When they say...

...do not take Ambien™ unless you can dedicate 8 hours to rest, they mean it.

Holy shit...the wife and I retired upstairs around 10PM last night, went through the routine and were in bed around quarter past. We were watching Men of Honor on TV, so put that on to relax down to until it ended at 11PM. At that point, I turn over and give her a kiss goodnight, and look forward to falling asleep in the next bit of time and getting in a solid 7 hours of sleep before the alarm wakes me at 6:15AM to haul my ass to the gym. Well, 11:15 turned into 11:30 which turned into 11:45 and I realized my mind was refusing to shut down, and that this could be a looong night. So, just for those occassions, I have a script of Ambien™ to force the rest on my sorry ass. Once I took it, it worked like it always does ... that is, like a charm. I was asleep before I knew it.

But I was also up when that damn alarm clock went off at 6:15! Assuming I fell asleep within 10 or 15 minutes after taking it, that means I pulled about 6 hours of sleep. Normally that's fine and I can fully function on that. However, what I learned last night was that is not the case if you still have residual Ambien™ trying to coax you back to sleep! It wasn't to the point I couldn't function, but was rather that awful nagging sensation you have just as you have that first drink, and your shoulders relax, your eyes get a smidge heavy, and your mind tends to wander a bit.

But I'll be damned, I wasn't going to fall off the wagon the second day I was due to be back at the gym working out. So a splash of some cold water on the face and to the gym I went. The workout was solid, another 45mins on the elliptical and 850ish calories burned away that wouldn't have been if I slept that extra hour. But I will say this - I won't ever take that medication unless I know damn well I'm not getting up for 8 hours, flat. It's far too risky to guess on where that "I'm awake enough to drive" line is to be worth chancing ever again.

B.