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.

Acting super weird
Date: 8/7/2010
I have to say Ambien its not kool; Right now I had to google it because my husband took 5 and he is acting super weird; He has memory lost; Depression he started crying for no reason and he is asking me for more and he has a heavy toungh because I can barely understand him; I cant believe how dangerous is this drug. Thank you for all this information because if I would have not read this I would defenetly be confuse.

Nicky

Blessing AND a curse
Date: 8/8/2010
I was RX’d Ambien after many, many years of insomnia (trouble falling to sleep; no deep sleep when asleep). My insomnia got worse after PTSS (death of my daughter), so obviously I took the Ambien to “forget” my pain at night while trying to forget about her death (flashbacks, etc). Flash foward it’s been 10 years, I’m still on Ambien but had to switch to Ambien CR, as regular Ambien stopped working. This drug is a blessing AND a curse. I sleep, but now it takes much longer to “pass out” (like now, I took it, and I’m up on internet, not smart, as I am not in control of what I say on it!). I find myself with food particles in my bed…I make eggs at midnight! I have never driven a car while on it – thank God – but I hear of people who do. It causes temporary memory loss (tomorrow, I will have no recollection of filling in this form). Honestly, it is also bad for your teeth. I end up getting up and eating 9 times out of 10…and of course that is after I have brushed my teeth. It’s good and bad, this drug. I can’t live without it now. I do NOT recommend this drug to the average person for regular use…yet…it HAS helped me sleep. So I take the good with the bad. Ok, gotta go now. Isn’t there a dozen eggs waiting to be fried up? Haha.

Marie

Miracle drug
Date: 8/8/2010
I have had insomnia for as long as I can remember. Ambien has been like a miracle drug for me. I have been taking it for a few months and I must say, it is addicting. I cannot sleep without it. I sleep sooooo good, and awake soooo refreshed!

I had not experienced any side effects until last night. My 16 year old niece said I was talking in my sleep and freaking her out. I do not recall anything from last night. Now, I am scared to take it. I am worried I will put my small kids in the car and drive somewhere or something. Well, for tonight, my keys are getting put up! Ambien works wonderfully, but I hope people try natural remedies before taking Ambien.

Jamie

Sleep driving accident
Date: 8/8/2010
I have taken ambien and ambien cr for about 2 years now and loved the way I felt when I woke up in the morning. I was refreshed and ready to take on my day. I had always heard stories about strange behaviors but they never affected me so I didn’t dwell on them. I took the medication as I was prescribed. On June 10, 2010 my life changed. I took an ambien at 850 PM and at 924 PM I was in an ambulance on life support. I don’t remember anything. I grabbed my purse, keys, phone and walked to my car. I called my parents and sent several text messages. I drove 8 miles, my familiar route to work, through 7 stoplights and 3 sets of railroad tracks before crossing 4 lanes of traffic, becoming airbourne, hitting several street signs, the garage of a townhouse, dodging a gas line, and flipping my car in the woods behind a church next to a wooden cross. This all happened within 30 minutes.

The paramedics originally thought I was dead and told the hospital I would be DOA before finding a faint pulse. I was put on life support in trauma icu. I woke up 4 days later with no recollection. I broke my nose, my back in 3 places and had 20 stitches around my right eye. I spent 14 days in the hospital, 9 of those in icu. I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs and my blood tests show that. The only thing found in my system was ambien. I will never take this drug again and will discourage anyone against taking it as well.

Kathryn

Extreme mood change
Date: 8/8/2010
Ambien is highly and quickly addictive. When I take it, it blurs my vision and it makes me feel very brave. It makes me feel like I could take my own life and it wouldn’t hurt, effect anyone or bother me a bit. I am usually very afraid to die, so this is an extreme mood change for me. I have experienced a lot of memory loss and have done out of character things like cooking massive amounts of food, cleaning when everything is clean, etc…My biggest problem is that I will take an Ambien and then an hour or two later, forget I’ve taken it. Do I take, maybe, a second one? It’s all turning into a mess.

Courtney

Pending lawsuits against Ambien?
Date: 8/9/2010
Are there any pending lawsuits against Ambien? My husband took 1 and ended up attempting suicide, it’s a long & very traumatizing story. It’s taken me almost a year to get past it. Please email me at if anyone knows of any Attorneys handling Ambien cases in Utah.

Carolee
AskDocWeb: We will put you on the list of those to be notified but don’t hold your breath. A class action lawsuit is difficult to pursue with Ambien because the law requires common injuries and damages between everyone. In the case of Ambien, everyone has different ones, whether it is their being on other medications or how they take Ambien. There was a class action lawsuit filed in 2006 after Senator Patrick Kennedy’s car accident. The Senator has taken Ambien and an anti-nausea pill called Phenergan before taking the wheel and crashing. As far as we can tell, the most significant result of that lawsuit was that FDA directed the Ambien manufacturer to provide stronger warnings in the labeling information for Ambien.

