Ambien for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 3)

• Nessii
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 27, 2019

"I've also been on this medication for about 10yrs on and off. It can be highly addictive for some. From experience, I started with 5mg which worked great! I was finally able to get 7-8hrs of sleep. After 1 year I noticed it wasn't working (I was only getting 3-4hrs of sleep) so, my Dr. prescribed me 10mg. I went back to getting a good night's sleep, but after 2 years it wasn't working again and went back to getting less sleep. I decided to take 1½ pills (15mg) still wasn't working. I felt very groggy in the morning and couldn't remember certain things which worried me. I decided to stop completely and experienced really bad withdrawals. I began to have seizures and ended up in the hospital now I have to take anti-seizure meds. So my suggestion to you is, don't take this medication for a long time it's only meant short-term and DO NOT take more than prescribed. Now I take a sleep aid that's not a controlled substance. There are other options other than sedatives/hypnotics that work."

• Kayka...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 25, 2013

"Life time insomnia, 5 mg ambien is good for me. One half hour before bedtime I take 5 mg, turn off tv, put books aside, computer is off and I am in bed. Generally wake up 7 hrs later thanking the sleep Gods for a good night!"

• Sugar...
• March 10, 2019

"I have to say, for me Ambien was the holy Grail of sleep medicines out there ; and I've tried quite a few from OTC to prescription medication . Since about 6 months ago I had a horrible horrible case of insomnia. Wide awake a night but crash for a few hours in the day and be right back. Same dreadful cycle all day everyday. Meanwhile in that time I had gotten Zzz Quil, Unisom 10mgs of melatonin pill, tablet and liquid form. Equate sleeping pills. ...that's just the tip. I can't remember all the names but it goes down the line with otc medicine. Then when I saw my doctor he first tried vistriel. NOPE, like taking candy. Then trazadone, still nothing. He tried me on Valium, axanax, Valium and Klonopin and I DID NOT LIKE those from the very beginning. But he still wanted to try. See I don't like taking controlled substance but wanted to see if it would help. Next belsomara nope nothing!!! Ambien is the best sleep aid so far."

• Debbi...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 27, 2014

"Ambien has been a huge help to me. I have horrible hot flashes whenever I try to fall asleep and end up awake all night. When I take half an Ambien I am able to fall asleep and I do not feel tired or out of it the next day. I am so grateful for this medication. It's helped the quality of my life substantially. I've never experienced the side effects others mention, I simply fall asleep."

• Morgan...
• June 7, 2014

"I have GAD (generalized anxiety), post traumatic stress disorder and Bipolar. I've been on Seroquel for three years. I kept having to up it to help me sleep, as well as keeping away delusions and such. I was at the point where it wouldn't help me sleep at all. I'd take it at 10 and go to bed when the sun was coming up. I tried Ambien 10mg last night for the first time. I fell asleep in one hour. I was out! I slept a good 10 hours. Amen for Ambien."

• Cants...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 19, 2019

"This Ambien doesn’t work for me at all. I took 1 pill (10mg) on an empty stomach and waited an hour and nothing happened at all. So then I took another pill (10mg) and still could not sleep. Only thing that happened was I felt a little foggy."

• Fetus
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 25, 2019

"Never Worked For Me ... Took up to 30mg on an empty stomach .. did nothing I even went to another pharmacy to try a different brand to see if that made any kind of difference. Never even yawned strange as this works very well for many people. Lunesta and Temazepam both worked great for me though"

• dondo
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 16, 2017

"I'm a 68 year-old male and I've taken this drug for almost 10 years and it has helped me enormously. I have had no side effects yet my doctor now says he wants me to get off it. I asked why and he said Ambien is dangerous. After 10 years now it's dangerous? I now am cutting down to 1/4 of 5mg and it is not working. I asked what options do I have and he said "natural sleep is best" Thanks, doctor."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 13, 2013

"Have been taking Ambien as needed for about a month. It's worked almost flawlessly and very reliably each time I've taken it, and I've experienced no negative effects. It's a very calm, peaceful transition into sleep. I used to dread bedtime because my thoughts raced constantly, but this drug has provided a very satisfactory solution. All in all, a quite safe and reliable solution to insomnia."

• Dano
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 1, 2018

"I suffer from high-anxiety and insomnia. I have tried many sleep-aids, both OTC and by prescription. Nothing has helped. Ambien is the only sleep-aid that helps calm me down so that I may sleep soundly. It works very fast. I have been prescribed the 5mg and 10mg. The 10mg I usually break in half. The prescription is only for 14 days. Belsomra and Trazodone did nothing to help me. Ambien has been a life saver."

• Misty...
• January 10, 2014

"I've been taking Ambien for about 8 years now due to chronic insomnia. Multiple medical issues have caused most of the problem with not sleeping. I already have 3 fusions in my neck (one of which is falling apart and causing a compressed spinal cord that my NS is trying to avoid further surgery on so that I don't have to have rods in addition to the screws and plates that are already in there) plus I have laminectomy from L2 to S1 with bulging discs, fibromyalgia, bone on bone arthritis in both knees and I also need both hips replaced. Oh, there are also a couple of bulging discs and bone spurs in my cervical spine in addition to the problems already mentioned. I have never had any side effects or trouble with the Ambien at all."

• John...
• May 19, 2015

"I love this stuff! It's improved my quality of life immensely. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. I now take 5 mg at bedtime, and I still wake up after about 4 hours, but then take another 5 mg (I cut the pill in half) and fall right back asleep for another 3 to 4 hours. I've been taking it for 2 years now, and still works as good today as the first day I took it!!"

