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.

Thoughts of suicide
Date: 9/24/2010
After bouts of insomnia brought about by my battle with a chronic illness, my doctor prescribed Ambien for sleep. The morning after my first dose I could not stop crying. As a wife and mother of three, I had incessant thoughts my family would be better off without me. I desperately wanted to commit suicide and for the pain to stop. I was smart enough to call my doctor and pharmacist, only to be told that Ambien can cause this negative side effect. I was told to drink lots of fluids and keep my husband close by until the drug was out of my system. With incredible strength and willpower I got through this battle, and am now feeling better. I WILL NEVER TAKE AMBIEN AGAIN and hope others heed my warning that this drug is VERY dangerous!

Khrystine

Didn’t wake up
Date: 9/25/2010
My sister just didn’t wake up from sleep after taking ambien. She lived alone and may have taken too much without realizing it. She worked nights and had a hard time sleeping in the daytime. Reading what I have, I am sure that she probably woke up and forgot that she had already taken some. She was definitely addicted to ambien and could not sleep without it. The coroner said that she did not get enough oxygen to her heart since she fell asleep on her back. My family is devestated. I pray that this does not happen to another family.

Annonymous

Blackouts and memory loss
Date: 9/26/2010
I took Ambien for years & it ruined my life. I was so addicted to this drug. But blackouts, memory losses, adventures out on the town without remembering a damn thing. I wound up in jail. I lost my wife & family. I lost my job. I lost my car. I got evicted. All because of stuff I did when I was on Ambien. My life is in shambles with no end in sight. Please, stay away from this drug. It is created by the devil himself!!!

Larry

Chronic insomnia
Date: 9/26/2010
I have been taking ambien for about 4 years. I have chronic insomnia. When I try to fall asleep I cannot shut my brain down. I have been through many deaths in my family and took it upon myself to be the “ROCK” the strong one who took care of everyone else. When I first started Ambien it was 1 1-mg a night and it saved my life otherwise I was getting 3 hour sleep a night sometimes catching myself falling asleep at the wheel. Then it only kept me asleep for 2 hours and I would take another. Four years later and much money later I take on avearge of 80 -100 10mg pills a night. I ran out one night and confessed to my husband he took me to a medical rehab it was for 5 days they came me colopin and dilantin and sent me home. Since it was my first time in rehab I did not have to continue on to the 30 days. I felt like sh*t for about a month, dizzy, unmotivated and nooooooooo sleep. I decided to go back on them I thought I could control the amount this time but now its worse then ever. I already have had one seizure. I feel dopped up from the other meds they gave me and embarresed and ashamed I did this to myself and husband. I own my own business I cannot leave here for more than a week. I say that with the ones I have left I am going to start weening myself but I don’t know if I have the strenght to do it anymore and go back to not sleeping and starting again.

DVS

GETTING OFF AMBIEN safely
Date: 9/29/2010
Hello, I’m trying to get some proper information about “GETTING OFF AMBIEN” safely. Once & for all. I have been on it for (2) years and a month. I want to know what can I take naturally and something safely to help tapering permanently. Please email me at my address listed.

Lisa
AskDocWeb: Sorry Lisa, we don’t have time available to give individual replies. Questions are posted so that others can also benefit. Getting off a sleeping pill safely begins with a talk with your doctor. They may lower your dosage and also may be able to recommend a sleep clinic to help you get a good nights sleep.

Ambien helps my insomnia
Date: 9/29/2010
I take 5mg. Ambien for two nights then skip one night and have been doing this for about 3 months. I have had no side effects except at first I had a slight headache for the first week or so. I can get from 6-7 hours of sleep each night that I take Ambien. I am 74 years old and I look forward to the nights when I know I can sleep well. Not being able to sleep at night is the ‘pits’ and I am glad to have something that helps my insomnia.

Ann

Sneezing
Date: 9/30/2010
Ambien. I have been sneezing after i take ambien. It’s weird, it’s not all the time. Also I def get the side affects of feeling “high’ or different. I just take 10Mg of ambien. Some night it works wonders but other nights i’m up 3 hours after taking it.

Mel
AskDocWeb: You might want to ask your doctor about Ambien CR. The CR stands for controlled release. When the medication is released slower there is less chance of waking up during the night.

10 years of Ambien
Date: 9/30/2010
I’ve dealt with chronic insomnia ever since I can recall. When I was a kid I’d smoke marijuana to help me sleep but as an adult it just makes me paranoid. I began taking Ambien about 10 years ago. For the first year one 10 mg pill worked. Then gradually I became acclimated to it and had to increase my dosage to 20 mgs to have the same effects. I experienced all the regular side effects.

