About Ambien

Discussion forum about the side effects of Ambien. Share your experience and opinion about Ambien. What would you tell your best friend about this product? Please remember that we do not give medical advice. That is for your local health care provider, who is familiar with your medical history.

Noticeable memory loss
Date: 7/5/2012
I been taking Ambien for about 6 months, 10 mg pm It works great for sleep, I have found recently I am not remembering things, does this happen? I am 70 yrs old, I am very healthy and do not look my age. But it is getting noticeable,

Karen

AskDocWeb: Elderly patients are often more susceptible to cognitive impairment from Ambien including memory loss, confusion, delirium, and even dementia. On the other hand, the increased sensitivity to this drug may also allow you to get the same sleep relief with half the dosage. Fortunately drug-induced memory loss is typically reversible so it is worth discussing this with your doctor.

You will regret it!
Date: 7/11/2012
I started taking Ambien about two months ago at first I thought it was great because I was also on pain medications due to breaking the bone above my tailbone. I have tried to get off all the medications and try to get back to life and can’t seem to do it. I am scared I am going to have to take the Ambien the rest of my life. Side Effects I am having are as a lot of you have said is seeing things move towards me and not knowing what I am doing or saying at night (of course my husband likes that part) but I don’t I can’t remember anything in the morning he is always having to say don’t you remember saying or doing that and I honestly can not. I have tried to be off it and the nights I do not take it suck! My body is so tired but can’t sleep then I wake up it seems every ten minutes with my body feeling tensed and having trouble breathing so for anyone that is looking into this PLEASE DO NOT TAKE AMBIEM you will regret it!

Jennifer

Bezodiazapam?
Date: 7/14/2012
I am trying to see if ambien is a bezodiazapam. I was perscribed if for lak of sleep, but it ended up making me sleep walk an things I kept the rest whe I discontinued its use and went to saraquill, then lunesta. May be i shouldent of done these things , any sugjestions?

Ricki

AskDocWeb: Ambien is a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic of the imidazopyridine class of drugs. It is not in what you term the “bezodiazapam” family of drugs.

Successfully weaned off Ambien
Date: 7/14/2012
Hello AskDocWeb Just want to thank you again for your responses. After 10 years at 10 mg of Ambien I tried to get off of it and could not sleep. I went from Elavil to Lunesta. None of them worked. Went back to Ambien but started to wean myself. I went from 10 mg to 5 mg then 2.5 mg. It took me about two months. For the last 2 nights I have been off of Ambien. The first night I slept for 8 hours, no problem. Last night I could not get to sleep for several hours but when I finally did I slept very well.

By the way the reason I quit was because of loss of memory. I am 77 years old. Just want to let everyone know that you can get your life back but don’t quit cold turkey. It is much easier if you wean yourselves about two weeks at a time. This web site has been a God send. Thank you AskDocWeb.

Lissette

AskDocWeb: You are welcome Lissette.

The best way to stop
8/1/2012
I have been on Zolpidem 10mg and 1 Xanax 1mg for 2 months. I also take 2 anti-anxiety drugs. I feel like I’m walking in a daze and also a bit dizzy. I’ve also had several anxiety/panic attacks in the past few days. The other night I skipped the Zolpidem and Xanax. I woke up early and in a panic. I was thinking about really crazy and disturbing things. I want to stop taking the Zolpidem and Xanax. What is the best way and will I continue feeling anxious and panicky ?

Troubled

AskDocWeb: The best way to stop is with the help of your doctor. Do not discontinue any prescription medication without talking to your doctor first. Please note that Xanax is used to treat anxiety disorders and panic disorder (sudden, unexpected attacks of extreme fear and worry about these attacks).

Early death?
8/7/2012
I have been using ambien for the last year, and it works very well for me, I read the article in newsweek and wondered about the study that was done about non sleeping pills users and ambien users being 5 time more likely have an early death how right was that study? I was curious because my doctor has tried other sleeping meds and they don’t work as well so we went back to ambien.

J

AskDocWeb: It is important to note that the relationship between sleeping pills and an increased risk of death appears to be associative and not cause-and-effect. However we were not surprised to find that the maker of Ambien, Sanofi-Aventis, defended its product by saying that the product is safe but should always be prescribed according to packaging directions and taken as directed. The patient information in the packaging for Ambien appears to apply only to the first 35 days of use. The effects of using Ambien beyond 35 days does not seem to be addressed.

How much Ambien would be in my blood?
8/11/2012
If I took 5 mg of Ambien (not Ambien CR) at midnight, how much would be in my blood at 0730 ? Would it be about .35 mg/L ?

Kathy

AskDocWeb: The mean Ambien (zolpidem tartrate) elimination half-life is 2.6 hours, although it ranges from 1.4 to 4.5 hours. That means half of the drug is eliminated from the body 2.6 hours after taking it. Let’s round off some of the numbers to simplify computation: Let’s say that the peak concentration of Ambien starts out at 60 ng/mL (the mean is actually 59 but ranges from 29 to 113 ng/mL). After 2.6 hours the level would be down to 30 ng/mL. Another 2.6 hours later and it would be down to 15 ng/mL. Of course this is a generalization but hopefully you get the idea. Your body may eliminate it faster or slower than the example used here. In older patients and those with cirrhosis, the half life can be doubled, taking as long as 4.5 hours.

Twitching and tremors
8/14/2012
Before June of this year, I had no major sleeping problems or health problems to speak of. After a brief bout of insomnia in June, I took 3 12.5 mg pills of unisom (doxyalamine succinate) and developed persistent muscle twitching in legs, arms, calves. Then my doc prescribed me ambien and I took one 5 mg pill of it on July 30. After taking that pill, it caused my twitching to spread all over my whole body (including face, lips, abdomen, etc.) and I now how limb jerking & some tremors before I try to fall asleep at night (not while I’m asleep, but many nights I don’t get any sleep at all from this). All of this from 4 small doses of sleeping pills (3 OTC and one ambien). The ambien really sent me over the edge though…can’t even go to work now.

Howard

I don’t feel like a Stepford Wife any more
8/15/2012
I’ve been taking Ambien nightly for about four years. This summer, we rented a terrific house near the beach in Los Angeles. This house had many sets of stairs inside as well as steep brick steps outside. I took my normal evening pill, went to sleep and suddenly found myself at the hospital getting 8 staples in the back of my head. Evidently I got up, made a pot of coffee, had a conversation with my son and went outside and promptly fell down the brick steps. I apparently was quite animated in the hospital (acted like an ass) and have absolutely no memory of anything that was said or done. I don’t even remember the trip home from the hospital. Needless to say, I quite taking Ambien cold turkey. It took a couple of weeks before the weirdness of trying to “sleep awake” but I was finally able to make it over the hump. Sleeping now is as I remembered, great and fulfilling. I don’t feel like a Stepford Wife any more, no more simply opening your eyes and being totally awake in the morning. My little accident was traumatic for my family at the time but I have to say, it was the best thing to happen to me in years. I’m finally free of that terrible drug!

Mark

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