I have a migraine. I enrolled for benefits, and that hurt my brain. And then I read some e-mail and recalled that Friday is our annual corporate retreat.

I may cry.

My understanding is that it drops you right into REM sleep and skips the stage before it where a lot of people end up stalled out.

But I could be entirely wrong in this recollection.

I had to go look on Ambien's website, but apparently it maintains all the stages of sleep. Huh. I thought it dropped you right into REM sleep, too.

Apparently, Ambien works by enhancing the actions of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA inhibits the transmission of nerve signals, thereby reducing nervous excitation in the brain. However, unlike benzodiazepines, Zolpidem appears to be more selective in its action and targets only one type of GABA receptor.

(I cut and pasted that directly from a website, BTW.)

Good mornings. I slept fine last night. Which is a shame because I have a ton of work to do today and should have gotten up earlier. On the plus side? Candy for breakfast.

Steph, as long as you're looking things up (and translating into English), what does Sonata do?

Man, I hated those houses, but you couldn't skip them, because they just sat there with the door open, waiting for the trick-or-treaters and it would be rude.

and you knew that if they were that into Halloween, they had the good candy.

I don't know what Sonata *does* but it's supposed to keep you asleep only for four hours or so. I prefer Sonata to Ambien, because I have no trouble staying asleep.

I've mentioned it before, but I'll mention it again: I used to stop drinking caffeine about six hours before going to bed; still couldn't fall asleep. I tried everything suggested for insomnia and nothing worked. But once I stopped drinking caffeine 12 hours before going to bed, my insomnia improved greatly.

I had to go look on Ambien's website, but apparently it maintains all the stages of sleep. Huh. I thought it dropped you right into REM sleep, too.

heh. I bet I learned that wrong from you.

Steph, as long as you're looking things up (and translating into English), what does Sonata do?

Sonata's mechanism of action is the same as Ambien's -- it enhances the actions of the neurotransmitter GABA, which inhibits the transmission of nerve signals, thereby reducing nervous excitation in the brain.

[NOTE: by enhancing GABA and reducing nervous excitation in the brain, Ambien and Sonata ARE, in fact, Chill Pills. No, seriously.]

The difference between Ambien and Sonata is in the drugs' half-lives.

Ambien's half-life is 2 1/2 hours or so, which is why they tell you to take it only if you have 7-8 hours to "devote to sleep." (I love that phrase. I am DEVOTED to sleep, baby!) It takes about 7-8 hours for Ambien to clear out of your system.

Sonata's half-life is only 1 hour, so it stays in your system for only about 4 hours. Which is why it's prescribed for people who have trouble *falling* asleep but not *staying* asleep, and for people who wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. and can't fall back to sleep -- you can take a Sonata and still wake up at 6 or 7 a.m. without being all groggy, b/c the drug clears out of your system so fast.

I had to go look on Ambien's website, but apparently it maintains all the stages of sleep. Huh. I thought it dropped you right into REM sleep, too.

heh. I bet I learned that wrong from you.

My goal in life: spreading pharmacological misinformation, one person at a time!

Also, bon -- your tagline just made me snort loudly enough that I had to explain my sudden inexplicable amusement to my co-workers.

Hi. South Florida Buffista Almare, here checking in and telling you, I have no power. The public libraries just opened so no worries. Anyone hear from any of the other SFBuffistas?