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Best time to take ambien?

Best time to take ambien?

Old Oct 17, 2007, 7:19 am
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by oneant
VERY odd. Ambien is NOT a natural sleep aid. Melatonin is something your body should be producing on its own. If you have problems with Melatonin but not Ambien, you need to find a new doctor.
That fact that melatonin is "natural" and made by your body does not make it safe. There are plenty of compounds produced in your body that could kill you. The usual oral doses of melatonin result in blood levels 10-100 times the natural amount. There's nothing "natural" about that.

May I suggest Rozerem as an expensive alternative to melatonin? It acts like melatonin in the body (sort of).
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 8:00 am
  #47  
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Add me as another who has experienced the strange dream
phenomenon when taking melatonin.
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 1:56 pm
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Ambien....I call it a defibrillator for your body's circadian rythm. A great tool for crossing time zones; but it is a tool, not a toy. Much like a real cardiac defibrillator.

The first time you take it, take it (at home) EARLY in the evening when there is someone you trust at home who will be awake.
You will not remember anything.
Take it and go to bed; don't try to stay up....because you just might succeed in staying up. That's a bad thing. If you're awake but under Ambien (ABUA...a new acronym!), you won't act drunk or inebriated. You can have perfectly lucid conversations and actions; you just won't remember any of it and could do or say some VERY uninhibited things. (Having sex is one of the side effects listed on Ambien's package insert!)

Many people (including me) find Ambien completely ineffective if taken after eating. When flying, I generally take 10mg when I see the FAs prepping for meal service...about 1/2 hour before eating. I feel the affects begin about meal time. (Affects for me: a slight metallic taste, a bit clumsy if I try to walk - so I don't. The dead giveaway for me is if I am reading, the letters will begin to wander about the page. A bit disconcerting the first time, but amusing thereafter). FOR ME, the affects of regular Ambien (10mg) wear off in 4-5 hours. Ambien CR lasts 7-8 hours. If I want 6 hours of sleep, I take an AmbienCR and bite it in half before swallowing. (Breaks the time delay coating)

Once at my destination, I use it for the first two nights....at bedtime. Bam! My body is on local time and I sleep normally for the duration.

Benadryl leaves me hung over and dry-eyed the next day...and I don't find the sleep very restful. Knocked out does not equal sleep. Ambien is actual sleep.

Some people have negative experiences - that's why the first few times you take it should be under controlled/observed conditions. It's a serious medication and not to be taken lightly. Most people don't appreciate the product warnings - afterall, we've become so bombarded with warnings that they become part of the scenery. Read the package - if you're not confortable with the listed warnings, go another route.
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 2:57 pm
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Originally Posted by airmotive
Ambien....
Many people (including me) find Ambien completely ineffective if taken after eating. When flying, I generally take 10mg when I see the FAs prepping for meal service...about 1/2 hour before eating. I feel the affects begin about meal time. (Affects for me: a slight metallic taste, a bit clumsy if I try to walk - so I don't. The dead giveaway for me is if I am reading, the letters will begin to wander about the page. A bit disconcerting the first time, but amusing thereafter). FOR ME, the affects of regular Ambien (10mg) wear off in 4-5 hours. Ambien CR lasts 7-8 hours. If I want 6 hours of sleep, I take an AmbienCR and bite it in half before swallowing. (Breaks the time delay coating)
Well stated airmotive.
How do you consume the Ambien...sublingually or just swallowing w/ liquid? If you've tried both, how would you contrast the speed of the effects?
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 3:44 pm
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Originally Posted by AAJetMan
Well stated airmotive.
How do you consume the Ambien...sublingually or just swallowing w/ liquid? If you've tried both, how would you contrast the speed of the effects?
Ya know, I've never tried sublingual. I find the taste rather nasty. (Tastes like an uncoated Tylenol). I'll have to give the under-the-tongue meathod a try after a meal to see if that's a workaround for the post-meal ineffectivity of the drug.

My wife is (was) a crit care nurse and is now in pharma. She a stickler for what's written on every drug's package insert ("P.I." for you fans of medical acronyms). I don't think Ambien is indicated for sub-L, but it seems others have volunteered to be Sanofi's guinne pigs with satisfactory results.

Since I'm here typing, I might as well change subjects slightly and drop another note to the OP:
Earlier I (and others) mentioned that Ambien can have some psychedellic affects. Typing this post reminded me of my wife's first time taking Ambien. She woke me up at 2AM screaming, "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!"
Apparently, there were several large white rabbits sitting on the end of the bed. She then got quite angry at me because I refused to see them. She knew I could see them but I refused to admit it because I wanted her to think she was crazy.

The next morning, she said she had the best night's sleep in a long time. No memory of bunnies in bed.

The next time she took Ambien she did so expecting to see bunnies...and she did. A few giggles as she pointed out the bunnies to me...only this time she was perfectly aware that they were halucinations caused by the drug, and then back to nite-nite. Once she (and I) became familiar with how the drug affects the mind and body, it became a useful tool for time-zone travel.

