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.

Feeling weird or drunk
Date: 7/30/2011
I’ve had insomnia since birth and wanted to try another sleeping medication because the medication I was taking before was affecting my blood pressure so I was prescribed Ambien a few months ago and tried it one night and I burped for 24 hours straight and the burps were so loud I pretty much sounded like a beast. My mom actually laughed all night because it was that bad.

I normally take clonidine, and ran out of it due to a nurse prescribing it as 2 a night when I normally take 3 a night. I didn’t notice that she screwed up the dosing. Anyway, because I have to wait a week to pick up the new prescription I had to take some of the left over Ambien I had to sleep. So last night I took it and I had to wake my mother because it made me feel drunk. I became unbalanced, and had a very funny sensation in my head and face. I could barely form thoughts and when I spoke I mumbled. I was awake enough to notice these side effects. I tried to fight it off because I was so frightened by all of this.

If you don’t want to feel weird or drunk, I suggest no one take this. It’s far too scary of a drug but I have to finish taking it for a few weeks until I get my prescription. I just really hope nothing horrible happens to me.

Laura

Ambien is working too fast
Date: 8/2/2011
I think Ambien is a dangerous drug. I have taken it only twice and each time I was asleep in minutes. My husband told me the last time I crawled into to bed mumblimg..”this sleeping pill is working too fast” and he said I was shaking like an old person with a cane and I immediately went into a deep sleep. This is frightening to me. I had surgery and it was given to me for rest. Noting by mouth should put you into a deep sleep in minutes.

Beverly

Sleep-driving results in DUI
Date: 8/4/2011
This drug is extremely dangerous, I took the prescribed amount on May 5, 2011 and woke up in the county jail charged with dui. I had a perfect driving record prior to this incident and my bottle does not have any warnings about sleep-driving as the FDA letter requires.

Greg

Leg and chest pain
Date: 8/14/2011
I have been on Ambien for the past 90 days, but only had 2 RXs. So I was not taking them everyday. For 3 weeks I took one 10mg about 1 hr before bed. I started to get severe pain, in about 2 spots. Upper leg by my hip and both chest pecs. It was on and off pain but now its always there. The pain feels like stabbing burning nerve damage! It’s 6-7. Anyone have this? Thanks.

Jared

AskDocWeb: Welcome to the forum Jared. It’s not common but it others taking Ambien do share that kind of pain. About 1% of those using Ambien report chest pain and 7% report myalgia or muscle pain.

Ambien suicide and wrongful death lawsuit
Date: 8/16/2011
Today is august 16th 2011. My grandfather was prescribed ambien to help him sleep because his heart medications were making it hard for him to sleep at night. I buried my grandfather today, my family is ripped apart over the tragedy of my grandfathers unexpected suicide. Some time in the evening on the night before his death he took the prescribed dose, went to sleep and woke up early in the morning. He sleepwalked to his old unused motor home, removed his teeth and put a double barrel shotgun in his mouth and blew his brains out. My family is in shock. Before his suicide he was doing well, in high spirits but reported occasionally that he couldn’t shake a depressed feeling that overtook him for no apparent reason. He was recovering from heart surgery and had grand kids and great grand kids who loved him dearly and that he spent time with every weekend. The only thing that made me think that this drug was a contributing factor of his death was the strange circumstances of his passing.

My grandfather was a retired military man, a proud grandfather and avid fan of our local high school football team. His violent and gory suicide has left me and his survivors unable to reconcile the loss. I nearly killed myself on my motorcycle after cleaning his brains and skull from the documents provided by ambien about the possible side effects. I was unconscionable and took the local police on a high speed chase that nearly ended in my own death. My grandfather was sitting on the ambien document when he pulled the trigger and his body parts had to be wiped off them to read them. I, and my family have been subjected to the most painful loss of a family member imaginable.

If you or a loved one is taking this drug, Please tell them to stop using it immediately, destroy the drug and alert your doctor to never prescribe it again. My name is James (last name is confidential here) and my email is (confidential) and I am currently looking for any help in suing the Searle company for the wrongful deaths of so many others prescribed this medication. If you would like to join this effort please feel free to contact me directly at (see reply) anytime. My thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope to hear from you soon. the more info I can gather, the better this case will be against those responsible once it goes to trail. Sincerely,

James

AskDocWeb: Please accept our sincere condolences on the tragic loss of your grandfather. Although our privacy policy prevents publishing email addresses we will forward replies from those who want to contact James.

