Re: Sleeping Pills vs. CR?

[Guest guest]

I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my former sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these lately in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by the media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are supposedly very safe w/few side effects.

on 3/16/2006 6:48 AM, Rodney at perspect1111@... wrote:

If you want to CR, don't take Ambien, apparently:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188040,00.html

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my former sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these lately in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by the media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are supposedly very safe w/few side effects.

on 3/16/2006 6:48 AM, Rodney at perspect1111@... wrote:

If you want to CR, don't take Ambien, apparently:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188040,00.html

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

At 08:16 AM 3/16/2006, you wrote:

>I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my former

>sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these lately

>in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by the

>media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are supposedly very

>safe w/few side effects.

Ambien is strange stuff.

I have trouble sleeping in December, and my life situation was

particularly stressful, so I got a 1 month script for ambien from my doc.

Ambien is not, technically, a benzodiazepine, but half of the

molecule looks a lot like one. My basic feeling about BZ's is that they

take back what they give: they lower anxiety, promote sleep and reduce

violence by increasing the sensitivity of GABA receptors, but when they

wear off there is a rebound effect (maybe the GABA terminals get

downregulated.) I found I had some bursts of anxiety and irritation the

days after the first few times I used it.

I also experienced strange changes of conciousness from Ambien

when I took it before going directly to sleep. For instance, my wife kept

up by talking to me in bed one night, and I saw hallucinations in the

darkness (shadows crawling) and a general creepy feeling of unfamiliarity.

One night I took the ambien and figured I'd do a few chores

downstairs while waiting for it to hit. It hit in about twenty

minutes, and it was quite bizzare. Sitting in my living room, in a house

I'd lived in for five years, I had the feeling I was looking at a place

I'd never seen before. My kid has this toy crawler with 24 wheels, and I

was hallucinating that it was moving, that there people inside the little

cab. After about ten minutes of feeling really weirded out, I figured I

might as well just go to bed.

For the most part, people who use ambien as directed don't notice

these effects because it mostly seems to mess up the perception of incoming

information. If you lay in a dark, quiet room with your eyes closed, you

generally fall asleep before you notice anything weird.

My insomnia cleared up in early January, and I was left with

about five pills. Two nights ago I took half a pill. I have to admit that

I was a bad patient, because, I'd had a few glasses of wine earlier in

the evening, but I think the alcohol was largely out of my system. (It

had been a few hours, I felt OK to drive home.) I went to bed around 11

pm, and I woke up around 3 am and I saw this spiral composed out of

spinning grey and blue squares. The spiral organization was a lot like

what people observe with the 5HT2A hallucinogens, but the color and

texture was different.

Weird stuff -- I can imagine some people might take it to

" trip " , but it's a strange and mostly unpleasant experience. On the other

hand, some people like ketamine...

[Guest guest]

At 08:16 AM 3/16/2006, you wrote:

>I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my former

>sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these lately

>in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by the

>media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are supposedly very

>safe w/few side effects.

Ambien is strange stuff.

I have trouble sleeping in December, and my life situation was

particularly stressful, so I got a 1 month script for ambien from my doc.

Ambien is not, technically, a benzodiazepine, but half of the

molecule looks a lot like one. My basic feeling about BZ's is that they

take back what they give: they lower anxiety, promote sleep and reduce

violence by increasing the sensitivity of GABA receptors, but when they

wear off there is a rebound effect (maybe the GABA terminals get

downregulated.) I found I had some bursts of anxiety and irritation the

days after the first few times I used it.

I also experienced strange changes of conciousness from Ambien

when I took it before going directly to sleep. For instance, my wife kept

up by talking to me in bed one night, and I saw hallucinations in the

darkness (shadows crawling) and a general creepy feeling of unfamiliarity.

One night I took the ambien and figured I'd do a few chores

downstairs while waiting for it to hit. It hit in about twenty

minutes, and it was quite bizzare. Sitting in my living room, in a house

I'd lived in for five years, I had the feeling I was looking at a place

I'd never seen before. My kid has this toy crawler with 24 wheels, and I

was hallucinating that it was moving, that there people inside the little

cab. After about ten minutes of feeling really weirded out, I figured I

might as well just go to bed.

For the most part, people who use ambien as directed don't notice

these effects because it mostly seems to mess up the perception of incoming

information. If you lay in a dark, quiet room with your eyes closed, you

generally fall asleep before you notice anything weird.

My insomnia cleared up in early January, and I was left with

about five pills. Two nights ago I took half a pill. I have to admit that

I was a bad patient, because, I'd had a few glasses of wine earlier in

the evening, but I think the alcohol was largely out of my system. (It

had been a few hours, I felt OK to drive home.) I went to bed around 11

pm, and I woke up around 3 am and I saw this spiral composed out of

spinning grey and blue squares. The spiral organization was a lot like

what people observe with the 5HT2A hallucinogens, but the color and

texture was different.

Weird stuff -- I can imagine some people might take it to

" trip " , but it's a strange and mostly unpleasant experience. On the other

hand, some people like ketamine...

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Remember the case about a year ago, where someone drove thirty miles

in the middle of the night, murdered someone, and then drove home,

and claimed they had no memory of it and had done it in their sleep?

I wonder if they were on Ambien?

