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Apnea and Ambien - Sleepyabby - 02-27-2016
Cpap machine I use is Remstar, pressures 9-11, humidity set last night on 2, wear the hybrid mask that covers mouth with the holes for the nose.
Okay, to my question. Last night was 5th night on cpap. Psychiatrist stopped my cymbalta 2 days ago. I was on only for a month and half. Increased my Wellbutrin to max dose 450mg daily. He also gave me Ambien and last night was 3rd night on it.
Last night I woke up 1230 am cause of dogs barking. When I woke up felt like I had heart palpitations, felt my wrist and beat was fast and irregular. Took my blood pressure wasn't bad like 130/80 HR by time I got up to check was 95. Took a bit more labetolol and back to sleep. Has anyone experienced something similar ion Ambien? It was scary and I don't know if it's my apnea (cpap) or Ambien. I am still at stage where I feel worse than before cpap.
Thanks for reading such long post!
RE: Apnea and Ambien - PaulaO2 - 02-27-2016
Could just be simply you woke up startled which caused the heart rate issues.
You don't say what time you took the Ambien nor do you say what the AHI was for that night.
Your profile says you do not use software. I think you should try SleepyHead or Encore. By looking at the data at about the same time you woke up, you would be able to answer most of your questions.
I take Ambien and do just fine. The few times I am awakened prior to the 8hr time line, I don't remember how I felt. I have heart rate issues anyway so I doubt I would have noticed. I don't take it every night, just the nights my brain won't shut up.
This is just your 5th night on CPAP and the 3rd night on Ambien and the 2nd night without Cymbalta. That's a LOT of changes all at once. Keep good notes about how you feel. Use software that will work with your machine. And work with your doctors. It will all settle down eventually one way or the other.
RE: Apnea and Ambien - Jim Bronson - 02-27-2016
What dose are you taking?
I took Ambien for several years and never experienced your symptoms. I don't think it's the Ambien causing it. Keep in mind that it is usually prescribed for short-term insomnia. The effects wear off in time once your body develops a tolerance to it. Also, if you stop it suddenly after taking it long-term, you will likely experience "rebound insomnia." You'll need to taper gradually under your doctor's supervision. I was taking 10mg, and it took me six weeks to do the taper. According to my doc, the most common side effect is short-term amnesia, but I never experienced it.
RE: Apnea and Ambien - PaulaO2 - 02-28-2016
A while back they determined that women need a lower dose than men. Men are now given 10mg and women are given 5mg. They have not yet determined why women were having problems with the higher dose.
With Ambien, you take it and go to bed. Do not wait for it to "kick in".
RE: Apnea and Ambien - SideSleeper - 02-29-2016
My sleep doctor gives Ambien to his patients before the sleep lab study.
RE: Apnea and Ambien - green wings - 02-29-2016
I take Cymbalta and have taken other antidepressants in that SNRI family. Even if you only took it for a few weeks, it's still possible that you could be having some discontinuation syndrome symptoms. Some people will, others won't after that length of time on an SSRI med. Anxiety and insomnia are two big withdrawal symptoms.
I'm with Paula on the Ambien. When I used to take it, I determined that it was better to actually get into bed before I took it and not to answer phone calls or use the internet afterwards. If you keep taking it, you'll learn more about how your body responds to it and if it causes you to be prone to falls or to having amnesia between the time you take it and the next morning.
There is a low-dose, middle of the night, get-back-to-sleep form of dissolve-under-the-tongue Ambien called Intermezzo. Or there used to be at least. (I think it's still available.)
I think that you would probably get more assistance with your sleep questions on a sleep disorders forum or a psych meds discussion forum. You can find the names of good ones by doing a web search, or if you PM me, I can suggest a couple.