Rozerem for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 2)

• OWe...
• May 14, 2021

"This medication has made me severely suicidal. It is a literal nightmare after taking it only once. I have had severe insomnia since I was a child, which has only gotten worse with age. After visiting a sleep clinic, I was prescribed this medication, but it put me in such a bad place mentally. Instead of taking my usual over-the-counter sleeping pill, I took this and began to feel drowsy about ten minutes later. Unfortunately, my heart started racing, and I have found myself in a state between severe anxiety/alertness and drowsiness/sickness since 11:00 pm. It's now 4:30 am, and I'm experiencing a severe headache and anxiety, but I also feel dizzy, drowsy, and nauseous, yet I'm too wired to sleep. This feels like something they would give people in a concentration camp to torture them. I've now taken my over-the-counter sleeping pills to try to combat the effects of this medication that I cannot believe is even on the market. It will be a miracle if I'm even alive tomorrow."

• CV4...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 6, 2014

"Initially made me drowsily sleepy, but did not remain asleep. Got up after two hours to pee. Trouble after that falling asleep, slept two more hours. Got up again to use the bathroom. Then fell asleep again and slept for approximately four hours. Got up and was dizzy all day long and had stomach upset and diarrhea as well."

• Oph...
• September 22, 2016

"Drowsiness but no sleep, so much worse than the Ambien and Lunesta that at least work a little. Finally fell asleep at 6 a.m., woke three hours later, felt like death all day. Dizzy, drowsy, poor appetite, felt like my body was made of lead. I'm often low energy, but this was scary. Took for one night, would rather stay awake all night than do it again."

• Cho...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 16, 2016

"I have been taking it for four nights. I fall asleep for about an hour and go into a state of mind in which my mind is awake but my body is asleep. Then my body wakes up after one hour, and I am awake for the rest of the night, feeling extremely fidgety, like I need to pace or jump out of my skin. The feeling continues for about 12 hours. I can't take it anymore. If it had no effect, I would keep taking it, waiting for that magical night that many seem to express happens. This reaction frightens me. I don't want to chance rage like Wellbutrin causes in me."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 1, 2012

"While Rozerem is effective for getting and staying asleep, I am spaced out the next day with a strange feeling that, even though my body has had a good night's rest, I still want to go take a nap at periods through the day - not a normal tiredness, but a drug-induced grogginess that comes on suddenly. Also, hard to focus my attention the next day. I went on this because Ambien gave me short-term memory loss though I had no grogginess the next day on Ambien. The best result for me is to just sleep naturally with whatever hours I can get."

• Mik...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 16, 2015

"I just went to the doctor for insomnia treatment. I have tried some hypnotics before, but it was a benzodiazepine drug, and I had a terrible withdrawal from it. He suggested I try this drug since it is not known to be habit-forming. At this point, I'll try just about anything if it helps. The reviews here, however, are sort of discouraging, and one pharmacy I went to didn't even carry it, as he said there wasn't much of a demand for it. :( Hopefully, it will work for me. I am running out of options. Have tried CBT-I with some success, but am only able to sleep 4-5 hours with that, and I get tired during the day. What's weird is I will fall asleep watching TV at night, but when I go to bed, I am awake all night, it seems."

• Anonymous
• December 9, 2009

"This pill is the only sleep medicine that hasn't made me hallucinate (like Ambien and Sonata), made me gain weight (like so many mood stabilizers), or made me sleep too much. In fact, I haven't had really any side effects whatsoever. It takes 3 weeks to get working, but after that, my sleep became regular, and I get about 6-8 hours a night. Perfect!"

• Jga...
• May 11, 2011

"Took Rozerem last night for the first time and got drowsy and fell asleep, but my body twitched all night. My sleep was not consistent, and I woke up all throughout the night. In the morning, I slept well past 11 a.m., I felt like a ton of bricks and could not get up. I am usually up and about, running around all day long. Today, I couldn't even leave the house, I was so lethargic from the medicine. I stayed home, didn't even change clothes, and lay on the couch with my eyes closed for hours. It's almost 9 p.m. the next day, and I still feel really weird and tired. My mind was in a daze all day as if I couldn't get anything done as a result."

• Lau...
• December 18, 2015

"I only took it for three nights before I gave up. It seemed to keep me up longer than usual. The worst part was that I was dizzy the next day, almost like vertigo, usually when I go from a lying down to standing position. The room just spins. It's been three nights since I've taken the medication, and these side effects have not gotten any better."

• N r...
• November 11, 2011

"I am coming off more than a couple non-prescribed medicines and could not sleep. I didn't want anything else addicting, so the doctor said try this. I take this combined with 1 mg of melatonin. Seems to work great so far, the only thing I don't know is whether the 50 mg of doxepin has something to do, but I have taken it 5 days and no problems. I take it at 11 pm and am out cold within 20 minutes, but I get straight in bed. Other than that, no side effects. I sleep right at about 8 hours a night and wake up refreshed, maybe a tiny sluggish for 15 minutes, but not really noticeable."

• Loo...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 16, 2019

"I found that Rozerem worked very well with my insomnia. It didn’t knock me out or keep me knocked out like most antidepressants that are also used as a sleep aid. I was able to wake up normally and fall asleep and stay asleep. Only problem is I became tolerant to it, and it didn’t work as well after a couple of years. Another problem is that there is no generic, so my insurance stopped covering it, and I had to stop taking it."

