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.

Amazing
Date: 11/17/2013
I have been taking Ambien/Zolpidem for about 20 yrs. It’s a 10mg pill that I began cutting in 1/2 the last 5 yrs or so. Then the FDA changed dosing to the 5mg pill last year (2012) anyway. Because I have awful short-term & long-term memory issues, I decided to see if I CAN sleep without Ambien/Zolpidem. I stopped taking it for about 5 nights now and have had NO problem sleeping! This amazes me, as I thought I would not be able to sleep at ALL without it! No withdrawal symptoms either! Is this unusual? I also sleep with a mask for Sleep Apnea, and I have Fibromyalgia. I’d appreciate feedback. Thanks,

Lynn
AskDocWeb: In the U.S. trials, the reactions most commonly associated with discontinuation Ambien were daytime drowsiness (0.5%), dizziness (0.4%), headache (0.5%), nausea (0.6%), and vomiting (0.5%). It appears that most patients experienced no symptoms when stopping this drug.

Ambien review
Date: 11/23/2013
I have been taking Ambien 10mg for approximately four years now. I have always had an issue with insomnia and Ambien does help me fall asleep. However….I never get a full nights sleep and when I get up in the morning I am exhausted. The past year I have had several health issues resulting in numerous doctor and hospital visits. I am having chest pains, heart palpitations, weight gain, joint pain, depression, etc to name a few.

I have always been an organized person and now I cannot remember anything. I have episodes of just phasing out or staring into space. This has gotten a lot worse over the past six months. I know I have been sleep walking. I evidently get up in the middle of the night and cook. When I wake up in the morning there will be dishes in the sink. I woke up the other night around 3:30 and was sitting at the kitchen table.
Since reading this site and connecting all of this with the Ambien I will definitely talk to my doctor about it Monday. I live alone and have always been an active person. I am no where near the person I use to be. My job requires me to be mentally sharp and now I have to check behind myself several times constantly to make sure I have made no errors or forgot anything. I stay aggravated and nervous all the time. This drug definitely needs to be taken off the market.

Kathy

Permanent brain damage
Date: 2/9/2014
Ambien caused permanent damage brain and gave me a rare disorder I took .5 mg of ambien. I felt the need an overwhelming need to have an orgasm and I saw a huge flash of light in my head and now I can no longer feel the orgasm in my brain. It’s been 2 months. It definitely damaged my neurons. It also caused a rare disorder called PGAD or persistent genital arousal disorder shortly after that happened. So now I have no ability to have an orgasm but my body is constantly aroused. Yes ambien did this to me. It happened while I was on ambien and I was hypersensitive to it. I also was not able to sleep at all. I hallucinated for weeks after taking it and it messed me up in so many ways I cannot even remember. It took away my sense of smell for days after the reaction.

Do not take this drug. Seroquel at a low dose is much better for sleeping and 10000000% safer which I have to take now because I am so depressed and uncomfortable. I have been permanently changed and maimed by this drug. This drug ruined my life and the life of my family. I am no longer functioning in reality and my mom has to take care of me now. It’s scary to think that ambien caused this but it did. I was normal before this leading a very functional life…even getting a masters degree and taking care of my home and family. Things changed overnight….literally.

escape_pod_ready

Metallic taste
Date: 3/1/2014
I started taking 10mg of ambien and have had a terrible metallic taste in my my mouth. If it is the ambien how long will symptom last after stopping?

Carole

AskDocWeb: Ambien is one of the drugs that may alter taste. Side effects may persist up to 24 hours after a single dose.

Short-term memory loss problems
Date: 3/2/2014
I am seriously wondering if Ambien is causing my short-term memory loss problems. I have fibromyalgia and after years of chronic sleepiness and finally finding some help for that, now I have insomnia. My family doctor put me on Ambien because Melatonin wasn’t working well anymore, and I’ve been on it few years now. I told him I was worried about addiction and he told me there is a difference between being addicted to a drug and being dependent on one because I was ill. This makes sense, but I never would have traded my memory in so quickly if I had known it was a risk.

Recently I told him about my memory issues he didn’t take me seriously. I too want to know what the long-term effects are and what some alternatives are. My sister takes Flexeril, a muscle relaxant for fibromyalgia, to help her sleep. I’m going to ask about it, and I hope the Ambien damage will not last if that’s what it is. I am 61 and trying to finish my college degree part-time and it has become so difficult. Statistics class nearly killed me. I want my mind back. This is more serious than just forgetting where I left my keys.

Robin

Body vibrations
Date: 3/13/2014
I have been taking 15-20 mgs of Ambien for about 6 years. I had something very weird start happening to me about the same time. I began vibrating internally. I never put 2 & 2 together until recently when I made the decision to start tapering off the Ambien as it was loosing its effectiveness. As I was tapering the vibrations began to fade. These vibrations have been a very bad thing. Not 1 of many Dr.’s put this together. Have you ever heard of anything like this? I know tremor is a potential side effect but I always thought that was an exterior thing? My vibrations were internal. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Deny

AskDocWeb: Although tremors are a visual description of what is happening, the internal experience could also be described as vibration. In other words, what someone sees as tremors may be felt as body vibrations.

4 days later?
Date: 4/7/2014
I am seeking information. I took Ambien for ONE night, on Friday pm! I did not sleep at all, and when I did finally get up, I was confused, agitated, felt like I was going out of my mind, dizzy and memory issues, and trouble breathing. The list goes on. Saturday, still felt the same effects. Sunday was fine, and then suddenly this morning it came over me again!!! This stuff is horrible. Looking at all of the other reviews, it looks like this drug is more harmful than good. Please stay away from this stuff!!!! Not good at all. Please tell me, are these effects normal 4 days later????

Barbara

AskDocWeb: It is unusual for side effects to persist more than 24 hours after taking Ambien. Please check with your doctor.

My so called best friend
Date: 4/25/2014
Somebody gave me this pill when I didn’t know it and I was at school, suddenly I got this sharp pain in my stomach and I fell to the ground. I didn’t know what was happening I was so high. I didn’t know who I was or where I was. My friend drove me home and I started to puik everywhere. She made me take a charcoal pill to clean out my system. I was then puiking out black and black was coming out of my nose. After that I was slipping away and I couldn’t think. My heart was beating very slow. I passed out and nobody could wake me up. I slept for almost a full day. I woke up to sharp pains in my stomach and I was still puiking. I SUGGEST TO NEVER TAKE THIS PILL. It was horrible. I found out who had drugged me and what it was a few days after, it turned out to be my best friend.. He didn’t know what was going to happen but I still don’t talk to him I refuse to.

Kris

AskDocWeb: We sincerely hope that you talk to your school counselor about this serious problem, and yes, it is more serious than you may think. Many schools have a “no drugs” policy that would get a student expelled just for bringing drugs to school. More serious is the criminal behavior of giving a prescription drug to someone unaware. That is a crime. If your “best friend” gets away with it this time, they may do it again to someone else. Please talk to your parents about whether or not to press charges or get the police involved with this.

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