Belsomra for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 5)

• Blomg...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 29, 2018

"Thought I'd chuck a positive review on this garbage pile. After a lifetime of chronic, treatment resistant insomnia, Belsomra is working pretty well for me. It took a week or so to start being effective (possibly because of coming off Ambien, which I'm sure is the case for a lot of people here) and will now reliably put me to sleep within an hour or so of taking it. It's not perfect and I still wake up during the night but have no problem going back to sleep. No noticeable side effects so far. It's no Ambien, and it wont totally knock you out, but it's working well for me where everything else has failed. Worth the (very high) cost for me. It's definitely worth persisting with if it doesn't work right away, I didn't get results until the second week."

• Despe...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 4, 2015

"I've been taking Ambien for years now. It began losing its effectiveness sometime ago. I can usually fall asleep after taking it, but now only sleep a few hours and can't get back to sleep. I started with 10 mg of Belsomra at midnight and it did not allow me to fall asleep. At 2:30, I took another 10 mg. I did wake a few times. With Ambien that would have been it for me. I would have been up the rest of the night. With 20 mg of Belsombra I easily fell back asleep. I did not experience any bad dreams. If fact, quite the opposite. The sleep was heavenly and I didn't want to wake up. It was the best sleep I've had in years. Because I didn't get to sleep until 3 am, I slept until noon. I hope I can regulate this in the future. Cost is worrisome"

• LWJ
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 4, 2019

"I suffer from severe migraines and have had my current migraine for almost a year. I am also a diabetic and have been suffering from severe diabetic nerve pain as a result from recent major surgery. Between the two conditions, I was unable to sleep until sheer exhaustion took over. Because of my migraine meds, I am severely restricted as to what other meds I can take. My doctor prescribed Belsomra, gradually increasing the dosage to 20 mg, and it has been a life saver! It does take longer than 30 minutes to “kick in,” but that’s ok. I just take it an hour or so before bedtime and all is well. I am able to sleep 8 - 9 hours a night of uninterrupted, solid, peaceful sleep. So thankful Belsomra works for me!!!"

• Shar
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 9, 2019

"HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE medicine. Not only did it affect me in a terrible way, the same to my husband. We were taking this because we needed a good nights sleep, but instead we had psychotic dreams ALL night long. There was no sleep, and it was very disturbing the dreams we had. DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG! I don't know how this ever got approved by the FDA."

• Sleep...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 2, 2022

"This was my fourth night taking Belsomra 10 mg. Tonight I experienced heart palpitations and a very bad sweat. I actually thought I was going to have to go to ER. This med DOESN'T work for me. I took this med on an empty stomach all 4 nights ...here it is 3 hrs later and I'm wide awake and was scared to death from the heart palpitations. I will not take another one of these pills! I have been irritable and hard to live with from the lack of sleep."

• Jrheck
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 1, 2017

"Like so many others, I tried it. I tried at 10, I tried it at 20. Nothing, except morning dizziness. How tremendously disappointing. I've gone back to my 2 Unisom's ( orange not blue). At least Im getting a few hours sleep with that. With as many poor reviews, you have to wonder who Merck paid off to have this thing approved. I especially dislike the over the top packaging. How much did that increase the costs? Shame in all of them."

• Sl33py
• January 2, 2016

"On rare occasions when it put me to sleep it gave me a steady stream of mini, vivid nightmares that had me awaken to a depression. Sometimes I'd have the steady, mini vivid dreams lucidly, always conscious and knowing what side I was lying on, and then drag through the next day exhausted. But most of the time no sleep nor vivid dreams; nada. But the worst thing about Belsomra is its constellation of side effects: stiff muscle tone with unexpected contractions and coordination problems, crazy-bad depression, irritability, confusion and memory problems. Beware."

• Dazmi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 13, 2019

"I can tell you all that Belsomra works for me. I have been using benzos on and off for 2 years and have tapered off only to have insomnia return. Since using Belsomra, I have slept great every night. It's mechanism works for me. I sympathize for the group of people that have no success with it but I say for the people that have not used it to give it a try."

• never...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 25, 2015

"I've been on Ambien for 10 years.. Although my tolerance has gone up it still does the job....I was looking fwd to Belsomra, I took 15 mg at 1025pm and felt nothing,, I took additional 5 mg and it made me sleep for two hours I woke up at 12:30 aM with a headache and a hangover. The rest of the night was uncomfortable torture.. I felt really tired but could not fall asleep.. Is this talk about Belsomr needing one or two weeks to be affected valid? Pretty disappointing fancy package with a fancy price and a miserable me sleep . Have others experience complete misery on the first night?"

