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.

Awful nightmares
Date: 3/26/2009
I tried taking Ambien. I fell asleep quickly; however, I had awful nightmares and had to stop taking it. Doctors misdiagnosed the cause of sleepness. What I really needed was a muscle relaxant for neck and shoulders.

Aqtm

WRONG!
Date: 3/27/2009
I have been on ambien for 7 years….it has caused me to lose my identity…I am groggy during day, don’t sleep now at night(developed tolerance), hair loss, loss of libido, aging at an alarming rate(I am 51), generally feel horrible, joint pain…could go on forever. Then why don’t I quit?…tried SEVERAL times…Doctor kept refilling Rx…said it is not addicting/no long term side effects. WRONG!.

Nancy

HABITUAL USAGE IS A DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Date: 3/29/2009
I’m a 23-year-old male who’s been taking Ambien/Ambien CR on and off for the last 18 months. Because of a hyperactive mind I often had insomnia as a child, but daily stimulants actually allowed me to sleep. I was eventually put on Wellbutrin for depression, but it interfered with my sleep–hence the Ambien. At first it was on an as-needed basis but I enjoyed it so much that I became reliant on it to fall asleep even after stopping Wellbutrin.

I decided to stop taking it this past summer so my doctor had me alternate nights with Ambien and Rozerem for a few weeks. I had horrible insomnia those nights without it and the 2-3 weeks after I stopped taking it, but I DID regain some normalcy. However, I went back on Wellbutrin in the fall and used this as an excuse to start the Ambien again. I’ve taken it consistently every night for the past 7 months. I started waking up 4 hours into my sleep so now I alternate between the standard and CR versions, depending on how whether I have a full 8 hours to sleep. I’ve managed to keep my dosages down to the max recommended (10mg, 12.5mg for CR) even though they’re definitely less effective now than they used to be and I’d like to take more. While I do really use it to sleep, I also like to stay up for a while after I take it to enjoy it recreationally, even though I know better. It’s a euphorically detached high that takes you away from yourself, vivifies colors and visually sharpens the edges of objects, and definitely causes clumsiness, physical and mental, even though you can’t tell when you’re on it (until you start tripping over things).

Unlike any other sleep drug I’d tried, Ambien did not hang me over, which is why my doc prescribed it. The desirable side effects began to weaken as I started tolerating it, but it’s still definitely impairing (especially the quick-release) and causes me what I can only describe as heightened sentimentality/emotion. Since depression has blunted my affect, I naturally crave Ambien, since it makes (or made) me feel free and good and normal and happy. In other words, I’m definitely addicted psychologically as well as physically. It’s gotten to the point where I’m constantly looking forward to bedtime just so I can feel that way–the high point of most of my days.

I’ve certainly had quite a few conversations and binge-eating experiences that I can only just remember, when I strain hard enough, after people tell me about them. Ambienesia, as I call it, is even more likely when you consume the drug with other chemicals in your bloodstream, particularly alcohol. Long-term, my dysthymia/depression/anxiety have worsened so that I generally feel like I’m going through the motions of life. I have pronounced memory and attention problems; absentmindedness is the best way to put it. Physical clumsiness and freezing up cognitively at my job in the food service industry is constantly distressing me. I’m also tired a lot of the time, craving naps, and never feel like doing any work or focusing. I’m not positive there’s a correlation with the Ambien, but let’s just say that I’m definitely suspicious of it. So I’ll join the chorus and say that it does a fantastic job for how it’s indicated: SHORT-term usage.

HABITUAL USAGE IS A DOWNWARD SPIRAL, if reading all the other posts hasn’t made that clear. So be honest with yourself about the potential for this happening and don’t even try it if you’re predisposed to liking it too much. Finally, I want to condemn the absolutely irresponsible psychiatrists that prescribe Ambien as a long-term insomnia treatment. I’m currently looking for a new one because I can’t believe mine has let me take this drug for so long. It’s downright shocking that not a single study on long-term usage exists, considering how many people are obviously addicted, myself included. Tonight is the night I start melatonin instead.

Alexander

I absolutely love it!
Date: 4/3/2009
I have taken Ambien for about 4 years now. I take it for 3 weeks then off for a week and I absolutely love it! I have had no bad side effects and the sleep I am getting has definitely improved my quality of life. My question is this. Can Ambien build up in your system to a dangerous amount or does it wear off completely within the 8 hour period?

Angela

AskDocWeb: It may take up to 48 hours for Ambien to leave your system so there might be some buildup with daily usage. There have been no reports of a dangerous amount of buildup.

