Xanax + Ambien

Hi - this is from a longer story in an Aussie newspaper but was in itself taken from an unknown source... however I thought you might be interested -

"Ambien and Xanax
If you're an older individual, taking Ambien (a sleeping pill) and Xanax (used to ease stress and anxiety) could become extremely harmful, according to doctors at AARP. These drugs could cause "memory loss (even amnesia), dementia and suicidal thoughts" among users and "both Xanax and Ambien slow down the central nervous system."

The last line might concern me if I had been diagnosed with central (or clear airway) apnea and took either of those meds.

Both those side effects are true of them individually, too.

I wonder if this would also be true for Ativan? It's in roughly the same class of drugs as Xanax

*Occasionally* I combine it with Advil for spinal pain management.

Adding a benzo, alcohol, or an opiod to ambien is a road to disaster, since what would normally be slight CNS effects for any of the drugs on their own multiplies rather dramatically when you combine them.

I still have a printout from one night a few years backwhere I took a vicodin and ambien under dire circumstances, and despite raising my pressure my AHI went from 0.2 the night before to a hypopnea fest - ended up at something like 30 for the evening, since my CNS was doing its best to shut down. Absolutely frightening stuff to look at.

If it doubt, call advice nurse on combinations. On their own most are ok. Combined or with alcohol, bad news.

//end PSA

I believe Ativan would have an even worse effect than the other two, but check into it.

Wonder how Klonopin (Clonazepam) fits into the mix?

Julie wrote:Hi - this is from a longer story in an Aussie newspaper but was in itself taken from an unknown source... however I thought you might be interested -

"Ambien and Xanax
If you're an older individual, taking Ambien (a sleeping pill) and Xanax (used to ease stress and anxiety) could become extremely harmful, according to doctors at AARP. These drugs could cause "memory loss (even amnesia), dementia and suicidal thoughts" among users and "both Xanax and Ambien slow down the central nervous system."

The last line might concern me if I had been diagnosed with central (or clear airway) apnea and took either of those meds.

Comment,

I take both Xanax and Ambien but in small doses. I take Alprazolam (generic Xanax) ER 0.5 mg daily in the evening for daytime anxiety. I also take Zolpidem (generic Ambien) 5 mg, only when I can't fall a sleep within 30 min. Besides the above I also take 10 mg generic Paxil daily. Generally, almost all drugs have side effects. I don't have Central Sleep Apnea Syndrome, but a few CAs events show up in my sleep data.