NARS Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Yesterday my pdoc prescribed Ativan (lorazepam) to replace the Ambien I've been taking for sleep. Although my primary problem has always been getting to sleep in the first place, and I usually don't have trouble staying asleep, lately my BP mania has made it so the Ambien keeps me asleep for 4 hours, then I sleep only fitfully the rest of the night, and have had worse cycling because of the lack of sleep. Anyhow, I took 2mg of Ativan at 10:30 last night. It made me very stoned, but after an hour I was still lying awake in bed, very relaxed but unable to sleep. I finally took 1/2 an Ambian (5 mg), which put me to sleep within 15-20 minutes. I then slept until 6:30 when I woke up to pee, and then I went back to sleep right away and slept until 8:00. Fabulous. But I was still somewhat high when I woke up, which lasted until almost 11:00. I don't know if it was that I took too much Ativan, or if it was the combination of Ativan and Ambien. Any ideas? Would it be OK to take 5 mg Ambien and 1 mg Ativan at night while I'm going through the new medication changes? Hopefully I'll get stable enough that I won't need a sleep aid, but for now sleep is part of the treatment of this breakthrough episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsandoz Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Yesterday my pdoc prescribed Ativan (lorazepam) to replace the Ambien I've been taking for sleep. Although my primary problem has always been getting to sleep in the first place, and I usually don't have trouble staying asleep, lately my BP mania has made it so the Ambien keeps me asleep for 4 hours, then I sleep only fitfully the rest of the night, and have had worse cycling because of the lack of sleep. Anyhow, I took 2mg of Ativan at 10:30 last night. It made me very stoned, but after an hour I was still lying awake in bed, very relaxed but unable to sleep. I finally took 1/2 an Ambian (5 mg), which put me to sleep within 15-20 minutes. I then slept until 6:30 when I woke up to pee, and then I went back to sleep right away and slept until 8:00. Fabulous. But I was still somewhat high when I woke up, which lasted until almost 11:00. I don't know if it was that I took too much Ativan, or if it was the combination of Ativan and Ambien. Any ideas? Would it be OK to take 5 mg Ambien and 1 mg Ativan at night while I'm going through the new medication changes? Hopefully I'll get stable enough that I won't need a sleep aid, but for now sleep is part of the treatment of this breakthrough episode. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> im not too sure, but i just was started on 0.5mg up to three times a day of ativan (as needed) and 20mg sonata at bedtime... its kind of a similar combo, but my pdoc said if the ativan puts me to sleep that i wouldnt need the sleeping aid from sonata... so maybe if the ambien is working for you and the ativan isnt you just need the ambien at night... ive been thru the sleeping med-go-around and ill say that the benzodiazepines really dont help me sleep, so possibly you are experiencing the same thing. its also possible that your dose is too high, since i think the smaller doses of the benzos have helped me sleep better. but i hope you find what works for you, and ill let you know what happens with my new cocktail!.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest billycat Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 I take both ativan and ambien. I take the ativan for anxiety as I need it during the day..... sometimes only 1 or 2 all day sometimes I get the anxiety so bad that I will take one and if I don't feel any more calm in about 1/2 hour I will take another. The ambien I only take to help me fall asleep....and yes sometimes I will wake up after only 3 or 4 hours and I think that is usually anxiety......it's like a power surge and I wake up and I am in a panic. So then I will take the ativan. I wonder why your doc is replacing the ambien with ativan? I was under the impression that the ativan was for anxiety or panic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NARS Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 I take both ativan and ambien. I take the ativan for anxiety as I need it during the day..... sometimes only 1 or 2 all day sometimes I get the anxiety so bad that I will take one and if I don't feel any more calm in about 1/2 hour I will take another. He said since my trouble is not getting to sleep but is staying asleep I needed ativan because of its longer half-life. The thing is that right now I have trouble with both. I can't fall asleep for hours, and once I do I only sleep fitfully, waking up every hour or so and tossing & turning. Last night I took only 1 mg Ativan and half an Ambien, was asleep in 1/2 an hour, but only slept 7 hours, not nearly enough for me considering the weeks of sleep deprivation I'm trying to recover from. So I guess I'll go back to 2 mg tonight. It sounds like there's not too much danger combining the two in moderation so I guess I'll stop worrying about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaloGirl66 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 For a while I had been taking 1mg klonipin and 10mg ambien at bedtime and it seems to be just find, I can't imagine ativan would be too much different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sun_zoom_spark Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 My son takes an Ativan and Ambien combo. No problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.