Personally, I feel Ambien is far safer than moving about in a strange city with too little sleep (think: trying to cross the street in Mumbai with zero sleep in the last 3 days. THAT'S dangerous!). However, you have to gain experience with the drug under controlled conditions. I used my wife as an example to illustrate the need for that. (Don't tell my wife. kthx)
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 6:53 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by airmotive
Having sex is one of the side effects listed on Ambien's package insert!
Uh, well...^^^^^^
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 7:17 pm
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Originally Posted by ConciergeMike
Uh, well...^^^^^^
But it doesn't say who with!
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 11:07 pm
  #53  
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I suggest reading a physics textbook, preferably one on electromagnetic fields. I'm out like a light after a few pages of capital Greek letters and right-hand rules.
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 11:25 pm
  #54  
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I took ambien once on the ground and had an awful reaction. I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night not being able to move..I fell back to sleep and awoke the next morning not knowing where I was or what I had done the night before and I hadn't been drinking..I strongly suggest trying it out on the ground first and certainly don't drink when taking it!
Cheers
Howie
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 11:30 pm
  #55  
 
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Originally Posted by airmotive
Ya know, I've never tried sublingual. I find the taste rather nasty. (Tastes like an uncoated Tylenol). I'll have to give the under-the-tongue meathod a try after a meal to see if that's a workaround for the post-meal ineffectivity of the drug.

My wife is (was) a crit care nurse and is now in pharma. She a stickler for what's written on every drug's package insert ("P.I." for you fans of medical acronyms). I don't think Ambien is indicated for sub-L, but it seems others have volunteered to be Sanofi's guinne pigs with satisfactory results.

Since I'm here typing, I might as well change subjects slightly and drop another note to the OP:
Earlier I (and others) mentioned that Ambien can have some psychedellic affects. Typing this post reminded me of my wife's first time taking Ambien. She woke me up at 2AM screaming, "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!"
Apparently, there were several large white rabbits sitting on the end of the bed. She then got quite angry at me because I refused to see them. She knew I could see them but I refused to admit it because I wanted her to think she was crazy.

The next morning, she said she had the best night's sleep in a long time. No memory of bunnies in bed.

The next time she took Ambien she did so expecting to see bunnies...and she did. A few giggles as she pointed out the bunnies to me...only this time she was perfectly aware that they were halucinations caused by the drug, and then back to nite-nite. Once she (and I) became familiar with how the drug affects the mind and body, it became a useful tool for time-zone travel.

Personally, I feel Ambien is far safer than moving about in a strange city with too little sleep (think: trying to cross the street in Mumbai with zero sleep in the last 3 days. THAT'S dangerous!). However, you have to gain experience with the drug under controlled conditions. I used my wife as an example to illustrate the need for that. (Don't tell my wife. kthx)
There are numerous sleep aids that don't induce hallucinations or odd behavior. One of those is better suited to travel, especially if she's never taken a sleep aid before.

I recommend Sonata or Lunesta, but yeah if poster insists on Ambien then it is CRITICAL to try it before the flight.
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Old Oct 17, 2007, 11:39 pm
  #56  
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In response to the original poster's question, I would take the Ambien when he gets really tired on the IAD-JNB segment. On a 15 hour flight, fatigue will set in with ample time for seven to eight hours of sleep. Venturing a guess, I would anticipate that to be sometime after dinner is served. What I would not recommend doing is taking any sleep aid on the transcon segment.
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Old Oct 18, 2007, 12:55 am
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The next time she took Ambien she did so expecting to see bunnies...and she did. A few giggles as she pointed out the bunnies to me...only this time she was perfectly aware that they were halucinations caused by the drug, and then back to nite-nite.
So, do the bunnies show up on the plane?
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Old Oct 18, 2007, 1:13 am
  #58  
 
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Originally Posted by PorkRind
Is that simply your opinion, or do you have some basis in fact for making that suggestion?
No, I tried it for my first flight from JFK- CPT it was very bad flight, and yes I had taken it before. Now I take Lunesta for long flights.
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Old Oct 18, 2007, 4:15 am
  #59  
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Ambien - Bad "hangover" the next day, also don't ever remember dreaming. This is using either 5mg or 6.25mg CR. At 10mg, I'm a zombie the next day.

Rozerem - Makes me yawn a whole lot. Doesn't put me to sleep.

Lunesta ^ - 3mg works great, fall asleep in about 20 minutes. Hangover gone ten minutes after I wake up. Occasionally take 2mg if I have to get up early (after only 5 hours).
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Old Oct 18, 2007, 4:46 am
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What do FTers recommend for the ridiculously long TPAC, ORD-LAX-SYD-PER and back, which I have in a few weeks?

Can Ambien put one to sleep for the 15 hour LAX-SYD segment?
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