I love ambien
Date: 4/4/2009
For a period of 3 months after having my 2nd child, I’ve woken up at 3am regardless of the time I go to sleep. My Dr prescribed Ambien 10mg which has been a godsend! I’ve Bern taking it since January with a week in between waiting on a longterm use approval from my insurance. No adverse reactions then – just woke up at 3am with very little energy fir the day or my kids. I love ambien – better nights sleep/better quality of life.

Lori

Ambien train
Date: 4/5/2009
I can no longer have a conversation with my elderly mother who used to talk my ear off not so long ago. Once she got on the “Ambien train” she began to show symptoms similar to that of a person in the early stages of dementia. Specifically, she would forget words, even very easy words. She couldn’t remember her daughter’s name (my youngest sister) during one of these awful, fragmented “conversations.” It took me a little while to figure out the culprit but I’m sure it’s the Ambien, although she will not hear any of this. I see no other plausible explanation from her changing from a cogent, lively conversationalist (pre-Ambien) to a stammering, stuttering amnesiac (post-Ambien). She won’t give up her Ambien, no way, no how. I guess she would rather try to conduct a quasi-conversation and continue to complain about her awful memory, the curse of getting old, etc. etc., than to cut down on her dose or get off it altogether. And, btw, I do NOT blame the manufacturer of the drug (not everyone has the same bad reaction), only the people who know it’s no good for them but continue to take it anyway – and then talk about “suing the drugmaker.”

GJD

AskDocWeb: It is important to note that Ambien has a more powerful effect on the elderly and the manufacturer recommends a lower dosage for those patients.

Long term affects of Ambien
Date: 4/6/2009
What are the long term side affects of taking Ambien? Yes, I have experienced most of the side affects others have posted but it seems to me a great deal of these are because they didn’t read the instructions. My husband insists now that I don’t take the Ambien until I am literaly in bed and ready to turn out the lights. I have been taking Ambien now for 6 years. My health provider asked me on my last visit if I knew what the long term affects were and if not to go on line and find out, and so I ask the web doctor.

Linda

AskDocWeb: It may sound ridiculous but the drug company considers long term use to be 28 to 35 nights. We are sure that many readers will agree with us that this needs to be redefined. Readers have complained that it is a copout for the drug companies to say that this product is only to be used for a few weeks because it avoids the real issues of long-term use. Using any sleeping pill beyond a few weeks carries the risk of becoming dependent on it. The whole subject of long-term affects needs more research because many of the drugs taken for insomnia have never been tested for long-term use even though people often take them for years. Hopefully long-term users will continue to share their experiences so that others will know what to expect from this sleeping pill.

Metallic taste
Date: 4/7/2009
I’ve been on Ambian for about 4 months, I was taking the 10 tabs, and they weren’t working very well after 2 or so months, I randomly took two at intervals in the night time. I now have Cr, which still only works about 4-5.5 hours at a shot. I took them at two intervals at night and took 12.5 (measurement) and am having a metallic taste in my mouth lately. I’m going to try another sample my Dr. gave me of something else and wait to see how my mouth is tomorrow. I won’t take two again if this is what it’s going to do. I’ll get off of them FAST.

Lauralight

Not addictive – that’s a joke
Date: 4/8/2009
I asked my doctor for a prescription for Rozerem when I was laid off from my job 1 1/2 years ago. He grudgingly wrote one after he tried to talk me into Ambien, which I refused in his office because of what I had read. But then the insurance company refused to pay for Rozerem unless I tried Ambien first. I have been completely unable to stop taking it since. I was told it was “not addictive”…that’s a joke. I sleep eat at least 4 nights a week and have gained about 20 pounds. I fell face first from a standing position on our countertops looking for food…I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck but only receive a severely swollen and bruised jaw. I didn’t even feel it, I just fell without even attempting to catch myself.

This drug does make you do and say things you would never do otherwise. I am incredibly irritable with my family during the day, very quick to anger and lash out at people when I used to be pretty easygoing. I have had sex with my boyfriend several times with absolutely no memory of it the next day, and he of course always feels horrible about it when he realizes I wasn’t even “there”, even though at the time I insisted I felt fine. I do sleep very well on it, however I cannot sleep without it now. The few times I tried I paced until 5 in the morning for 3 nights in a row until I was so desperate to sleep I broke down and took one.

When my doctor recommended it I told him I was concerned about all the negative side effects and he actually LAUGHED at me and said, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” I’m telling you from experience, the doctors LIE and I even specifically asked for something else only to have my insurance MAKE me try it. I would recommend something else and did try to get something else.

Kirstin

Gives me nausea
Date: 4/11/2009
I was just prescribed ambien 10mg. I have taken it 3 nights it has not helped me sleep and gives me nausea. I am not going to take it anymore and will be talking to my physician to see about trying something else.

G

Ambien side effects
Date: 4/11/2009
It made me very aggressive, Irritable, Depressed.

Cortny

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