Ambien pain
Date: 8/16/2011
I have stopped taking it, but the pain is still there will it go away? Thanks.

Jared

AskDocWeb: Muscle aches and pains caused by Ambien should be reported to your doctor. Patients have reported that similar pains took 2 to 4 months to go away.

Ambien overdose
Date: 8/23/2011
I was first given Anbien 10mg, by my phychologist, you at time tuaght it would help me get over my fathers death. But instead my body became immunine to the point that no matter how many i took they did not work, i even got to a point were i drank the whole bottle just to see if i could get some sleep but that never happehed. My sister taught i was trying ti kill my self and believe that is not a word in my vocabulary. i just wanted to sleep and went over hand, the only thing i remember is the paramedic asking me the date and the presidents names which i told him not to go by that because i nenever know those names any way and they just laughed before they took me to hospital to make sure everything was okay, but it wasnt, i started having grand mal seizures. Now i take depakote 500mg three times a day.

Laura

He shot himself
Date: 8/26/2011
My friend was taking ambien. He’s an older guy, professional type. He shot himself in the hand a bunch of times, also the wall. He said he does not keep his gun loaded in the house, so he had to go get the gun load it and then shoot. His hands all sorts of messed up. He could have killed himself. doesn’t seem really safe to me.

Fgh

I need help
Date: 9/4/2011
I need to stop taking Ambien altogether.i need help….I have not even tried to stop one night. This is a bad habit that I can’t stop…..

Rafael

AskDocWeb: Your doctor may be able to recommend alternatives, maybe there is a good sleep clinic in your area.

Migraines, short-term memory loss
Date: 9/6/2011
I’ve been taking ambien (10 mg) for about 3 years on and off. Maybe 2-3 times a week, sometimes more. I started to first notice terrible migraines after I would take it. Then I started to notice short term memory loss and trouble with eloquence in my speech.

Further down the line most recently I’ve noticed the next day I’m extremely irritable and moody–noticeably more than normal. I also feel like I’m in a mental fog and my thoughts aren’t “flowing” right. At first I thought it was just stress or anxiety. I am 25 and have no health problems I finally realized when I went on vacation and stopped ambien completely (as well as caffiene) for 14 days what a miraculous change it caused. Even though I had only been taking ambien 1-2 times a week before my hiatus it made ALL the difference I felt like my old self again. Now I had gone on vacation before that while still taking ambien with no changes –so it clearly wasn’t the vacation time.

Anyway my advice is if ur feeling like ur having escalating health and mood problems. Go off of ambien (at all costs)–or wean off it first and then go off for a period of 14 days. Note the difference, go from there. Now that I know its been the culprit I won’t even keep them for emergencies. Ide rather have a sleepless night then get back on them…

Jen

Irritable and aggressive behavior
Date: 9/9/2011
My husband has been taking Ambien for over 2 years now. If he does not go immediately to bed, he ends up staying up till 1-2-3 am. He becomes very irritable and aggressive, and has gotten physical if you enter a discussion with him and say the wrong thing. He acts very drunk, and talks in completely irrational circles, just trying to pick a fight. This is not like him at all. Sometimes he remembers this, most times he doesn’t. Unfortunately, most times he also has several beers just to help fall asleep. He still doesn’t get more than 4 hours sleep when it does work. He’s so defensive and unwilling to hear that he shouldn’t be taking these, I don’t know what to do.

Megan

AskDocWeb: Abnormal behavior should be reported to the doctor who prescribed this medication. It certainly sounds like his irritable and aggressive behavior is abnormal.

GO TO BED!
Date: 9/10/2011
Sounds like alot of people take this drug and then do not go to bed. Take 1/2 a pill and GO TO BED!

Laurie

AskDocWeb: It is important to know that if you are taking a medication that states on the container that it may cause drowsiness and you have an accident while driving, you may face legal charges of driving under the influence.

Coffee with Ambien?
Date: 9/11/2011
What if you take Ambien (2) which is 10 mg and a cup of coffee together Are there harms to ones self if that should happen?

Cameren

AskDocWeb: The American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) looked at this a few years ago. Researchers found that taking Ambien with a can of soda or coffee, both sources of caffeine, partially reversed the sedative effects of Ambien. High doses of caffeine reduced the effectiveness of Ambien by two thirds. Subjective ratings indicated that patients felt more anxious as the caffeine dose increased with Ambien. Although Dr. Farkas said that the pharmacodynamic effects of co-administration were greater than anticipated, no harmful effects were noted. Read more Ambien Feedback.

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