Ambien long term was a mistake
Date: 8/10/2010
Went into menopause 12 years ago and loss my ability to sleep. After years of trying to cope without drugs, finally found a doctor willing to prescribe ambien long term – that was a mistake (there’s good reason why some doctor’s won’t prescribe it long term). I’ve experienced the vivid nightmares and doing things without remembering, but worst of all woke up one night with an episode of black diarrhea and foaming in the mouth. I immediately saw a doctor who put me through a battery of test and didn’t find a cause. I didn’t relate it to ambien until later use caused the same problem. I’ve now been diagnosed with mild reflux. Now finding myself unable to cope without sleep again, I’ve been prescribed ambien (which I won’t take) and have a sleep study scheduled. Has anyone here had a sleep study? Do they pinpoint other problems other than narcolepsy and sleep apnea since I don’t believe I have either one? Should I have one since my insomnia didn’t start until menopause. I have insurance, but my cost is still pretty high and wondering if I should incur the costs.

Jacque

Hair thinning and long-term use
Date: 8/11/2010
I have been taking Ambien 5mg every night for over a year. It puts me to sleep within 10 min for a solid 8 hours. I have noticed considerable hair thinning but cannot prove it’s the Ambien. I also have discovered chocolates in my bed which could have only come from the kitchen. No recollection! Am I headed for addiction? Am I already there? Elavil for sleep didn’t help…

Marianne
AskDocWeb: It appears that the manufacturer defines long-term use to be 28 to 35 days. Using it beyond that time may indicate an underlying problem that needs attention. However, if you have taken Ambien for a long period of time there is a possibility of developing a dependence on this drug. Stopping suddenly may result in withdrawal symptoms within 48 hours so check with your doctor first. One percent or less reported experiencing adverse withdrawal symptoms when discontinuing after long-term use. Withdrawal symptoms included fatigue, nausea, flushing, lightheadedness, uncontrolled crying, vomiting, stomach cramps, panic attack, nervousness, and abdominal discomfort.

Personality change
Date: 8/14/2010
My mom has been using (and addicted) to ambien for several years. She needed to ‘up the dose’, and when her physician wouldn’t give her any more, she ordered online through Canada. Now she takes way more than she should, and when she wakes up in the middle of the night, takes more. She has gone through a HUGE personality change, and at first I thought it was Alzheimers. Her normally reserved personality has changed and she says and does things she never would have done before. She will call friends and leave messages at all hours of the night, talking about things that she doesn’t remember in the morning. She’s fallen and cut her head open in the early morning hours, bled all over the floor, and crawled back into bed covered in blood–I found her the next day when I called her and she didn’t sound right. She needed stitches when I could finally convince her to go to the ER.

My father passed away after 36 years of marriage, and it is like now that he isn’t here to keep an eye on things, she has gone over the edge. With the memory loss, drastic personality change, weight loss and unsafe behavior (dating is a nightmare right now–online dating and trusting men with her money at 63 years of age is a bad combo) I don’t know what to do. I can’t change her behavior, and she refuses to go off of it. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

Jen

Sad true stories
Date: 8/16/2010
Ambien medicine makers are very sick peoples. They did this medicine on purpose. Poor woman walking naked on streets until her friend found her and bring back to sleep. A man walking down from building, friends asked why he say was absolutely sure its a dream and though he can fly and walk down from roof broke both legs. There’s is many sad true stories about what have happened to peoples. Many people life is ruined and many people life have end because this drug. I ask you, please dont take this drug. I ask please dont do it. I hope many read this and realize to not take this ambien. Its true some people have committed suicide because cant continue their lifes and reason is this drug. Once more: do not take this drug.

I hope u dont take this drug

Sleep driving
Date: 8/17/2010
I have been taking ambien now for over 2 years, 90% of the time. I tried a few times to sleep without it, but I don’t go to sleep. I once took a pill and then after 5 hours, it didn’t work and so being stupid, I took another. Next thing I know my arm is cut and I am driving myself to the hospital. In and out of consciousness the entire time. On my way home I drove my car into a side rail and did some good damage. Now, this was my fault and I learned from this and 25 stitches later. If you take an ambien pill and do not get in bed and doing what you do getting ready to settle down, you will start seeing words move, objects swaying (like a ceiling fan).

The pill is designed to get you to go to sleep so you should only take it when you are walking to the bed to lay down. I have been taking ambien every day for 2 years or so. The generic form…zolpedium doesn’t seem to work as fast as ambien but still lets me go to sleep. If I had a magic wand, I would not be taking any sleeping pills at all… I long for a life of sleeping on my own as my partner does in 5 minutes… Will that ever that time come for me? Anyone else knows what I mean whey you look at things while Ambien starts to take affect when you are supposed to be sleeping?

MamaNPapa
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