Everything Nurses >> Rx Corner >> Ambien
Ambien
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Posted 4 months ago I had a friend taking Ambien for sleep. She had taken this med for nearly 2 years, then one day she had a super bad side effect. She was talking on the phone and just blacked out. Has anyone out there ever had a bad experience with this drug? Do you have any other drugs that could help her with sleep? A good man loves God and lives well....but
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| Posted 4 months ago I will no longer prescribe Ambien. I had a patient in the hospital who ate a styrofoam cup. There have been many stories about people driving in their sleep and eating strange things when taking Ambien. Ginny |
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| Posted 4 months ago Hi, CDNURSE ! About Ambien: I asked for it and took it for a limited 7-day period, when I was having so much trouble sleeping due to a miserable hacking cough (bronchitis) and URI issues. It worked great ! I have been informed by other prescribers that it was never designed for long-term use....information that was deleted from the TV commercials! Ambien-CR WAS designed for more long-term use, as it is lower-dose, longer acting than its precurser. I think many of the hypnotics and sedative-type drugs work better for short-term use and that "CR's" and "SR's" are better used when no other alternative is available or efficacious for some patients. |
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| Posted 4 months ago Bird08: where in the world have you been hiding? Have not seen you on here in a long time. You are correct. Ambien should not be given for more than two weeks at a time. This gets ignored more often than not. Ginny |
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| Posted 4 months ago CD~
What do you think about Tylenol PM as a longterm sleep aid? I know regualr Tylenol isn't good to take every day, but not sleeping is pretty bad for ones health too???? Help A good man loves God and lives well....but
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| Posted 4 months ago Tylenol PM is Tylenol and Benadryl. Each of these are safe to take and are non-habit forming. Other than the next morning Benadryl hangover- not really too many side effects. Celebrate breastfeeding! |
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| Posted 3 months ago Tylenol PM is great. I take it often. I also take the Advil PM too from time to time. I kind of alternate b/t them, depending on what's hurting.
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| Posted 3 months ago I have heard several people rave about Tylenol PM. I think it is just Tyelenol and benadryl. Ginny |
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| Posted 3 months ago I took ambien about 4 years ago for sleep. I had terrible side effects. I would sleep walk, I carried on a conversatin with my husband one night and he knew I was sound asleep, he videotaped me during this extensive conversation. He told me about it the next day and of course I did not believe him, so he showed me the tape. As I was babbling on and on I was getting dressed and tried to put my pants on over my head! Hello, I did not ever take it again. I asked my doc about this he said it is a side effect that occurs a lot more than the drug companies admit. I flushed them and have advised people since then to be very careful if they use it. It worked well for sleep but obviously the side effects made it impossible to use. A busy RN is here |
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| Posted 3 months ago At the hospital I work at we have what we call Routine Standing Orders that have a few common things on it. If the MD signs this the nurse can initiate any standing order on the form form Dramamine, Phenergan, Milk of Mag, Dulculax and numerous other items. Restoril was on this standing order form and tha't'swhat we use to use. Now the pharmacy has substitued Ambiem 5 mg for the Restoril. We have so many more problems with the Ambien. The nurses aren't happy about it. More so in the older people. Seems they really have a reaction to the Ambien. They get really restless and confused and it definitely doesn't help them sleep. Not all patients react this way, but alot of them do. We are almost scared to initiate a sleeping pill anymore, b/c we don't know how they will react to it. We never seemed to have as much trouble with the Restoril.
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| Posted 3 months ago StarlightRN: the ambien does in fact have a greater impact on the older patients. Great observations by you. Ginny |