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.

Each thinks the other is crazy
Date: 4/23/2007
I have a friend who is taking Ambien. Her next door neighbor (age 75) claims that my friend (age 35) knocks on her windows at 3:00 in the morning and spreads cat feces all over her yard. Each thinks the other is crazy. Could this be a side effect of the drug Ambien? Any comments would be appreciated.

Dave

AskDocWeb: It is possible that the use of Ambien could contribute to their problem. Since Ambien is a hypnotic drug and the user is susceptible to suggestions, it could be dangerous talking to anyone who doesn’t like you while under the influence of this drug.

Side effects can be bizarre
Date: 4/24/2007
I first went to a doctor with sleep problems when I was 8. That was 57 years ago. Since then, I have tried hypnosis, barbiturates, meditation, over-the-counter, sherry, red wine, herbals, melatonin, Amitriptyline (Elavil), and every sleep clinic I can find. I have a PAP machine (doesn’t help me fall asleep) which I don’t use. Lunesta didn’t work, but Ambien, which I’ve been taking off and on for about 2 years–does– sort of. I take it on and off because the side effects can be bizarre. At first, it affected my balance a bit and my basketball shooting definitely (I still play). But if I take it for, say, 9/10 days, I will start having mild memory problems, sort of leaking over from dreams so that I’m not 100% sure if something really happened or not (not enough to affect my daily life, to be sure). I stop for about 3 days and everything goes back to normal. I’ve never had the serious memory loss, though. My method has become about 3 days of Ambien and a day or 2 of Amitriptylene and then back to Ambien. I don’t fall asleep well on the Amit, but sleep okay after I do. I tried taking half an Ambien, but there’s a tolerance thing, and it doesn’t work well. Also, after 9-10 days of Ambien, I only sleep about 4-5 hours. After a 2-3 day break, I go back to 6-7 hours. Weird.

Dan

Ambien is the best
Date: 4/24/2007
I am a frequent flier, working in different continents and time zones. After a number of years, it took a toll on my body and I am often unable to sleep. Thus far, of all the medications that I have tried, ambien is by far the best and with fewer side effects.

Sylvia

Is Ambien the problem?
Date: 4/25/2007
89 years old, been taking Ambien 5mg 1/2 tablet or more, over 2 years, Regular in church and senior choir, but too weak to do my yard and gardening. Could my Ambiem be the problem?

Rufus

AskDocWeb: At 89 it could be any number of things.

NO recollection
Date: 5/1/2007
Ambien worked great for me in the beginning, but I found after two weeks it went from knocking me out to doing absolutely nothing. I started taking 20 mg instead of 10mg, and that definitely knocked me out, but scared me because basically my body had become tolerant so I increased the dosage. At 20 mg, I had bad amnesia and felt horrible the next day. The scariest part of all was one night I took 20 mg, and woke up the next morning to find that I had taken an additional 3 pills in my sleep with NO recollection of doing so. That is scary. If you can get in cars and drive places or say strange things you wouldn’t say on Ambien, then what’s to keep you from grabbing the bottle in your hypnotic sleep state and take more? Very scary. It works great if you don’t abuse it, and that really is the truth. In abuse I mean take it, lie down, and don’t get back up out of bed.. and don’t take more than the prescribed dosage.

Percy

Addicted to Ambien
Date: 5/2/2007
I have been addicted to ambien for about 15 years. I now am taking between 300 and 400 mg. a night. I would NOT recommend this product for anyone who has a propensity to addiction, or likes alcohol or CNS depressants. I have lost a large part of my life and I don’t see it changing. I’ve been to rehab a million times. It’s not about rehab. People will use if they want to use, no matter what anyone else says.

Sally

Thanks to all who posted
Date: 5/2/2007
I have a friend that took some Ambien the other night and he explained to me that he didn’t recall most of the evening with his girlfriend the other night. He was quite scared and concerned. I thank everyone who has posted on this site. I’ve called my friend and told him about your website and to never take Ambien again. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL!

Elaine

Tinnitus
Date: 5/5/2007
I have used ambian for several months, and now have symptoms of tinnitus. Is this a common side effect and if I stop taking it, how long before the ringing may go away?

Brigette

AskDocWeb: Tinnitus is infrequently reported from using Ambien but it is one of the side effects. The ringing should go away in a day or so after discontinuing.

Nauseous and dizzy
Date: 5/6/2007
This drugs makes me nauseous and dizzy. I also feel like I have a hangover the next day.

