need insomnia help with klonopin and ambien?

[farglr]

i have been awake for 5 days with 3 hours of sleep.

everynite i take 1.5mg of klonopin and that ussually gets me about 3 hours of semi-sleep. this stopped working about 5 days ago. today out of desperation i got a 5 pill prescription for generic ambien. i took my 1.5mg of klonopin, waited half an hour and took 10mg of ambien. 2 hours later i was more awake then before. so i took another ambien (as the doctor told me to if the first one didnt work) and it did less then nothing. it just made me hungry and awake.

what should i do?
am i suffering because i am using the generic form of ambien? i have read lots of reports that it is complete garbage and that the only one that works is the name brand ambien.

its saturday morning now, and all the doctors are gone. this will be day 6 with no sleep and im losing my mind litterally.

i am a very sane and normal person aside from this sleeping problem but i can see myself slipping away more and more.

should i go to the ER?
i have already tried unisom, sominex (benedryl), valerian root tea/pills, chamomile, klonopin, ambien, extreme workout until exhuastion, punching myself in the head repeatedly, hot showers, everything.

please someone suggest something new or a different drug.

i will not take lunestra as its side effect is lymphoma.

id rather go insane and never sleep then get cancer, thanks.
bobe
that sounds like a good idea, but how am i going to make it to the sleep center for these tests?
i do not have a car and even if i did it wouldnt be safe for me to drive. and this is day 6 of no sleep, so if i go to a sleep center and they check me in....and i dont sleep for day 7. what will happen then?

also, its the weekend so im assuming this place isnt open till monday. by then it will be day 8-9. dont people die if they dont sleep for 2 weeks?
certainly feels like i am. thanks for your response though very informative and hopeful at least

[Dominie]

I totally understand what you are going through. I have been there. It's awful. My insomnia started when I was 16. I am now 56. My story is at http://www.fms-help.com/insomnia.htm - a list of things I've tried for sleep is at http://www.fms-help.com/sleep.htm - a list of things I'm currently using is at http://www.fms-help.com/what.htm - I do get restorative sleep most nights now with the help of supplements and drugs.

By the way, zolpidem is one of the things I use now. For me it works as well as ambien. When it went generic, it saved me a ton of money. My prescription is now $10 instead of about $90. Since sleep is absolutely necessary for life and health, I had no choice but to pay it.

You just have to find what works for you - it is a frustrating process (and expensive...) About taking klonopin followed by zolpidem (generic ambien), I have never tried that. Klonopin was the first drug prescribed to me many years ago by a rheumatologist. I soon gave it up to try other things. Can't remember why, but I think back then Halcion (hypnotic) was the latest thing for insomnia, jet lag, etc. Well, you can read my list. Have you tried anything in the anti-anxiety category, such as lorazepam (generic ativan)?

PLEASE WRITE ME dombush@bellsouth.net if you want to discuss insomnia further. This is a subject near and dear to my heart, as you can imagine after 40 years of battling it. I also heard from a man (in his 70's) who developed insomnia at age 18 in the military. He said, "If you think boot camp is rough, try it without sleep!" (SHUDDER!!!!!) Sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in POW camps, so we know how bad it really is!!!!!!

If you go to the ER, maybe they can knock you out with something. Then you need to see your doctor and let him work with you on trying different things. I never had a sleep study done. My docs always tried to help me. Sleep is a function of the brain, brain glands and brain chemicals and hormones.

I wish you had some anti-anxiety medication around which might help you relax into sleep. Not sleeping sure increases feelings of anxiety - I call it "bed dread."