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

 

Ambien Dreams And A Futile Quest For Sleep

So I am supposed to trust this Ambien CR because Blue Cross wouldn’t pay for Rozerem, which in my experience was a much better drug. I had trouble years ago with regular Ambien — as soon as it wore off I would wake up. Luckily I was never doing anything weird.

Then Ambien CR came along… it’s supposed to keep you asleep longer. Although you still could find out the next morning what weird thing you did, hopefully not from the authorities. The Ambien CR keeps me asleep, sort of, more knocked-out than asleep. And I have had some terrible dreams, feeling caught between what is real and what isn’t.

I dream about body parts, people getting violent, attacking or chasing me, animals hung up by the neck, driving in a panic against traffic, and desperately looking for a place to stay because I know I am hiding from someone I fear. The violent images that pop into my head stay with me for several days. I don’t wake up rested… I wake up tired. Worse yet, I wake up disturbed. Not to mention the landfill taste in my mouth.

I also wake up with a residual zombie-like feeling. Not even two cups of coffee can cut through it. I have never had that kind of hangover from alcohol or over-the-counter sleeping pills. The other morning I got up around 8 o’clock and the fog didn’t lift until around noon.

I have been taking Ambien CR for a week, and I am already giving up. A good old sleeping pill, a cup of hot chocolate or glass of wine would help more … without hurting. Knowing that there is a better medication out there without these side effects pisses me off. Am I supposed to wait until I do something weird and then complain? The chance of weird behavior is listed right there in the side effects.

I’m sure that Blue Cross knows about the risks, side effects and addictive qualities of Ambien CR, although they recommend it over other, and possibly better drugs. That is because it is cheaper. And I’m sure an investigation into the matter would uncover a money trail straight from the pharmaceutical companies to Blue Cross. As a consumer, having Blue Cross tell me which pill I should take is insulting. It makes me feel as if my premiums would do me more good in the bank drawing interest. Then I could chose what to pay for.

My Health Insurance Is Making Me Sick

I guess Blue Cross Blue Shield must be one of the biggest insurers in the country (I’m too tired right now to look it up)* … either way, after sending countless documents back and forth, my husband and I successfully proved to them that we had indeed been insured for the last 18 months. Every time we have had to change insurance we have had to go through this. The real punch line is we were with Blue Cross the entire time!

I suspect it has something to do with my son’s Crohn’s disease and upcoming surgery. I imagine that they are frustrated that my husband and I have managed to keep ourselves insured… even when it meant my husband taking a job in Ohio for a year. I’m pretty sure that someone in a nicely decorated office would get a bonus if they could find a way out of paying for his procedure and hospital stay. Granted, as soon as we got the new policy, we had several expensive doctor visits and a consultation with the surgeon. I’m sure that put us on their radar.

If I sound paranoid, then you haven’t walked in my shoes. To those of you who have made the horrible journey through the maze of bureaucracy — just to get what you paid for, I salute you, my brothers and sisters. I salute everyone with the strength and persistence to demand the health care you deserve. 

This week, the nice people at Blue Cross refused to pay for my son’s Zyrtec (it stops the side effects from his Remicade) because it is over the counter now… and only a week after they filled a prescription for my Ibuprofen, which is, essentially, Advil.

They also decided that my doctor of 15+ years doesn’t know what he’s doing when writing a prescription for sleep medication. I had a few samples and found that Rozerem is the only one that keeps me asleep without a hangover. But the folks at Blue Cross know better and suggested an alternative drug, Ambiem CR. Ambiem is addictive, and has been known to have dangerous side effects. But it is cheaper. Rozerem has no generic equivalent, and though they are supposed to pay the difference in cost and my co-pay, they just won’t do it.  The pharmacist said my doctor could appeal that, and it could take 30 days.

Screw that, I’ll just drive in my sleep.

*I did run across http://www.sickofbluecross.com/ – have a look!