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.
Trying to wean off Ambien
Date: 12/2/2004
I have been taking Ambien for about 4 mos. I have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. At first the Ambien was great, I could actually get a full nights sleep. Now I tend to wake up about 3x a week at 3-4 AM and am wide awake. The reason I found this site is because I am having significant memory problems also. I get about 10 hrs of sleep usually on the Ambien but I can’t remember what my purse looks like or where I stashed cash for the week. I also have very vivid dreams now. I will be trying to wean myself off of it. I feel taking Ambien is a personal choice. When I went to my doctor originally for the script I was in serious need of uninterrupted sleep and am thankful to of had the option of Ambien but wished I had only taken it for 1-2 weeks as indicated.

Farah

Taking Ambien every night
Date: 12/23/2004
I take 50 – 100mg or Seriquel and 10mg of Ambien every night and this helps me get a very sound sleep. If I just take the Ambien I only sleep for about 4 hours and then can’t sleep.

Shawn

AskDocWeb: Remember, Ambien is only meant for short-term use because you can get dependant with this drug.

Doctors don’t help
Date: 12/27/2004
I have been taking Ambien for about 7 years… could not sleep at all without it… but wondering if it has anything to do with my present chronic condition… feel like I am getting sick all the time… headaches, eyes hurt, sore throat, terrible weakness everyday… I am sick and the doctors don’t help… just prescribe more pills.

Isabel

AskDocWeb: Headaches, nausea and fatigue are all side effects of Ambien. Maybe it is time to find an alternative.

Ambien information – Major problems
Date: 12/29/2004
I started taking Ambien for sleep problems. Ambien worked great–Until:

1. I was in the first auto accident in 45 years of driving. I raced motorcycles for almost 10 years. and have very quick reflexes and keen eyesight. I am a good driver who adheres to traffic laws and practice courteous driving techniques. I had arisen before the required 7-8 hrs. of sleep.(wasn’t told about carryover effects) to go golfing. I was pulling a golf cart and driving a 4 cycle vehicle. I was not in a hurry and I had a clear view of 2 empty lanes and 3 vehicles in the opposite turn lane. Yet, I turned directly in front of an on coming vehicle, without seeing it. (blackout)

2. Less than a month later I hurt my back, not Ambien related. I was taking a pain and muscle relaxer every 4 hrs. 3 weeks after that I had to report to the early shift at work and turned on a system that had been disabled 2 yrs earlier. I believe that I somehow was operating on my memories from 2 years. prior. I didn’t connect Ambien to this event until a month or so later, where I experienced another instance where I recalled memories that were 2 years old. I didn’t have an accident then. I later was able to find through the internet a lot of info on Ambien. I was never informed of the potential memory problems and now feel that I had severe regression of memory, due to the interactions of Ambien and my medications, amplified by the fact that I arose before the 7-8 hrs. effect of Ambien was worn off.

I almost lost my job and sanity before all this was over. I couldn’t drive a car for 6 months without being paranoid. I have been on probation for 6 months at work and was removed as shift lead, with my every move under suspicion. No one seems to fully believe my experiences, and I can’t blame them. I have looked for any legal action against the co. that makes Ambien, but haven’t found any information yet. I feel that I wasn’t given enough info on the possible interactions by my Doctors or drugstore.

I can’t stress enough that the 8 hrs. (It) is not a suggestion, but a potential life and death matter. Taking pain and muscle relaxers and antihystemines amplify the effects and even after 6 months of not taking ambien, my memory, especially the short term memory has been greatly gegraded.

Dan

PS: Looking for a class action suit against ambien manuf.

Crippling insomnia
Date: 1/4/2005
The memory loss/lack of inhibition people have mentioned in my experience is only a problem if you don’t get to bed when it starts to take effect. It can be weird talking to people and them telling you they already had this conversation with you the night before etc. If you stay up you will go into a bizarre euphoric trance state with no or fleeting dream-like memory of it. I’ve even found notes & diagrams I’ve drawn with no memory of – something like the film Memento.

Also I tend to feel drugged and sleepy throughout the next day. but compared to not sleeping – its heaven.

I must say though, I’ve had crippling insomnia for years and quite simply, it does work – where drinking warm milk, deep breathing, imagining yourself on a beach and all the other ‘great advice’ sleep ideas that people that have never experienced a serious sleep problem must have tested have failed.

They don’t seem particularly addictive to me but I’ve only had them for 3 months.
you dont have to take a full one, you can take half, and then eat the other half if you’re still awake after 40mins.

Tim

I love it
Date: 1/8/2005
What can I say? It helps you get very quality sleep. And when you take it and don’t go to bed right away, you get awesome hallucinations and a beautiful feeling of euphoria! I love it so much.