Rodney.

> >I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my

former

> >sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these

lately

> >in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by

the

> >media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are

supposedly very

> >safe w/few side effects.

>

> Ambien is strange stuff.

>

> I have trouble sleeping in December, and my life

situation was

> particularly stressful, so I got a 1 month script for ambien from

my doc.

>

> Ambien is not, technically, a benzodiazepine, but half

of the

> molecule looks a lot like one. My basic feeling about BZ's is that

they

> take back what they give: they lower anxiety, promote sleep and

reduce

> violence by increasing the sensitivity of GABA receptors, but when

they

> wear off there is a rebound effect (maybe the GABA terminals get

> downregulated.) I found I had some bursts of anxiety and

irritation the

> days after the first few times I used it.

>

> I also experienced strange changes of conciousness from

Ambien

> when I took it before going directly to sleep. For instance, my

wife kept

> up by talking to me in bed one night, and I saw hallucinations in

the

> darkness (shadows crawling) and a general creepy feeling of

unfamiliarity.

>

> One night I took the ambien and figured I'd do a few

chores

> downstairs while waiting for it to hit. It hit in about twenty

> minutes, and it was quite bizzare. Sitting in my living room, in

a house

> I'd lived in for five years, I had the feeling I was looking at a

place

> I'd never seen before. My kid has this toy crawler with 24

wheels, and I

> was hallucinating that it was moving, that there people inside the

little

> cab. After about ten minutes of feeling really weirded out, I

figured I

> might as well just go to bed.

>

> For the most part, people who use ambien as directed

don't notice

> these effects because it mostly seems to mess up the perception of

incoming

> information. If you lay in a dark, quiet room with your eyes

closed, you

> generally fall asleep before you notice anything weird.

>

> My insomnia cleared up in early January, and I was left

with

> about five pills. Two nights ago I took half a pill. I have to

admit that

> I was a bad patient, because, I'd had a few glasses of wine

earlier in

> the evening, but I think the alcohol was largely out of my

system. (It

> had been a few hours, I felt OK to drive home.) I went to bed

around 11

> pm, and I woke up around 3 am and I saw this spiral composed out

of

> spinning grey and blue squares. The spiral organization was a lot

like

> what people observe with the 5HT2A hallucinogens, but the color

and

> texture was different.

>

> Weird stuff -- I can imagine some people might take it to

> " trip " , but it's a strange and mostly unpleasant experience. On

the other

> hand, some people like ketamine...

>

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Remember the case about a year ago, where someone drove thirty miles

in the middle of the night, murdered someone, and then drove home,

and claimed they had no memory of it and had done it in their sleep?

I wonder if they were on Ambien?

Rodney.

> >I occasionally take a SP (veterans on the list may remember my

former

> >sleep problems) and have never experienced such problems as these

lately

> >in the news. I suspect they're rarer than is made out to be by

the

> >media. It makes a good story. Today's sleeping pills are

supposedly very

> >safe w/few side effects.

>

> Ambien is strange stuff.

>

> I have trouble sleeping in December, and my life

situation was

> particularly stressful, so I got a 1 month script for ambien from

my doc.

>

> Ambien is not, technically, a benzodiazepine, but half

of the

> molecule looks a lot like one. My basic feeling about BZ's is that

they

> take back what they give: they lower anxiety, promote sleep and

reduce

> violence by increasing the sensitivity of GABA receptors, but when

they

> wear off there is a rebound effect (maybe the GABA terminals get

> downregulated.) I found I had some bursts of anxiety and

irritation the

> days after the first few times I used it.

>

> I also experienced strange changes of conciousness from

Ambien

> when I took it before going directly to sleep. For instance, my

wife kept

> up by talking to me in bed one night, and I saw hallucinations in

the

> darkness (shadows crawling) and a general creepy feeling of

unfamiliarity.

>

> One night I took the ambien and figured I'd do a few

chores

> downstairs while waiting for it to hit. It hit in about twenty

> minutes, and it was quite bizzare. Sitting in my living room, in

a house

> I'd lived in for five years, I had the feeling I was looking at a

place

> I'd never seen before. My kid has this toy crawler with 24

wheels, and I

> was hallucinating that it was moving, that there people inside the

little

> cab. After about ten minutes of feeling really weirded out, I

figured I

> might as well just go to bed.

>

> For the most part, people who use ambien as directed

don't notice

> these effects because it mostly seems to mess up the perception of

incoming

> information. If you lay in a dark, quiet room with your eyes

closed, you

> generally fall asleep before you notice anything weird.

>

> My insomnia cleared up in early January, and I was left

with

> about five pills. Two nights ago I took half a pill. I have to

admit that

> I was a bad patient, because, I'd had a few glasses of wine

earlier in

> the evening, but I think the alcohol was largely out of my

system. (It

> had been a few hours, I felt OK to drive home.) I went to bed

around 11

> pm, and I woke up around 3 am and I saw this spiral composed out

of

> spinning grey and blue squares. The spiral organization was a lot

like

> what people observe with the 5HT2A hallucinogens, but the color

and

> texture was different.

>

> Weird stuff -- I can imagine some people might take it to

> " trip " , but it's a strange and mostly unpleasant experience. On

the other

> hand, some people like ketamine...

>