• Rsx
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 18, 2015

"Was really disappointed. I started at 10mg (have taken Ambien IR 10mg for 2yrs). It actually worked great - maybe the first sleep aid that made me feel genuinely, naturally sleepy, not drugged and sedated. But after I went to sleep, I had 3 hrs of horrible, vivid nightmares that woke me up every 5 minutes panting & sweating. I also experienced sleep paralysis for the first time in my life. It was absolutely terrifying. I tried to keep at it for a few nights as several people have said the side effects go away quickly, and even tried only taking 5mg, but it was intolerable. Too bad. It is maybe worth noting that I take a handful of other meds including Seroquel, Klonopin, Lamictal, etc."

• Vuano
• October 29, 2015

"I suffer from severe anxiety and depression and often find myself unable to fall asleep (note I take about 4 mg of klonopin a day). I've never used a sleep aid before this, other then melatonin, and after almost 2 weeks of broken sleep I could say I had a solid 8 hours and actually needed my alarm to wake me up for once lol. The klonopin helps but I don't like taking it right before bed and would never give me a sleep like this. Woke up a little groggy but nothing unusual, no hallucinations or side effects. 12mg did the trick (broke the pill 20mg) and my gf said she's never seen my sleep like that, I was drooling lol. Long story short it is an effective sleep aid for me and suffered no ill effects. Felt well rested as well."

• valen...
• November 23, 2015

"Wanted to steer clear of Ambien, so I asked my doctor for Belsomra. The great thing about Ambien was that it worked quickly, and it kept me in a deep, zombie-like sleep all night. The downside was that I would get in my car and drive to the store at 3 am, and text my ex-husband with all sorts of crazy messages, both while under the influence of the drug, and not remembering either of the incidents. I tried Belsomra intermittently for two weeks, and it did absolutely nothing for me. Even the first night I had a fitful sleep, and every night thereafter it just kept getting worse and worse. I would not recommend this drug to someone with marked sleep issues. My only other alternative is Xanax, and my doctor no longer prescribes it."

• Strutzy
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 7, 2016

"I've tried lunesta, ambien, and trazodone for insomnia. None of these worked very well for me. Thank god I found Belsoma. I received a trial pack and experimented with different doses. The 5 mg and 10 mg seemed worthless and had no noticeable effect. I decided to go with the 20 mg and wow, what a difference! It usually takes me over 1 hour to fall asleep, but with the 20 mg belsoma, I've been consistently falling asleep within 20 minutes!! I understand this medicine has not performed well for a majority of other people, however, my body chemistry has responded very positively to it. So my opinion is if other insomnia medications have not worked for you, give this one a try and make sure you go with the 20 mg."

• Lineh...
• September 8, 2015

"I've been using and still will use zolpidem for the last 8 years. I tried belsomra "clean off zolpidem at least 20 hours.The belsomra at 15 mg made me yawn. That was what the Dr. recommended. Did not sleep at all. Next day I tried 20 mg. Ever hear of sleep paralysis? Well 20 mg I got sleepy. I was impressed. I started to dose off and the sleep paralysis started to hit me. I got up and made some coffee and I won't take them anymore.Google sleep paralysis and you'll find it is not pleasant to say the least. And they wanted $300.00 for 30. Ended up with 10 for free with a coupon. Got 8 1/2 left and will not use the anymore.Took it 4 hours ago.Zolpidem beats this belsomra by far. I rate belsomra in the negative 10. Merck, Thumbs down on this one...."

• ikdsa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 10, 2018

"My doc fought my insurance for a month to get this stupid drug covered and I feel so bad wasting his time. I really wanted to like this med. The first couple of days it helped, but soon after it did nothing. I didn't feel even slightly tired, which I know it isn't supposed to make you exhausted, but it was still awful. My main problem with my insomnia was it'd take me hours to get to sleep, and I'd immediately feel anxious once I got into bed because I knew I'd be up all night. So not even feeling the slightest bit relaxed from belsomra didn't help. Sure, I may fall asleep eventually, but it's not even worth it if I'm still awake and miserable for hours prior to that. I take trazodone now and it's saved me. Ask your doc about that instead."