• Miche...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 25, 2019

"I’ve had horrible horrible insomnia for years. I’ve always just laid in bed with my mind racing for hours. It took a big toll on me mentally and physically. I’ve been on ambien for over 2 years and it’s a true lifesaver. I take it every night. If I try to go to sleep without it just to test it, I can’t sleep. No side effects with this medicine. I wake up just fine in the mornings."

• ona...
• November 17, 2013

"This medicine works to get me to sleep and stay asleep. HOWEVER I quickly become dependent on it and cant get to sleep without it so I can't take it as needed. Also I noticed that I seem to need larger doses rapidly. My insomnia issues are generally manageable if I avoid caffeine and don't eat too close to bedtime."

• Ellyboo
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 6, 2024

"I have been taking Ambien (Zolpidem 10mg) for over 20 years. I recently decided to taper off and have been taking 3/4 of a tab for the past week. The first couple of days I slept lightly, but now I am sleeping very well. Next week I will taper to 1/2 tab (5mg) and see how that goes. I am determined to stop taking it completely. In the beginning, I didn't really have insomnia; there were maybe a few times I couldn't fall asleep right away. But my doctor gave me free samples of Sonata at that time. I am very hopeful to get this monkey off my back, lol. Updates will be coming."

• sleepy...
• April 3, 2008

"I've taken this medication three different nights now and honestly, I haven't slept this deeply in ages! However... from the time I take the medication to the time I get to sleep - I have no memories of this time period the next day. Also, if I am sleeping and someone wakes me up after I've taken the ambien, I won't remember anything the next day from being awake at the time. Really upsetting to my boyfriend the next day..."

• Bubsie
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 8, 2014

"It helped me sleep, but I did the most bizarre things while I should have been sleeping and had no memory of them the next day. I initiated sex with my husband twice and had no memory of doing so, called and order things that I had no use for to some shopping networks and even gave out my credit card numbers to open an account. This stuff scares me and I quit taking it. Worried what I could do next!"

• Anonymous
• June 23, 2015

"Be aware take this medication and immediately lay down !!!!!the first night I took this medication I was up apparently I don't remember !!!!so I was told, serving myself a shot ,eating, requested weird sexual favors,and was having conversations and answering myself,and had no memory of all these fun festivies the next day,lol,thanks ambien,lesson learned my boyfriend had a blast though!!!!!!!"

• Liz
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 20, 2013

"After a car accident where I suffered a head injury I had horrible insomnia worsened by pre-existing fibromyalgia. Nothing over the counter was working at all to help me sleep. My doctor put me on this. When it works, it's awesome. I cannot have any food on my stomach if I want this to work, though. I don't take it until I've washed my face, brushed my teeth & am actually in bed for the night. That's the trick! I hate that the FDA cut dosage by half for women- the lower dose doesn't work for me because I'm big/tall. Weight makes a difference in this meds case. Not everyone sleep-drives or sleepwalks on this."

• Jkano
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 9, 2019

"I've been taking Ambien on/off for about 9 years and it almost completely doesn't work for me anymore. Does someone know of something that I can add to it to renew its ability to work for me again? I really liked it when I first started taking it. Really bummed that it's like eating tic tacs now."

• Barb
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 30, 2019

"I have taken 2.5 mg. Ambien off and on for 20 years. It has saved me as I have insomnia and cannot sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night. I take Ambien in the middle of the night and feel rested with no side effects in the morning. I am 81 years old and feel tired if I have only 3 hours sleep. I take Ambien several nights a week so I am not exhausted during the day."

• Kevbo
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 9, 2019

"Have been having insomnia for about 45 days related to some family stress. Used trazadone with some success. Then it decreased in effectiveness and I was getting maybe 3 hours. Went to Ativan and it worked some days and some days nothing. Back to trazadone hoping for 3-5 hours of sleep. My np suggested ambien. First night last night. I was a little hour nervous. Took it and slept 7 hours 50 minutes without interruption. Night 1 would give it more stars if I could. The question is how long it lasts."

• llcmal
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 5, 2013

"I have many incurable diseases that are very painful. One of those is called Fibromyalgia. When you have Fibromyalgia, you rarely-if ever go to Stage 4 sleep. Without Ambien, I can be awake for 2-3 days. In pain, exhausted, crying and not able to sleep. I have been on all OTC medications for sleep. I have also tried Ambien CR (which for some reason doesn't work at all for me), Lunesta, Sonata, and chloral hydrate. (For those who don't know Chloral Hydrate is VERY strong). None of those worked. Ambien does!"

• Chuckie...
• December 9, 2016

"I was prescribed Ambien for insomnia. It later became a problem as I continued to build a tolerance for it. I am no longer taking and have been off the medicine this week. Following are reasons that I stopped taking it. I lost my job, got arrested, picked up a felony charge for prescription fraud, among other consequences due to my dependency on the drug. In short, DO NOT TAKE ANY FORM of Z -PILLS. I lost a very good job with the government and can no longer return to the job due to Ambien and Lunesta. I have a master's degree and still cannot find work due to the felony charge. Please take it from me, this drug will progressively ruin your life. It should be taken off of the market."

• craft...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 21, 2015

"It works to put me asleep, too well! I was told by my husband that I was doing stuff I don't remember doing. One time I became sexually aggressive and last night, I didn't recognize my husband and was doing stuff totally off the wall. I will not be taking it again!"