I will no longer prescribe Ambien. I had a patient in the hospital who ate a styrofoam cup. There have been many stories about people driving in their sleep and eating strange things when taking Ambien.

Bird08: where in the world have you been hiding? Have not seen you on here in a long time. You are correct. Ambien should not be given for more than two weeks at a time. This gets ignored more often than not.

Tylenol PM is Tylenol and Benadryl. Each of these are safe to take and are non-habit forming. Other than the next morning Benadryl hangover- not really too many side effects.

I have heard several people rave about Tylenol PM. I think it is just Tyelenol and benadryl.

At the hospital I work at we have what we call Routine Standing Orders that have a few common things on it. If the MD signs this the nurse can initiate any standing order on the form form Dramamine, Phenergan, Milk of Mag, Dulculax and numerous other items. Restoril was on this standing order form and tha't'swhat we use to use. Now the pharmacy has substitued Ambiem 5 mg for the Restoril. We have so many more problems with the Ambien. The nurses aren't happy about it. More so in the older people. Seems they really have a reaction to the Ambien. They get really restless and confused and it definitely doesn't help them sleep. Not all patients react this way, but alot of them do. We are almost scared to initiate a sleeping pill anymore, b/c we don't know how they will react to it.  We never seemed to have as much trouble with the Restoril.

my mother was prescibed ambien a few years ago and they didn't get along.  One night her side effects were so bad, she was afraid of my sister because she said her hands had grown too big, she thought a train was coming through her bedroom, we had to bodily walk her to bed and she was just like a child, I had to tuck her in and reassure her that she would be okay.  I sat up with her all night.  In the morning she didn't even remember half of it.  my mom is 42 years old now and there is nothing wrong with her thinking or mind.  so if that will do it to a younger woman imagine what it could do to the elderly. 

my husband has taken this for a long(>2 years) time about 5 times a week...I wish his doc would stop prescribing it.....once he takes it there is a brief window of time after that he can fall asleep and if he wakes 3-4 hours after taking it he is restless and irritable. He doesn't need ambien he needs a CPAP...oh sorry I thought I was in the venting forum..LOL....He once took in on vacation while I was out for a moonlight walk with the kids and he was not feeling well....he ended up singing rudolf was a red nosed wolf while walking the corridors of the lodge we were staying at, THe desk staff must have worked in the psych ward cuz when he got there and started talking about how to re -do the ventilation system to reduce condensation; they gave him ice cream and sent him back to the room. This man takes 10mg and is 48years old and 6' tall weighs in at 275# so I can't imagine giving this to some tiny granny

" After reading a published book:" Medical Mysteries": it is best to consult a medical professional with

   your complete history,prior to the first dosage of any sleep medication.

   ***There is a rare condition, known as," FFI",( Fatal Familial Insomnia), that is diagnosed in less than

    30% of the population,that unfortunately occurs when someone," self-medicates", to sleep,thus unfortunately

     meets," an untimely end".Majority of the time, it can be linked to previously diagnosed, cardiac ailments and

     asthmatics.So far, it can only be diagnosed via DNA Testing , in addition to Sleep Study.Remember, think twice."