Jenna

Long-term Ambien user no more
Date: 1/14/2005

I’ve been on Ambien for a few years now for insomnia. The feedback that I am reading from others on this site is VERY useful – thanks! I have been telling my doctor for about a year now that I want to get off of Ambien because I cannot go to sleep now without it, regardless of how tired/exhausted I am – I really miss taking an afternoon nap or falling asleep naturally when I’m tired. I have not had the hallucination problem, but I do find I have memory loss. Also, I never feel rested, even though the Ambien knocks me out. I don’t think I’m getting healthy sleep. So I’m going to get off and now. I want to go “cold turkey,” as it is beginning to make me feel sick in the AM after taking it (or maybe I feel sick from not getting any sleep). The warnings here from others about weaning off it is something I will think about. Also, I find that 10 mg no longer does it – I need 15 mg. It concerns me that my MD does not heed what I am saying to him. It’s the old $80 for 15 minutes med check, and he barely listens even for 5 minutes! I’m cranky cause I’m physically exhausted from years of bad sleep from Ambien. Thanks all for listening.

Sara

AskDocWeb: Thanks for sharing, Sara. Ambien does affect the memory. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors will prescribe meds just to make their patients happy.

Memory problems with Ambien
Date: 1/20/2005
Memory loss was a big problem for me while taking Ambien. I would take it an hour before bedtime and would fall asleep quickly, but the next morning I wouldn’t remember hardly anything from the night before. Like, if I took it at 10pm, the next morning I’d have no memory of the entire prior evening from about 6pm on.

Darlene

Sometimes Ambien works and sometimes it doesn’t
Date: 2/4/2005
I’ve been taking Ambien for about a year on and off. I don’t like the idea of taking it because I’m afraid I’ll get addicted. The nights I want to take it I’ll lay in bed and wait for sleep to come when I finally realize I can’t sleep, its too late to take one. Plus, I do get a bit “stoney” when I take it as my balance is off, I say strange (but comical) things and don’t remember. But my main complaint is sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t at all. I’ve tried all the non-medical methods with no success. What should I do?

Lisa

AskDocWeb: You’re right, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Everyone is different and it will affect you differently at different times. We are planning to post a list of non-medical methods that people have successfully used to get to sleep. Maybe you could share the methods you have tried with others. Let us know.

Ambien damaged relationship
Date: 2/8/2005
I have been taking 10 mg Ambien on/off as needed for about 1-2 years, and careful to avoid taking it more than 2-3 times a week even during a rough period where I felt I needed it to sleep. I started taking Ambien when emotional stress over my personal relationship was preventing me from getting to sleep. Ambien “seems” to work very well to get me to sleep, however, I have recently learned that sometimes I have been having episodes of very bizarre behavior shortly after taking the pill (if I did not fall asleep), many of which I could not even remember until my partner told me. It seems while on Ambien I have done and said things that I can’t remember or believe I could have ever done, which has later made me effectively a liar about these things. I think the Ambien can make me completely uninhibited acting like a truth serum in ways, but at the same time can distort and exaggerate my anxieties and insecurities, which can end up coming out in an almost unstoppable verbal monologue/tirade which can last for hours after I have taken the pill, and I can’t remember a thing the next day until I am reminded. I have done things like “cheated online” and had conversations on the phone and in person where I joked about things that weren’t funny to the point of seeming mean or indifferent. When I have been told some of the things I have said and done, it has been truly shocking and dismaying for my partner and I. BEWARE: Unfortunately, this pill I took to help me get some sleep “through some rough spots” in my relationship, has ended up damaging my relationship.

Mike

Non-drug alternatives to Ambien
Date: 2/16/2005
I’ve taken Ambien for about 18 months to help with chronic insomnia. The drug has much less of an effect now than it did when I started. I have memory problems now and trouble concentrating. I have tried Trazodone and Melatonin and neither helps me to sleep. I’m tapering off Ambien because it scares me to think of addiction and memory problems in the long term. I’m going to try yoga and a few other lifestyle changes.

Kate

AskDocWeb: Yoga is a good choice. We would also recommend you take a look at Tai chi and Qi gong. Taking a class in any of these would be well worth your time.

Be careful

Date: 2/20/2005

I think as far as sleeping aids go this is one of the best ones on the market. Be careful not to take it too long otherwise your body could potentially stopped producing the chemicals that will allow you to sleep.

Rachel

AskDocWeb: How true! We don’t take any drug longer than necessary because they all have side effects. It would be much safer to find a non-prescription alternative. To that end, we are asking for your input. If you have found something that helps you get to sleep, how about sharing your secret so we can post a collection of these?

Ambien for people over 60
Date: 2/24/2005
My dad is currently taking this drug while in the hospital to help him sleep during recovery. Unfortunately for him, it is causing delusions to the point where he believes he is being held at the hospital against his will and tried to leave before being released. I am asking his Doctor to suspend any further prescriptions for this drug. After reading info on this website, he probably shouldn’t have been given it in the dosage received (10mg) or at all since he is over 60 and suspected of having cirrosis of the liver.

Kevin

AskDocWeb: Agreed. More people need to check these things out. Glad we could help.

Ambien is too

Date: 2/25/2005

This is a wonderful product. I had no side effects like I had from an over-the-counter sleep aid. It is too difficult to obtain and too expensive to be practical.

Sandra


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