• Fos...
• April 2, 2017

"It's very expensive for it not to be effective. My insurance paid $400, and my copay was $100. The pharmacy said it was effective, which within 3 days nothing happened. It seems I stayed up longer. Took it at 9 pm. Supposedly, you are to take it 30 minutes before bedtime. I stayed up until 4 am and 5 am. I took Advil pm since I had to get some sleep. It was more effective than this very expensive medication that I can't get a refund. Do not buy it unless your insurance covers it all. Maybe ask for a sample before buying a month's supply."

• Anonymous
• October 29, 2011

"I think this medicine is a great alternative to the other prescription sleeping aids. I have had no trouble with it, and on the first day, it got me to sleep through the night, waking only once, and I fell right back asleep. I'm shocked the rating at the time of my review is only a 5.4."

• PK1...
• February 21, 2018

"This is a terrible medication. I have been taking Trazodone for insomnia for many years. I wanted to try something different because Trazodone causes fatigue. I did not sleep one wink after taking this medication for two nights, and my body ached throughout the night. I don't know how this medicine was ever approved for sleep. I feel terrible today. I will 'never' take this drug again."

• Anonymous
• October 31, 2009

"People are quick to judge this medication. I have found that it does indeed make me sleep. However, I still wake up at my usual time at about 3-4 in the morning. This medication is really good for helping you fall asleep but not keeping you asleep."

• For...
• November 2, 2015

"It replaces Ativan. No, it doesn't! It works, in combination with 10 mg Melatonin, for a max of four hours, four hours of seriously intense dreams! At 3:30 a.m., I'm wide awake, tossing and turning till daylight. Only thing left is good old NyQuil!"

• Hop...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 2, 2022

"I took this for the first time last night. I have had insomnia for years now, and nothing has helped; gabapentin and clonidine, doxepin, amitriptyline, so many OTCs. My doc put me on this med, and it did not help me fall asleep at all. It didn’t give me anxiety or anything like that, just had no effect. The reason I’ll NEVER take this med again is the horrible headache I had when I woke up. This is probably the worst headache I’ve ever had, and I can’t seem to get rid of it. This med isn’t for everyone."

• Anonymous
• February 27, 2008

"I try going to bed around 9 pm, in order to try to get some sleep, but usually wake up in the middle of the night at 3-4 am, and can't go back to sleep. Last night I took my first tablet as prescribed. Today I feel fatigue, dizzy, headache, blah. What do I take to compensate for these side effects? Or, will they go away after my second dosage?"

• Pil...
• March 15, 2011

"Tried Rozerem for the first time the other day. It definitely helped me fall asleep, and without the 'heavy sedative' feelings that come along with most other drugs, such as Ambien, Lunesta, etc. Closest to a natural feeling of wanting to go to sleep, very calming, also helped with racing thoughts. The letdown of this medication was the next day...could NOT get up! Felt as though I had taken a tranquilizer. All day feeling...like I had taken a high double dose of Ambien. This is my experience though, unfortunately - seemed perfect at first. Everyone is different though, most will probably hopefully have a much different experience. I say try it."

• tho...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 9, 2019

"Like Ambien, Rozerem causes drowsiness and decreases mental alertness, and they both carry over these side effects into the next morning. Unlike Ambien, Rozerem does not carry the same risk of negatively affecting your GABA receptors over time. Rozerem increases, and Ambien decreases the frequency of dream states."

• His...
• September 17, 2016

"My issues with sleep have always been getting to sleep okay, but waking up at 3 am and having difficulty getting back to sleep. To counter this, I take 20 mg of doxepin, which works wonderfully and lessens my general anxiety and depression. However, recently I had trouble falling asleep (work stresses), and the dox doesn't work like that. So my doctor prescribed Rozerem 8 mg, and in conjunction with the low dose dox, it worked wonders. I only had to take it a couple of days to get my sleep cycle back on track. Like melatonin, it produces crazy weird dreams but no bad side effects. Now I only take it occasionally when anxiety strikes, causing bad sleep induction insomnia. Even with my copay, it's expensive at $5 per dose (doxepin 5 cents per dose). Recommended for occasional use."

• Pop...
• April 22, 2019

"My doctor put me on Rozerem as an alternative to Ambien to help me sleep. I have taken it for four nights now and at most slept two hours each night. I agree with the other reviews, this just doesn’t work for severe insomnia."

• Anw...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 3, 2022

"Rozerem is the worst medication I have taken. No wonder why it's not prescribed often. To people who have anxiety, stay away from this useless drug. Spare yourself from panic attack and laryngeal edema. Very dangerous medication."

• Pet...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 23, 2021

"Age 25, I had mild insomnia, and a tendency to stay up too late and sleep too late in the day. On my doctor's advice, I took Rozerem when it first came out in 2005. HUGE mistake! I used it for a month, during which time I felt strangely nervous, 'edgy,' and very restless at night. My doctor convinced me to continue it. Well, after that month I said 'no way!' I had to get off of it because it was literally making me feel crazy. Well, now the 'fun' part of the story starts. You see, now without it, I had SEVERE and intractable insomnia. I stayed awake for 9 straight days after stopping it, only sleeping when going to the hospital and getting an injection of midazolam. So began an endless cycle of horrible insomnia and prescriptions of sedatives, a nightmare which persisted for 11 straight years. FINALLY, around 2016, my brain got itself back together and now I sleep normally again without any medication. I will NEVER take a sleeping pill again! Rozerem damaged my SCN, we believe."

• Bil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 9, 2017

"Scary!!! Was only able to be on this drug for a few weeks. It gradually increased depression to such a degree that I almost admitted myself to the ER for depression watch. I've never felt depression like this. It peaked in the morning and let up by the afternoon (3-4pm). It's now the third day since I took it, and it is lifting more and more every day. Never again!"