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.

Addicted to Ambien
Date: 7/3/2006
I have been taking Ambien CR for about a year now. I am totally addicted and have no life. All I want to do is sleep, day or night. My husband also developed sleeping problems due to zoloft and was prescribed ambien 10mg. It is the 3rd of July and we both had our 30 day supplies refilled on the 19th and I have taken both of our prescriptions. Tonight will be my first night with no meds. Any suggestions?

Becky

AskDocWeb: Talk to your doctor about this and he may have some alternatives.

Ambien side effects
Date: 7/3/2006
I have only taken ambien 10 mg on and off a few times but I definitely do not like the side effects. It works in that it helps me to get to sleep fast and overcome the anxiety at not being able to sleep. However, I feel so incredibly agitated, drugged and disoriented the next day, that I think I’d rather just feel sleep deprived. It affects my memory and my fine motor coordination and I tremble. I even tried taking a nap during the next day but this doesn’t relieve the drugged, disoriented feeling. I also wake up early despite having taken the ambien. I suffer from panic attacks and ambien definitely increases that disoriented, disconnected feeling the next day that is associated with panic attacks. I would only use this when I can stay at home the next day and do absolutely nothing!

Michelle

Ambien story
Date: 7/4/2006
I thought ambien was this great miracle sleep drug. I have had issues lately with depression and have not been sleeping. My Dr put me on lexapro and ambien. I don’t really drink but I loved the drunken feeling with no hang over that I could get with even just 5mg of ambien. But it was too easy to enjoy that “no worries” drunken state, not thinking clearly and taking the extra half… then another whole one.
Before I know it I’m fighting with people that don’t exist (or worse, people who do), driving across town, running around naked screaming, writing insane emails, and most recently, carving up my body with a broken light bulb. All of this I only remember as a blurry and very surreal dream or nightmare. Although, due to my recent bouts of depression, I am having a seriously difficult time convincing those that know of my recent incident, I know in my heart, that I am not, and will never be suicidal or even so seriously masochistic.

After my first couple bad encounters with this drug, I can’t fathom why I didn’t just throw them away at the time. I wish to God I had been smarter as it would have saved me, my family, and my boyfriend a whole lot of pain. For me though, the ability to get that little drunken wobbly feeling (in the beginning before everything falls apart) from taking just half, and with no hangover, was too much to pass up and WAY to easy to over use, especially when I was feeling upset about something. But I am typing this with mutilated hands, wrists, forearms, and legs. A man that I thought would always be there for me is now afraid to even talk to me. And my mother has been crying and will probably be sleeping at my house for weeks now. Ambien is a very serious drug with very serious side effects. I’m sure it has some great benefits for a great number of people. But people need to be very cautious. Don’t take too much, and the recommended dosage can very likely be too much. If you’ve had hallucinations on it, they only get worse. And DO NOT TAKE IT IF YOU ARE ALONE OR DEPRESSED!

Chris

Ambien destroyed relationship
Date: 7/4/2006
My husband has been taking Ambien for about 3 years, At first (about the first year) he would take his sleeping pill at 11:00 p.m. and go right to sleep. He began taking it early in the evening and not go to bed, he started walking around like a zombie, eating everything in sight and making no sense in what he had to say. If I told him this was getting on my nerves, he told me that I had a great imagination because he did not remember anything that he said or did. When we would try to be intimate, sometimes he would fall asleep in the middle of love making. It has destroyed our relationship.

Ada

AskDocWeb: If you have a movie camera you might record some of his behavior to prove to him what he is doing and how he is ruining your marriage.

Awful drug
Date: 7/7/2006
My roommate used to take ambien. We had many times where he would not remember lighting a cigarette and then dropping it on the carpet, telling me that there where people in the house who didn’t want me there and even pushing me around once. It’s an awful drug and in my opinion should be taken off the market.

Maggie

Ambien
Date: 7/7/2006
I’ve been using Ambien for more than 2 years, almost every night. I never use more than 10mg and usually only 5 but have sometimes taken 10. There has been no tolerance buildup and I’ve suffered no bad effects. Its been great!

