Lunesta's Effectiveness - Sleep Disorders Message Board

mgray · 05-02-2005, 05:57 PM

I stopped @ my sleep doctor's office today to pick up scripts for Klonopin and Ambien. The nurse said she could not give me a script for Ambien now that I was on Lunesta. I told her that I only took Lunesta for four or five nights and gave up because I was only getting two to four hours of sleep before waking.

The nurse said the doctor had very high hopes for Lunesta and had given it to almost all of his patients. He started at the 2 mg dosage but when the complaints began coming in, he prescribed 3 mg and the calls continued. The nurse said of all of his insomnia patients, only one has reported success with Lunesta. Everyone else that they have spoken to has had the same experience that I had, that is, you will only get four or fewer hours of sleep before wakening.

She said the doctor was very disappointed because Sepracor had hyped this medication so much but he was eagerly anticipating the next visit from the Sepracor representative because they were going to have a serious conversation about Lunesta's lack of effectiveness.

I thanked the nurse for the Klonopin and Ambien scripts and now you know the rest of the story.

kaykay5 · 05-03-2005, 02:27 PM

mgray
What dose of klonopin and ambien do you take to get some sleep? Lunesta also did not work for me, but then nothing does. I wake up after only two hrs. sleep no matter what I take, and then wake up every 1/2 hr or hr. after that the rest of the night. I may get 4 hrs. sleep total a night on a good night.
I currently take 1mg Klonopin and 10mg ambien.

mgray · 05-03-2005, 05:08 PM

KK5, I am on double your dosage. The doctor directed me to take 2 mg of klonopin at bedtime. On my first awakening, I am to take the two 10 mg of Ambien. I tried Lunesta at 3 mg and it didn't last more than three hours. I couldn't get back to sleep and I was afraid to take more of it so I read for the remainder of the night. I eventually got another two hours by napping after lunch.

BTW, the klonopin and Ambien combination works pretty well for me. I took one klonopin and one Ambien last night around midnight and woke up at 6:30 am. For me, that is one good night's sleep.

Anti Social · 05-05-2005, 02:20 PM

You better watch out w/ the Klonopin & Ambien.Both are very strong & addicitive drugs.Please be careful

mgray · 05-05-2005, 05:50 PM

Thanks for the advice ... I liked the prose, nice touch. I have quit taking both at different times. The Ambien doesn't seem to bother me outside of a couple days of rebound effect. The Klonopin will leave me jittery and anxious for almost a week before it loosens it's grip. Of course there is a huge penalty ... I don't sleep and the RLS returns in a very angry mood. I don't like taking all of these medications and worry about the beating I am giving my liver. The alternative, insomnia, seems the worse choice at this time. There have been times when I would have sold my soul to the devil for 8 hours of solid sleep. I can understand why interrogaters use sleep deprivation because you can only go so long before you will do almost anything to just sleep. After a certain number of days, the need to sleep overcomes the desires for sex or food or just about everything else.