Posted by ZenTen on April 10, 2005, at 16:48:36
In reply to Lunesta, Has Anyone Tried It?, posted by Phillipa on April 10, 2005, at 13:06:33
I have been on it 3 nights! I did pay quite a high copay for it. I was more than willing to pay this, just to give it a try, though! I basically was on it 2 days after it was finally approved. I bought my 3mgs tablets at Walgreens. It costs about same as Ambien, at around $4.00 a pill!
Unfortunatly, I had VERY high hopes and was very very disappointed with it. I was sure it was going to be great. It DOES have a cross-tolerance with Ambien. I've been on 15-20mgs of Ambien a night for almost 2 years straight and basically it doesnt do anything unless, I take that with Restoril 30mgs--it used to be a miracle sleep-aide for me...so dont get me wrong, I love Ambien.
The 3mgs of Luneta for me, was like taking 25 mgs of Benadryl. The only side-effects it has is a really horrible after taste in my throat... which in itself is no issue to me. (Make sure you wash it down with lots of juice or other flavored beverage and make sure the pill goes right down, dont let it sit in your mouth for even a moment--I learned this the hard way). Now that I think of it, the other side effect it has, was it made me urinate A LOT througout the night...Interuptting my sleep. I am almost certain this was the Lunesta and not my fluid intake or other meds, because Lunesta was the only new thing I added to my bedtime regime.
I plan on giving it a full trial but obviously it doesn't appear like it will suddenly start working. :-(
I get the impression that anyone who has not been on Ambien or Sonata for too long--or isn't currently on it, will find it to be a superb sleep aid. I think its action at the Benzo 1 receptors is very similar to Ambien and my receptors, I suppose, have adapted to this mechanism.
I can't see why it would have any more antidepressant efficacy than any other sleep aides on the market. It's profile is similar to other newer marketed sleep aids, with the exception that Lunesta, has a big incentive to claim it has AD efficy--and that is profit! (I don't mean to sound cynical.)
Personally, I find Ambien, in a high dose more relaxing than Lunesta. I am sure others will have differing opinions of it.
poster:ZenTen
thread:482377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050408/msgs/482444.html