I had a weird Ambien-related thing just last night. I woke to find all the lights on and the crackers from package of Ry-Krisp that was on the kitchen counter piled on the counter. I'd blame the dog, but so far he's not shown any interest in turning on the lights and there were two crackers with my teeth marks. Also, he would have eaten all the Ry-Krisp. He has a cracker addition.

The last thing I remember was lying awake after taking an Ambien and then getting up and watching television because I couldn't sleep.

I was better off with less Ambien, but the current pill style crumbles when I try to cut it apart. My newest prescription is written for a pill that's half the size, but I still have the old ones. Ambien is the only thing that's ever put me to sleep. Most things that make people sleepy keep me awake, something I discovered when I was awake for four days after knee surgery. Codeine keeps me wide awake. Cheery and relatively pain free, but awake.

Jilli, you're on regular Ambien, because CR doesn't come generic yet. Stick with it (Zolpidem is the generic name, and the oval generic are the best. The formulation CAN make a difference. Don't get gen Ambien from Wal-green's; it's the round one and it doesn't work as well. My sister and I did an experiment after we both independently discovered that the Wal-green's gen doesn't work very well on ours bodies. My dad? He can't tell the diff, but Suze and I are both more hardcore insomniacs than Daddy.) Dad gets his thru a mail order company, but the Target carries the oval gens.

Ginger, research has shown that people can sleep-eat while using Ambien. Also, when you chop an Ambien, it actually absorbs more strongly into your system. There's a protective outer coating that allows for slower absorption. So you might just want to get the 5 mg doses -- if it's regular Ambien (not CR), you should be able to get tthe generic really cheaply.

It's regular Ambien. That's why my prescription has been changed to the 5 mg. That's really interesting, because I too would have sworn the oblong white version worked much better, but I thought I must be imagining things.

Nopers. I swear to ya. And I am NOT a person who thinks a formulary brand is better. I LIKE generics. They're cheaper. Go, generic.

But S and I looked at manufacturers and everything, and it says the all the active ingredients are the same, but really, truly, the little round white one are not as effacacious as the ovals. Both generics, but not equal, IMHO.

Weird, innit?

could it be the delivery system? generics are required to have the same active ingredients, but the inert ingredients can have an effect, can't they? Steph? (who will have to answer this tomorrow, 'cause I know she's in bed)

Acetaminophen toxicity is very dangerous and the liver damage can be irreversible. It can be fatal. There's no antidote, and it's just an ugly, ugly thing.

This is what got my late Brother-In-Law.

Me? I like ibuprofen. It's about the only drug I take, although I do like Tylenol PM from time to time.

That's my thought. I dunno about the chemistry of it; I just know that it didn't have the same effect on me as the same dosage of ostensibly the same generic. So my sister and I traded our leftover Wal-green's 30 days scripts for my dad's oval type that he takes once every 6 months and it's all good.

The only bad is I wish they made a 20 mg dose, because the 10 mg version doesn't work for me anymore -- I have built up a tolerance -- and so a month's rx last only 2 weeks. So it's very stressful: what nights do I sleep and what nights do I not? Right now, I'm a BIG not sleeping cycle. Stupid COBRA. I have NO pain meds, NO Ambien and am almost out of Celexa. And I have a killer cold.

People are like "Take a Benadryl. Try this."

Last night, I took two PM's and drank 6 cups of Sleepytime Extra. No sleep till about 10 a.m. And then I slept till about 2:30.

My dad was an alcoholic, so I REALLY don't like drinking except when it's a social thing, and booze doesn't really put me to sleep unless I'm shit-faced drunk. Mostly, I have a poundng headache at 3 a.m. AND I'm awake. Pot makes me tired, but doesn't always put me to sleep, plus? Expensive, stinky and illegal. Melatonin? Har.

Yeah, booze makes me giggly, and then my body metabolizes it to sugar so I'm AWAKE. Pot makes me giggly and sleepy, but that illegal thing is a problem. I join you in laughing derisively at melatonin. I know it works for some people, but my goodness, am I not one of them.

Tell me not to blow up in my brother's fb status. Tell me not to blow up in my brother's fb status. Tell me not to blow up in my brother's fb status.

Not only does melatonin not help me sleep, but also when I do get to sleep after taking it, I have weird, frightening dreams.