that and raising the head of the bed about 6 inches made a world of difference in my sleep. i also cut down on the coffee which sucked for a week or so but also helps i think. i drink about 32 oz in the morning vs at least twice that amount before.

No issues either. Some lively dreams. It would be foolish to use it on a regular basis and not expect problems as it's a narcotic. One of my doctors didn't think it was funny - that I thought it was funny - about the sleep sex warning. LOL Like I'd care.

took a 2 hr nap this afternoon. i've found taking a couple benadrel helps.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/search/search-results?q=ambien

Ambien is a hypnotic not a sedative so it's not addictive but it has some BAD side effects. I tried one prescription of Ambien years ago when I was having trouble with insomnia but I hated it. I would take it at bedtime and wake up 8 hours with no memory of anything but when took the Ambien at bedtime. I usually dream a lot but never had a dream when I took Ambien. I would wake up in the morning about to piss my pants because I always wake up at least once a night needing to pee. One of the BAD side effects is:

"some people who take zolpidem (Ambien) or similar medications, such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), do things while asleep that they don't remember — such as driving, or preparing and eating food. Because you're not awake, these are dangerous behaviors."

I witnessed a friend named Bob who was taking Ambien sleep walk on a South Padre Island fishing trip. We went to bed about 10:00 got up about 5;30 to eat breakfast and we couldn't find Bob. We finally found him standing in a walk in closet. He was awake but didn't know where he was or how he ended up in the closet. A few nights later he disappeared again but we couldn't find him in the condo. We went outside to search and found that his truck and boat were gone. We got a call later that morning from Bob who was in a hospital in Laredo being checked out. He had crossed the center line on the highway south of Laredo and hit a car head on. Amazingly no one was injured. Bob had no memory of leaving the condo or having the crash. He did stop taking Ambien though.

"I've heard of those things, but I've never experienced anything like that."

If you did any weird things you wouldn't remember doing them.

You need to go back and look at some of your late night posts.

I believe your reward for being a selfless servant to your neighbors will find you my friend. Been there and done that and if I don’t get to meet you in our northern dreams I will after we’re called home, I hope. 😁.....probably could swap stories for eternity.

I'm quite sure that my wife, who is a light sleeper, would inform me if I did.

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is what I recommend. A bottle of 500 is about $5 at Costco, if you don’t need the NSAID just take straight Benadryl. In my non in depth research I found that it’s <virtually> impossible to OD from diphenhydramine and is usually not contraindicated with other meds. Never used melatonin and have heard how great it is for some and how it doesn’t affect others. You might eventually develop a tolerance to the amount you’re taking so over time you might have to increase your dose by 25mg at a time. For most people 50mg (2 tablets) is enough to get a decent nights sleep but if not increase it by 1 tablet per night until you find the magic number.

Working out really helps with sleeping. Good luck.

My brother in law took Ambien. He had to take more and more for it to work. He would see Jesus on the ceiling of the bunkhouse, ghosts floating outside, he eventually blew his head off with a 12 gauge. I think the Ambien had a lot to do with that. He was going to work zombied out on that crap, lost his job, cshit went south after that. The only time I ever saw wifey cry was when the detective called to ask her if she wanted that shotgun back.

I’m in a similar boat. A guy i work with takes zzzzquil every morning after shift and says he sleeps soundly. It’s supposedly non habit forming.

Yep, me too, works sometimes when you don't want it to. If I put in 90 min - 2 hrs cycling/weight lifting before work, sometimes by the afternoon I'll be literally falling asleep on my feet. Not a good thing when ya got a classroom of savages to control

But yeah, exercise is the most potent sleep promoting agent I know.