sleep help Ambien vs Rozerem

[somuchmore]

What is the general opinion about using either Ambien (5mg) or Rozerem (8mg) to aid in full night of rest?

I have dealt with knowing I have HCV for nearly 10 years. Been through treatment twice and currently non-responder with genotype-1 with mildly elvated ALT/AST. Sleeping has become become a struggle with recent changes in career, diabetes type-2, varices, low platlets and put on blood pressue med for varices control and diabetes.

I need rest but I wake up every couple of hours for 15 to 20 minutes.  

[wyntre9]

I have sleep problems, too.

I had been taking ambien, which always helped, but decided to try rozarem when I heard about it.

My Dr. prescribed it, and it made me really sick! (dizziness, hallucinations, etc.)

I later read that people with impaired hepatic function shouldn't take it.

I went back to ambien and that works fine.

Ambien CR is supposed to help with multiple disorders, like waking frequently during the night.

[mremeet]

I've battled insomnia off and on for years and years too. I used Ambien for a while a few years back, and it does work well. Unfortunately I developed a dependency on it though, I needed more and more of it to achieve the same effect (started at 5 mg, then went to 15 mg prior to quitting). Plus I needed to take it more and more often, until it finally got to the point where I couldn't sleep without it. I had to stop it cold turkey, which basically meant almost no sleep for sevaral days in a row. Within a week I was getting by ok without it, but it was a drag kicking the habit.

Anyway, currently I'm in week 27 of treatment and need sleep aids to get through it. I've been using Lunesta which seems to work ok, plus I don't seem to be developing an addiction to it (in fact my prescription ran out a few weeks ago and I still haven't gotten it refilled). What I do is rotate the Lunesta with other medications I use for itching. Some nights I take Benadryl, others I take Atarax (a prescription antihistamine that also makes you drowsy), and other nights I'll use the Lunesta. So far it seems to work pretty good, although I can still fall asleep without any of them in many cases (one of the few beneficial side effects of anemia).

[GrandOak]

Ambien did not work for me, but Ambien-CR has been much more effective.

[northstar]

I also took the ambien when I was on tx. It was wierd. I had conversations that I no recall of the next day. It sorta reminded me of my old drinking days (blackouts) Needless to say I stopped taking it, doc gave me Lunesta instead. It worked as well as can be expected. I still cannot sleep through the night, I wake every couple of hours. Being off tx, I no longer have sleep aides, so I suffer each night without sleep.

[somuchmore]

All,

Thank you for your input. Good to know am not the only one with same. I think I'll do the Ambien (2 or 3 nights a week) as required for a while with a the Benadryl on other nights. I have also used the Atarax back during PEG-treatment days itch days and yes it worked as good if not better than Benadryl. I bad thing about Benadryl is it just drys me out so bad this time of year and I do not want to get immune to it by taking daily.

Again thank you all,

[web52]

im on tx & take ambien cr(12.5 mg), seems to work better for me than lunesta (lunesta also had a very bitter taste if i remember correctly). it gives me about 4-4.5 straight hours of sleep & only works if i take it on an empty stomach (6 hours post eating). i figure im going to take it thru the end of tx & then worry about getting off it. cant sleep w/o it. good luck to you.

[OnAPrettyPoison]

I took Ambien on treatment, and rotated it around with "Simply Sleep" or a generic.  It is OTC and is like the PM part in Tylenol PM.  It works pretty good.  I found if I didn't rotate, I didn't sleep.  Nothing worked for long.  Now that I am off of treatment, no troubles!

[nygirl7]

I agree with Web52 - I take Ambien CR 12mg and it helps me fall asleep GREAT I put my head on the pillow and I am OUT.

But - it works only about 4 hours for me too and then I wake up.  Usually however I can go back to sleep again if I just look at the tv for five minutes and then put my head back down.

Still - even though it IS supposed to be the extended medication ... I think our ribavirin over rides most anything out there so nothing is perfect.

I take it EVERY night because without it I just don't sleep more than a half hour at a time. I gave up trying to rotate it or anything.

Too hard to come to work without it.

[NYCMark]

Like many of you, I find I need a sleep aid every night to get enough rest. I've tried Ambien, and Ambien CR, and Lunesta. The one that works best for me is plain Ambien 10mg. It will soon be generic and should cost less than the others, too.

Also, I try not to take the pm dose of riba too late, since that makes me all wired for a while.

I also take Lexapro for an antidepressant, and I have to take it in the morning becase it also wires me for a few hours.
Mark

[Forseegood]

I to have sleep problems, but they hit me at certain times of the month, so they may be linked to my menopause as well as the hep, sometimes I say, 6 of one, half dozen of the other cause I know those two are related and one makes the other worse...anyway, for ME AT LEAST, if I have gone days without sleep, I will take  a half of a tranquilizer, ativan or zanax, and they I am "relaxed" into sleep, cause with me it is tension and anxiety that are the culprits most of the time...they seem to work better for me then sleeping pills, which always make me feel odd and give me hangovers, I have tried them all...but of course that is just me, especially ambien, that stuff REALLY makes me feel odd, but then others like it...

one thing I would like to read about is Relacore? if anyone has heard of it, might be spelling it wrong, it is supposed to work regulating the cortizol (which I think I have plenty of) and therefore help you sleep, just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. If you do I would appreciate it. thanks...