Ambien not as effective with Gastric Bypass people????

Ok, here's a question for everyone...   I am taking ambien to help me get to sleep at night.  So I take it, but then anywhere between 3-4 hours later I wake up, and can't get back to sleep.  Now, isn't the medicine supposed to work for around 8 hours?  So I've been trying to do some searches on it, and have seen some posts that say that gastric bypass people (since we process things differently) don't process ambien the same way.  Same thing apparently with extended release medicines.

Is this the case?  I have a call into my doctor about it, but was curious as to whatever anyone else has heard from their doctors, or anyone's personal experience.

Thanks

I have been having the same problem with Ambien.  I sleep for a few hours and then  wake up and can't get back to sleep.  Either that or I sleep walk now.  I don't like that.  The other night I found a empty box of crackers on the dresser.  I have stopped taking them.   I have heard of several side effects from ambien, such as not sleeping  through the night and sleep walking.  I suggest calling your doctor.  Maybe he prescribe something different.   Laura

I take ambien too but it only lasts a few hours since I cannot take the extended release. My doctor added Atarax to it which is a histomine but it keeps me asleep all night. Nice thing is it is not addictive and if I'm real tired I don't have to take it. I haven't tried just taking the Atarax and not the Ambien but I might have to. I have insomnia and really find it hard to just go to sleep (my mom said I was a restless baby and moved me out of her room at 3 weeks old so she could get some sleep). I'm glad the sleep apnea is gone but I don't think this will ever be totally gone. Hope that helps.

How amazing you brought this up....I take Ambien and even tried the Ambien CR, the reg ambien only lets me sleep for 3 hours, the CR does nothing..I even tried Lunesta, again nothing, I layed there for 4 hours..Dont even get me started on Rozerum..Again nothing..LOL Bridgette

I take Ambien and have the same problem.. only sleep for 3-4 hours. I also thought that it was suppoossed to knocked me down for 8 hours but it doesnt. I had lapband, not bypass...  I really dont get the rest /sleep I need daily. 

I took Ambian several years ago, before my bypass surgery and I only slept for a few hours with it, I think that is a common side effect not necessarily due to the bypass. Fortunately I don't have to take anything right now so I can not comment on other drugs. Just be careful with the Ambian, it has terrible side effects some of which have already been mentioned here. Good Luck. Julie

I just asked my wl surgeon this question yesterday at my 2 year post op appt.  I haven't slept since my surgery, wasn't sleeping great before then.  I've been through Lunesta, Ambien, Ambien CR, always upping dosage and I just can't sleep all night.  He said while there is some malapsorption in some medications, sleep medications are not affected so that is not the problem for us.  Oh well, I was hoping that was a simple solution and some sort of compound medication would do the trick.

I only slept for 3 to 4 hours with the 6.25 dose ambien.  My doctor upped it to 12.5 and now I sleep through the night when I take it.  Sometimes I cut it in half if I'm tired. I do worry about needing it to sleep so I usually do without on vacations and weekends. Torrey

I've had insomnia for about a year and a half now. I've had to take a sleeping pills every single night for the past year and half. I see my dr every 2 months for this condition. My first rx was Ambien. It worked for about 6 months. I slept max 5 hrs. It soon wore off and would only get 3 hours. I really was also taken off it because of the side effects..... amnesia. They switched me to Lunestra which worked but awful side effects.... ie thirst, horrible taste in mouth. Then we went to Rozeram. Never did a thing. I'm now on Ambien CR. I would say it works for a full 5-6 hours 80% of the time. With all I've tried, it's the best option for me. Sometimes I just have restless nights. We do process differently as gastric bypass patients but it seems to work for me. Ambien is short acting and only works for 3 hrs. Then it is out of your system which is another reason why we "tried" Ambien CR. I would wake up and never go back to sleep. Ambien CR must work somehow with our digestive system because it's working for me. Good Luck and hope you find something that will work for you.

I heard through my support group, that many of us are having problems with Ambien and Lunesta. Many reported terrible sleep walking episodes in which they had actuall gotten dressed and walked outside!!! as well as waking up in bed fully clothed with all their jewelry on. I don't have first hand experience at all, but definitely talk to your doctor about it, and possibly do more research on the side effects. Good luck to you and I wish you much rest and sleep! Katie