Sleeping med question

[shannonme]

Hi all-

Mom just visited a pulmonologist who told her she needed to quit taking Ambien and Baclofen at night. She's got the start of problems with her lungs and they said that this would help delay the use of a bi-pap. This is quite upsetting to her as she doesn't feel she'll be able to sleep without these medications. Has anyone else been told this? If so, what did you do to get a good nights sleep?

Thanks for your help!

Shannon

[Al]

Can't see why there would be a problem with the Baclofen but not sure about the Ambien. Does the doc have much experience with ALS patients?
AL.

[patricia1]

Has your mom tried xanax .25 or .50 It works get for me.

[shannonme]

Our ALS clinic referred her to this doctor. He told me that Baclofen was a muscle relaxant and the Ambien is a sedative. "The last 2 things her muscles need " according to him. I'll look into the Xanax. And it sounds like I need to speak with her ALS doc.

Thanks Patricia and Al.

[Boots]

Hi Shannonme....Ditto on the xanax. It works great for hubby and when he sleeps I get to sleep too :) He has also taken one during the day lately to relax when he has been stressed. He says he thinks it might even help his twitching sometimes. I know he "twitches" more when he is feeling stressed. Boots

[Jamiet]

I've taken Ambien to sleep for sometime and it works really well for me. it actually, makes me feel much better, don't know why, but it does....???? Maybe it sedates me, calms me, who knows.

All i know, is that i didn't fill my prescription the other night and i literally slept about two hours total, panted all night, short of breath and all kinda other stuff. i was miserable, my wife was miserable and i will never run out again and nor will my wife let me run out.

Also, there are many post from PALS and others in here with BI PAPS, (if i'm correct) with them stating that many Dr's use the BI PAP to "rest" your muscles, so to me, this Dr. is stating exaclty the opposite of many other drs. I think AL was one of them that said the BIPAP rested your muscles becuase you didn't have to try hard to breathe all night?

[shannonme]

This makes sense. I'm not sure about this doctor. We've decided to stick with the Ambien until we speak with her ALS Doc in 3 weeks. Lack of sleep makes her feel so much worse throughout the day.

Thanks all for the help! The last couple of weeks have been really tough. Mom has decided to move into an assisted living facility. She didn't want us to have to go to the expense of remodeling our home to better accomodate her needs. :cry: We're both so sad about this. She moves next weekend.

The past 7 months have been crazy. She was still driving her little red sports car with her blonde hair whipping in the wind until September. This darn disease is moving so fast! Ugghh... guess I needed to vent.

Wow...thanks for listening/reading.