Ambien, insomnia, sleep eating

[TheBearguy8 58]

I'm really scared. I'm 10 days until surgery, and I've already made so many important dietary changes over the past 6 years, I'm not intimidated by the discipline it will take with food....pretty much a nightmare for my entire life. I am very ready for this. I am scared that I cannot sleep without Ambien, it saved my life, and a regular sleep and workout schedule helped me lose 30 pounds...BUT, I am one of those people with an occasional case of night time unaware sleep eating, which is why I'm excited for the surgery on one hand...but petrified I could hurt myself with a night eating incident. The frequency seems to be increasing as surgery day gets closer, it's gone from once a month to twice a week.definitely stress and anxiety related. Is there ANYONE with insomnia who takes Ambien out there? I woke up this morning to find an entire sleeve of Crackers I ate during the night. Very worried.

[beezy8 41]

Don't be afraid. Take it as it comes. It is a slow process, healing and learning the new way of living and eating. You sound prepared. I, too, need Ambien for chronic insomnia, and occasionally have sleep eating. I'm 17 months post-op, and have had a few episodes, but not done anything extreme. Something about Ambien makes some of us "hungry". Have safe foods in your kitchen. Try to have those tempters gone. I find that taking less than a whole dose keeps the sleep-eating at bay most of the time. For me, it is a fine balance between enough med to sleep, and not so much to cause me to eat. I keep Protein Bars bedside. Early on, you might want to keep a Protein Shake ready in the fridge. Sometimes having Protein before bed helps, me, too. Yogurt, cheese sticks, Peanut Butter, chicken (later as you can eat it). You will find what you like. food still tastes good, so meals are enjoyable - just eat the right size and follow your plan. The plan is for a good reason, you will have foods added regularly, based on what the experts have learned by studying those who have gone before us. Use your nutritionist and team, they are there for you. Have a great journey. It gets better every day.

I had my surgery 12/31/16, at age 70. Lost almost 1/3 of my body weight, over 60 pounds! I have a few pounds to get to my goal weight, but I'm so much healthier and fitter than before, I'm happy.

[CaitlynR 4]

Please consider a different sleeping medication. There are other options that work very well without the strange side effects, as well as risk of dependance, of ambien. You might consider asking your doc if trazadone or low dose doxepin would be appropriate. Another option is to find a therapist with an expertise in sleep disorders (not just a generalist). Good luck....I know from experience how hard insomnia can be.

[hermione53 157]

I took Ambien for a long time but had to stop due to night eating that suddenly developed several years in. I actually woke up and DROVE to buy ice cream and had very little memory of it. Fast forward and I've been on just about everything for sleep because, like you, insomnia is a demon for me. When I had my sleeve surgery I was on Quetiapine (Seroquel) and Clonazepam (Klonipin) for sleep. I was advised to get off the Seroquel stat because it causes so many people to gain weight. So, I was on a pretty high dose of Klonipin for the first two months. The problem was that I then started eating at night. About 45 minutes after I took it, I'd be up scrouging for something even when there was nothing appealing to be found and even though I was clearly not hungry. I ate my roommate's jar of almond butter in about a week. I ate oatmeal. I ate two packs of oatmeal... So, I asked my psychiatrist to change the meds. He resisted for a while, but now I'm back on an earlier post-Ambien combo, which is Zaleplon (Sonata) and Trazodone. I don't become disinhibited on this combo so I'm better able to stay in control. Unfortunately, the pattern kind of stuck so I'm still having some trouble with night eating when I'm not hungry. My NUT recommended that I save up calories from earlier in the day and have a little packet of Peanut Butter (2 Tbs. or 32 grams) at night. I go for Justin's or Probar. She said the individual portions are key so I leave the packets at work and bring one home each evening. I kind of have to work at getting it out of the packet so it slows me down and so far that seems to help a lot. Good luck to you!

[TheBearguy8 58]

5 hours ago, CaitlynR said:

Please consider a different sleeping medication. There are other options that work very well without the strange side effects, as well as risk of dependance, of ambien. You might consider asking your doc if trazadone or low dose doxepin would be appropriate. Another option is to find a therapist with an expertise in sleep disorders (not just a generalist). Good luck....I know from experience how hard insomnia can be.

I hear you - but I've been through them all. Trazodone caused bizarre sleep hallucinations like a psychadelic making sleep into night terrors. I've got some unusual neurology. To avoid dependance I tried cutting pills, and it's a fine balance. I used to take 2 pills until the FDA issued that warning based on women lightweights driving etc - and as an overweight man I was pretty angry because 1 pill didn't work and I had to add Klonopin an hour before. I don't like the idea of Klonopin, but sleep matters. I lost 45 pounds in a year once I started sleeping, got into REM.