Joe

Scary incident with Ambien
Date: 7/8/2006
Be very careful when taking this product. Recently, I had a conversation with my daughter, via phone, *after* taking 1/2 of one Ambien tab. A week later, I asked her about the same topic. She had to remind me we’d previously discussed it and it only sounded vaguely familiar. A whole chunk of a phone conversation gone.
Worse yet, a few nights ago, again after taking 1/2 of one Ambien tab, I went to sleep…only to wake up a short time later, get out of bed and go into the den to tell my husband I didn’t feel well. He said I ‘lurched’ back to the bedroom as if I had trouble walking, tumbled into bed, speaking incoherently! He was close to calling an ambulance! I muttered that I was fine. The next day, I got out of bed, had breakfast, went upstairs for something, came downstairs, and then…when he reminded me of what he considered a scary incident, had very, very little memory of the entire event.

KB

Ambien ingredients
Date: 7/9/2006
Does Ambien have any effect on C1 or bradykinin levels? Does in contain antihistamines?

Joy

AskDocWeb: It doesn’t contain antihistamines. Ambien contains zolpidem tartrate (the active ingredient) and the following inactive ingredients: hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol, microcrystalline cellulose, titanium dioxide and sodium starch glycolate. The 5-mg tablet also contains FD&C Red No. 40, iron oxide colorant, and polysorbate 80.

Double vision and memory loss
Date: 7/9/2006
Ambien is a great product if used properly. I have been taking it for three months. I have had the same experiences as many posting here. If taken on an empty stomach it starts working within minutes. Some of the issues I have had with it are double vision, memory loss, and if I don’t get in the bed as soon as I start getting drowsy I eat everything in sight. Tonight will be my third night without taking the drug. The first two nights were awful. I slept very little and when I did sleep I had horrible nightmares. My assessment of Ambien: it is a great product but don’t use it for more than a few days.

KB

Taking medications responsibly?
Date: 7/9/2006
Ambien really does put you to sleep, it does its job. I am very aware of the side effects because I read the inserts from the pharmacy and take careful notes as to how medications might affect me. I do not understand how people can blame a drug company when they are clearly not taking medications responsibly. Gee, maybe I should sue all the winery’s because I got drunk last week!

Carol

Ambien suicide, attempted or drug induced?
Date: 7/12/2006
My boyfriend took ambien for a few months. When he would take this medication he would exhibit strange behavior, and not remember a thing the next morning…one day I talked to him on the phone and he did not sound right, he told me he had taken ambien. A few hours later I was told he had tried to commit suicide by overdosing on ambien. I went to the hospital hoping he would be okay, which he was. He was placed on a 5150 hold. The next day while still in the PAC unit he called me asking what happened and why was he in the PAC unit. He had no recollection of the incident (even to this day) he is a deputy and after he was placed under the 5150 hold they took his gun away from him according to California law. This means he is unable to do his job and is facing possible termination. He has to fight the 5150 hold in court by explaining to the judge it was because of a side effect from the medication he was taking in order to get his gun back so his career that worked so hard for won’t be lost.

Crystal

Bizarre life threatening situations
Date: 7/12/2006
While the medication does the job it is supposed to, it also places some in very bizarre life threatening situations. My wife is one of those. Two nights ago she had a normal day, exercise (nursing a back injury) rest, etc. took a shower and an ambien and went to bed at 10PM. I came home at 11PM after repairing my companies network server. She was up, had a glass of wine and was cooking sausage (unusual). While she was acting a little strange, I didn’t see any real signs to be concerned. I said I was tired and went to be at 12:30. At 2:15 my son came woke me and said “dad, moms in the pool and acting very strange”. Indeed. She had taken off her nite gown, dragged seat cushions and a large towel into the pool, trying to do something with them. As I attempted to get her out she became very violent and loud. This continued, I finally picked her up and dragged her inside to the bedroom. She was very physical, beating me and screaming. I was certain she had lost it. She was so violent I was beginning to think of calling for help (police). Finally, she wore down, after two hours of this. (4:15) I was certain she re-injured her back and basically destroyed all the physical therapy she has been thru over the last 4 months. She slept until 12:45 the next day. I woke her up when I came home from the office. She had no recollection of any of this. Only the bruises on her back and soreness, and a lump on her head from falling and a bad headache, plus her back hurting badly.

You may know of a class action lawsuit against this drug maker. The stories are bizarre but our experience makes them 100% believable. I have no doubt that if my son had not alerted me, we would have had a fatality in our pool.

Greg

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