ambien cr help

Hi,

I called the surgeon's office today and the nurse said I could take ambien cr as the regular ambien only lasts 2 hours and I need to sleep. When I went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription the pharmacist said if I cru**** it won't work.  I am 7 1/2 weeks post surgery.  Any ideas? thanks

Merrie

I would ask your doctor for a different sleep aid... something that lasts longer (although I never had a problem sleeping through the whole night with Ambien and have never heard the 2-hour thing before) and is available in a regular formula (Lunesta is one).

Lora

The CR does not work well for us because it's a time released med.  If the regular ambien doesn't work for you, ask your doc to prescribe something different.

At 7 weeks out, you should be able to swallow a pill as small as ambien, can't you?  But the CR still isn't a good choice for us.

Kelly

THank you. I just emailed the doctor and asked if I could take a stronger dose as it is by mg's.

thanks

Ambien CR is controlled release of Ambien.  The generic name of Ambien is zolpidem tartrate, even the same name is given to Ambien CR, but beware the generic is not controlled release just regular Ambien.  Ambien is available in a spray at 5 mg but do not know if the controlled release form is available yet.  If Ambien CR is crushed or split it makes the controlled release inactive and thus effective.

may want to check with a compounding pharmacy in area if Ambien CR can be made into another form that you can take, and if so they should be able to do for you.

Hi,

I have the zolpidem but I do not sleep through the night. Maybe it is too low of a dose.

the cr only comes in a pill form.

thanks

Merrie

As everyone said, CR is expensive and tends not to work as well for us.

Generic ambien is way cheapo at Costco OFF my insurance. I get the 10mg, snap the whole bottle of 90 in half.

It doesn't really work to take a bigger dose, any amount will pyt you to sleep if this is a good med for you. If I wake up at that 4 hour point, I take part 2. Mostly, I don't have to take part 2.

I've known ppl to take 20mg but they still only get the 4 hrs. When they cut them in half and tried my method, they were getting to sleep on the 5mg and the other 5mg was still there if needed.

be careful when splitting the medication.  Ambien by itself is utilized by the body quicker and the half life is short duration.  Ambien CR is controlled release so that the medication is titrated more equally for a longer period of time.  Generic Ambien is not the same as Ambien CR because there is no controlled release aspect to the medication.  So for alot of people regullar may work fine but for those have been on long term the generic and regular of Ambien will not work.

Just quick note if you have not had a comprehensive sleep study done that may be area to explore with with your physician it not only rules apnea but also can help in diagnosis of other sleep disorders with the treatment that is different from those of others.

I had a complrensive sleep study last year because I humored my PCP  to have overnight oximetry done which revealed many times where my O2 stats were in the low 80s.  The sleeep study then was set up and i did not have sleep apnea but a REM disorder with a couple of other somnolance issues.  I still sleep with 2 liters O2 nasal canula and am on Ambien CR for years and still is the best for insomnia issues.

Ambien CR is no good for us.  It may be titrated better but it goes through our systems too fast and we dont' get full benefit for us.  We cant' take time released medications.

do you crush your ambien cr?