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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sarah T. on January 15, 2006, at 1:37:00
If you take Ambien, either short-acting or long-acting for just a few days (less than a week) and then stop it, will you get rebound insomnia?
Posted by yxibow on January 15, 2006, at 4:20:05
In reply to Question about Ambien or Ambien CR, posted by Sarah T. on January 15, 2006, at 1:37:00
> If you take Ambien, either short-acting or long-acting for just a few days (less than a week) and then stop it, will you get rebound insomnia?
Its unlikely for periods of a week or less, maybe even two weeks or less, especially if you've either never taken it or any benzodiazepines before, or you are only on low doses of related medications (benzodiazepines). That's what it was originally investigated for. Ambien can be taken long term but you may have to dial up a notch on it. Any sleep remedy, whether made in a lab or a natural product, taken long enough and then suddenly stopped will cause rebound insomnia, but it shouldn't last for more than a few days.
Posted by Phillipa on January 15, 2006, at 19:09:01
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR » Sarah T., posted by yxibow on January 15, 2006, at 4:20:05
Good question but I don't think it will. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by fairywings on January 15, 2006, at 20:26:58
In reply to Question about Ambien or Ambien CR, posted by Sarah T. on January 15, 2006, at 1:37:00
I've been on Ambien for months, it's the only way I can sleep. It's not bec. of the Ambien, I've just always had trouble sleeping. I don't need more unless I'm going through incredible stress.
Are you on Ambien now? Are you concerned that you won't be able to get off of it?
fw
Posted by Sarah T. on January 16, 2006, at 0:27:41
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR » Sarah T., posted by yxibow on January 15, 2006, at 4:20:05
Thanks yxibow,
I took regular Ambien for a few days, about six or seven years ago. I didn't like it because I woke up after a few hours and couldn't get back to sleep. I felt worse after those few nights of only a few hours of sleep than I had before I tried the medicine. Now that the long-acting form is out, I thought of trying it, but I won't try it if there's a risk of rebound insomnia. I don't want to exacerbate the problem.
Posted by Sarah T. on January 16, 2006, at 0:29:46
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR, posted by Phillipa on January 15, 2006, at 19:09:01
Hi Phillippa,
I might try the long-acting version for a few days, on an every-other-day basis. That way, I'll know by the second night whether I'm going to have rebound. That's probably a bad plan, but I just don't want to make matters worse.
S.
Posted by Sarah T. on January 16, 2006, at 0:33:29
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR » Sarah T., posted by fairywings on January 15, 2006, at 20:26:58
> > Are you on Ambien now? Are you concerned that you won't be able to get off of it?>> fw
Hi fairywings. No, I'm not on Ambien now, but I'm not sleeping well these days, so I wanted to give the long-acting Ambien CR a try, but I won't bother if there's a chance that I'll get rebound insomnia if I don't take the medication.
Thanks for your help.
S.
Posted by yxibow on January 16, 2006, at 4:15:34
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR » fairywings, posted by Sarah T. on January 16, 2006, at 0:33:29
> > > Are you on Ambien now? Are you concerned that you won't be able to get off of it?>> fw
>
> Hi fairywings. No, I'm not on Ambien now, but I'm not sleeping well these days, so I wanted to give the long-acting Ambien CR a try, but I won't bother if there's a chance that I'll get rebound insomnia if I don't take the medication.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> S.
>
>The dosing may be an issue too. I don't know how comfortable your doctor is with dosing issues, but people with more severe insomnia may require 15-20mg of Ambien instead of the regularly prescribed 10mg. It would be the same issue with Lunesta, you might not achieve good sleep until you hit a 3mg dose at least. I'm not familiar with new dosing regimens with Ambien CR, but a slightly higher dose may be required.
Rebound insomnia though with any of the novel sleep medications should clear up in less than a week I would say, they don't act as strongly on the benzodiazepine receptors or in the same way as benzodiazepine sleep agents.
Posted by Sarah T. on January 16, 2006, at 23:44:16
In reply to Re: Question about Ambien or Ambien CR » Sarah T., posted by yxibow on January 16, 2006, at 4:15:34
Thank you, yxibow. I might give the new, CR version a try. According to my pdoc, the dosing is slightly different. For example, instead of a 5 or 10 mg tablet, I think there's a 6.25 mg tablet for the CR formulation.
This is the end of the thread.
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