About a year and a half ago I developed a burning, constant sore throat and an extremely inflamed esophagus- steroids, MRI’s, allergy medications and acid reducers did nothing. I had my throat scoped 3 times. I would skip a dose of ambien and still had the sore throat so I never connected the two. I switched sleep medications and after a month without ambien, the sore throat that plagued me for over a year suddenly stopped. Now I can use ambien on only an occassional basis (two or three days in a row) or the sore throat comes back.

I now take restoril but am already habituated to that albeit I have no detectable side effects. I’ve increased from 30 mgs to 60 and am trying to look for a new alternative. Melatonin, valerian, xanax, OTC’s don’t work at all for me and I’m running out of options. I take adderrall for ADD but avoid caffeine. I’ve stopped the adderrall and have no better luck sleeping.

Other than sleep meds I take very good care of myself. I eat very healthy, rarely drink, don’t smoke, and run at least 5 miles a day. I feel I simply cannot function without sleep aids and whenever I try to quit after days of 2-3 hours of fitful sleep and subsequent dysfunction, I give in. I worry about years of sleep meds building up in my system and wonder what problems this can cause over the long term, but feel stuck as I have found no suitable alternatives.

Susan

AskDocWeb: Just a note of caution here about using herbal remedies. Many herbs have drug-herb interactions that may be cause for concern if you are on medication.

Ambien suicide
Date: 9/30/2010
My mother started taking Ambien in April, 2010 because she could not sleep. 4 months later, she committed suicide on 9/17/10. I too was unaware that this drug causes suicidal thoughts until I read it on-line. My mother has never had depression issues before and has never been on anti-depression medicine. She was always alert, smart, confident, independent and full of life. However, 2 days before she took her life, she visited me and I did notice that she seemed a bit different – very anxious and overly complimentary. I just wished that I would have paid closer attention. Now, that I have read that others have committed suicide, how many more lives will be taken from the use of this drug until it is taken off the market?

Kim

Amnesia and hallucinations
Date: 10/1/2010
I have used Ambien on and off for years. I have had a multitude of side effects, but can’t find any other medication which works as well. I think I have been an insomniac most of my life. As a young child, I remember lying awake for hours, trying to sleep. Some night I wouldn’t get any sleep at all and I’d beg my mom to let me stay home and sleep a few more hours.

I am now 36 years old and take ambien nightly. I do not have much luck getting to sleep with other sleep aids. My most common side effect is amnesia. I can’t remember a thing from the time I take the medication, until the time I wake up the next day. I am obviously not sleeping the entire time. I get up and find that I have cleaned the house, or finished projects I have been wanting to get done. This is very strange, to have no memory.

More recently, I had hallucinations. Everything in my house was the same, but it looked different. I saw alot of jewels on objects which didn’t have any. Such as, my husband’s cell phone, my son’s toy airplane, and a laptop computer. I saw elves hiding in the room and the floor was covered with balloons. My fan played music out of it. I remember thinking “it’s not possible for a fan to play music”, but it was such a good selection of songs, I just let it play. I thought a character from a video game was standing in the corner of my room, so I asked him to quit looking at me. He turned his head and never looked back. I found a full glass of milk on my night table the next day. I don’t’ usually drink alot of milk, so it was weird why I put it there.

These are just some of my stories. It doesn’t deter me from taking the medication because it is the only thing I have found to work.

Alicia

Legal drugs that mess up your life
Date: 10/1/2010
Iv been taking sleeping Meds for 7 years … I just got a bag of weed for a week and ready to take on withdraws. I did this for Oxy and it worked so I’m sure this will be a lot easier . I rather spend time in prison then more BS legal drugs that mess up your day – life.

Joshua

Mild panic attack
Date: 10/1/2010
I took ambien one night it gave me a mild panic attack (The most painful feeling I had in my life). I will never take that poison again!

lotfibenslimane

Vertigo?
Date: 10/3/2010
When my verdigo is very bad, upset stomach, etc., I take 5 mg of Ambien and wihin an hour I feel fine. I have tried all the recommended exercises and when they don’t work, the 5 mg of Ambien alwys helps. My question is: “Why?”

Elnora

AskDocWeb: Vertigo is listed as one of the side effects that occur frequently when using Ambien. However, in the clinical trials, of those who discontinued treatment because of an adverse reaction, 0.8% experienced an increase in dizziness/vertigo. Why this occurs is not known.

High emotional state
Date: 10/6/2010
It caused a high emotional state. I was crying, really sobbing, for the least little matter. Although I was saying to myself “get a grip that was not a big deal” my emotions made a broken pencil point a huge crisis. It took about two weeks off medication to regroup.

Carla
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