Linda

Speech problem
Date: 5/6/2007
I’ve been suffering from insomnia and depression for more than 1 year. It started on September 2005 and a doctor advised to take Zolfresh (10mg) to get sleep for 10 days. The medicine helped me initially and I informed the doctor that I couldn’t get sleep without the prescribed medicine; he further advised that I can continue the tablet further. It lasted months and months and I kept on taking the tablets to get sleep. Later I met him, informed I got addicted to this tablet. Later he prescribed Nitravet (15mg) along with Anxit (0.5mg) to get sleep and for the depression or stress related things. As I work in call centre 24/7 round the clock, my office timing keep on changing every 2 months.

I started the medicines again and they helped me to get sleep properly. I smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol occasionally; and this doctor never advised not to drink alcohol if I was taking these medicines. And so I drink and after dinner I took these tablets, and I got a good sleep. But one day, after 1 year… I need to get up early for office, so I took Zolfresh + Nitravet + anxit to get sleep the day before…besides a couple of pegs of whisky. That day somewhere in the afternoon, my tongue was rolling inside, and I need to stretch it out to speak. I can’t speak properly…even my own mother tongue. I went to a hospital and a doctor gave me an injection and I was fine then. It’s a case of drug abuse. He prescribed some medicines to help me to speak properly again; I started taking the medicines, but there was giddiness and drowsiness all day long. And I decided to quit all the medicines he prescribed.

The most astonishing thing is I again started taking Nitravet, anxit and Zolfresh and I’m back to normal. Now I can speak properly and there is no giddiness or drowsiness. However, I get headache all day long and everyday I took at least 2-3 paracetamol to kill the headache. I want to get rid of all these tablets…I want to get sleep without relying on these medicines. I became a slave of these deadly tablets. NOW THE SIDE EFFECT IS I’M UNABLE TO SPEAK PROPERLY…PLS HELP ME WHAT SHOULD I DO…?

Raj

AskDocWeb: Have you considered starting over from the beginning with a different doctor? We would get a complete physical to find out what you really need, and this time tell your doctor that you drink.

Ambien
Date: 5/6/2007
Ambien Helps ME to SLEEP. I am 74 years old. Thanks,

Jesus

Mother takes Ambien
Date: 5/9/2007
My Mother has been taking Ambien for a few years now (is now taking Ambien CR)… although, I never lived with her when she started using it. She suffers from depression, paranoia and is severely bipolar… so, she has almost always had problems going (and STAYING) asleep. I’ve been staying with my Mom for the last couple of weeks, and have noticed some very disturbing patterns in her personality. She’ll take the Ambien CR at about 8PM… but, she stays up for hours afterward (on purpose, because she likes the “floaty” sensation). Once the Ambien “kicks in” she will start to act really strangely (although, she isn’t exactly the most normal human. So I MUST stress that my saying she acts STRANGE needs to be taken quite seriously). She’ll do and say things that she won’t remember the next day. When told about her actions, she will laugh it off and say, “Well, they give it to me! I NEED it.”

During the normal daytime hours, my Mother will ask “Where are my keys?” … when she has just picked them up and is holding them in her hand! Recently, I was sitting in my sister’s room talking to my husband on the phone (oddly enough, ABOUT MY MOM’S AMBIEN “PROBLEM”) and she barged in accusing me of STEALING 23 of her pills! Telling me… “I WANT TO BELIEVE YOU JULIE!” … after explaining at length that I did NOT take her medication, she got rather defensive about the fact that I have told her to ask her doctor to switch her to ANYTHING else. She stated, “If you don’t want me to TAKE them you don’t have to HIDE them from me!” … with further investigation (i.e.: talking to my 14 year-old brother with type1 diabetes) I discovered that she had been taking Ambien at night, and then was GIVING it to HIM for about 2 weeks straight!

My Mother takes a rather high dose of the medication (although, I do not know the exact mg)… and my brother is very skinny. During the time that she was giving it to him… he would sleep until 1pm and miss school! Oddly… she had been calling me to tell me that she was having a REALLY hard time getting him up in the morning. To the point that my Dad would have to pick him up and put him in the shower in the morning, in an attempt to get him to go to school. This resulted in a wet angry boy… The school district has already sent his case to the truancy board for missing so much school… and my Mother has expressed to doctors that she believes that he suffers from depression.
After telling my Mother what I discovered… and expressing to her that I WILL CALL HER DOCTOR IF SHE DOES NOT… she looks at me with complete hatred… as though I am doing something wrong to her! … beyond the concerns I have for my Mother’s mental state (her memory especially… since she is a TEACHER and is around children on a regular basis)… I am also DEEPLY concerned for the health and well being of my little brother. When they state that this drug is psychologically addictive… they aren’t kidding! PLEASE EXCERSIZE CAUTION WHEN TAKING THIS MEDICATION… especially if you already suffer from a mental illness.

Julie

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