• AdamH...
• October 31, 2016

"I've been struggling with insomnia because of shift work disorder. I started working graveyards in August of 2016. Today is October 31st 2016. I took the 10mg first to try it out. It worked ok but I still woke up here and there. But I liked it. Last night I tried the 15mg dose and oh my God did I ever have the worst nightmares of my life. They were so vivid and real. They scared me awake several times and the dreams did not end in my waking state. I seemed to shift back to sleep without even knowing it or I was still awake. I can't tell but the nightmare kick right off where I left them. I guess I slept but honestly I'm terrified to take them again. I'm literally shaking after this experience."

• 1Flip...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 2, 2023

"This is THE WORST drug I have ever been prescribed. I did not sleep one wink and within 30 minutes had a headache that lasted 3 days. I felt so drugged within 30 minutes. The side effects say unable to speak or move.......very true. This stuff should be taken off the market and never prescribed to anyone. I was drugged for 2 days after taking it."

• Kay
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 15, 2023

"I was up about twice per hour urinating. I'm not sure if it was the 10 mg of Belsomra that made insomnia worse or perhaps the combination of my sleep doctor adamantly warning me that I may stop breathing along with the peeing. I don't know. Someone said it took four weeks for it to take effect. After 2 and 1/2 weeks, I gave up. I've been awake for way too long for it to take me further from sleep. The cost of this drug is outrageous. I would expect super positive effects in much less time."

• lmpamd
• January 15, 2016

"Worse drug ever. Terrible groggy feeling next day. I usually take ambien 10 mg however since manufacturers have changed 2 North Star desperately I was seeking something else unfortunately this is definitely not the answer the next day you will feel like you've been run over by a train, depressed and unable to accomplish anything!!! Terrible stuff, warning do not resort to this garbage. ..it is just horrible. These are going straight in the trash, I'm going back to ambien tonite, at least w northstar , when u finally do go to sleep, you wake up refreshed!!!!!"

• sleep...
• August 16, 2015

"I haven't had a restorative night's sleep since 1996. Been on a long list of meds for sleep. Dx - chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia. But my sleep disorder is longer than that. On combo of Ambien 10 mg, klonopin 1 to 1.5 mg for years. Lately combo not working well like I developed a tolerance for it. Doctor looking for something that hasn't already failed for me to give a break from Ambien. One of meds prescribed to try is Belsomra 15 mg. Not sure it did anything. Awake for hours felt like I was starting to hallucinate, well just mildly. Tried it again for 3 days, each day would finally sleep for a few hours starting about 5 AM. Final day woke with blaster migraine. Not worth even the copay. On to the next ..."

• JS...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 25, 2015

"I used 10 mg zopidem for 7 years. It worked like a charm. I went from 10 to 15 to 20 mg of this new stuff. Nothing. I'm just going to have to go one week Belsomra and 45 mg mirtazapine and one week zolpidem. I had such high hopes. But doesn't get rid of my sleep anxiety."

• CynJW
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 5, 2017

"I suffer from insomnia for nearly 8 months now and have tried melatonin, OTC sleep aids, ambien, trazadone, etc nothing worked. Asked my doctor if I could try belsomra and was given a sample 10 mg dose for 3 days, it kept me awake all last night and tonight as well. So tired of not being able to sleep!!!"

• Joy...
• October 29, 2019

"I've had insomnia all my adult life. I was taking Ambien for quite a few years probably 15 or 20 years and my doctor instructed me I had to go off of it for obvious safety concerns. I started on 10 mg of belsomra it didn't help I'm up to 20 mg and night and it still doesn't help. I lay awake in my bed for at least seven to eight hours every night wishing that I could sleep I finally fall asleep for maybe three hours that's it. I really wish I could sleep."

• Anonymous
• July 20, 2017

"Having tinnitus my sleep is impossible without meds. I have tried most and Doc put me onto Belsomra. Out of 5 weeks its only worked a couple of nights. Its very expensive it and just does not work. It doesn't put me to sleep so I have to take something else with it and wake up every hour. I really think they need to go back to the drawing board with this one and put something in it for sleep."

• Nick
• July 17, 2017

"I was taking Belsomra (20 mg) for almost a year, and initially it worked great. I was falling asleep in a natural way without feeling I had taken a sleeping pill. After three or four months things started to change. I started feeling a bit depressed with some anxiety. What was really strange is that I would get lots of work related anxiety -- things started bugging me at work that normally would not. It's like small things at work bugged me far more than usual. I could not understand what changed. In addition, I was accumulating some depression and everything took more energy to do. Finally, I started suspecting Belsomra was the cause, so as soon as I stopped, all these symptoms simply evaporated! OMG, I finally can feel the sunshine!"