Posted by SLS on April 14, 2002, at 22:42:18
In reply to Re: Is Ambien a Benzodiazapine?, posted by paxvox2000 on April 12, 2002, at 19:47:06
Hi Pax.
> I know that Ambien, because of it very short half-life, can cause wakefulness during the last part of one's sleep. This is indeed the case for me, however nothing else I have used (except Halcion) would put me to sleep w/o my normal nightly ruminating and worrying.
I don't know what the deal is with your pdoc and Ambien. Did he detail for you his reasons for avoiding its use?
When I first tried combining Parnate with desipramine, I could not sleep a wink for over a week. My doctor felt that I needed something to both put me to sleep and keep me asleep. His solution was to use two different drugs, one to fill each of the two roles. At bedtime, I took the potent drug Halcion (triazolam) to put me to sleep and Ativan (lorazepam) to keep me asleep so as to counter the rebound awakenings that often accompany the short half-life of Halcion.
I don't know how good Tranxene (clorazepate) is for sleep. I see that it is officially indicated only for anxiety. I like both Ativan and Restoril (temazepam) as drugs to keep me asleep, although Restoril is not particularly effective for initial insomnia. I have never tried Ambien or Sonata. Sonata (zaleplon), a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic, would be analogous to Halcion in that it is short-acting and packs a potent punch.
For anyone - I see that the term "sleep architecture" has come up. Of what significance are the differences between these drugs in the way they affect sleep architecture? Aside from the differences observed in EEG recordings, how do these various alterations affect function, performance, or health?
Thanks.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:102375
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/103085.html