15 Things That Work Better Than Ambien (Except More Ambien)

I took an Ambien CR at 8 p.m. one night this week. I was up again around 1:00 a.m., with a strange urge to work in my garden. Hello? It’s nightime!!!!

This medication is awful, for three reasons: it doesn’t do what it is supposed to, my insurance company won’t cover the good stuff (Rozerem) and it cost a lot more than some Benadryl.

So here are 15 things I have found that work better at helping me relax or making me sleepy (sometimes they aren’t the same thing):

15. New Age music (no flutes, please!!!)

14. Counting backward from 100 by threes. A frustrating mathematical loop that shuts my mind down.

13. C-Span

12. A power or cable outage. Just wake me up when the lights are back on.

11. Driving for 11 hours.

10. Listening to my mother-in-law on the phone (not relaxing! but BORING!)

9. Hot chocolate (two packets in a huge mug)

8. Reading anything educational (don’t make me learn…)

7. Alcohol

6. A hot bath with candles

5. A hot bath with alcohol (candles + alcohol= danger)

4. The sound of rain

3. Two Tylenol PM 

2. Good weed

1. Benadryl

 

2 Responses to “15 Things That Work Better Than Ambien (Except More Ambien)”

  1. Noodle Says:

    While I’m not a pharmacologist, I just wanted to clarify that two Tylenol PM is the same as one Benadryl. (25mg Diphenhydramine HCl).

    Regards,
    Cliff Clavin

  2. ocdiva Says:

    Good to know, Cliff. But I meant two Benadryl. Should have been more specific. It is all the same, that over the counter stuff. And it is better than Ambien!

    As a matter of fact, I actually took two Ambien last night and was still awake at 3 in the a.m. Of course I was hallucinating, but awake. I thought I could hear country music coming from outside. But there wasn’t any. I had a nightmare about the polygamist cult too. All in all, a fun and restless evening.

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