Ambien for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 2)

• Grandma
• Taken for 10 years or more
• January 1, 2020

"I had cancer 13 years ago so anyways couldn’t sleep after that so my dr put me on 15 mg of ambien and a few years down the road because of regulations he had to cut it to 10 mg. Which I’m still not used to, well I was going to VA and had to switch to regular Doctor, I have a dr. that hates Ambien but at least she is giving me 5 mg and now I am very restless and get around 4 to 5 hrs of sleep. Very tough, but I know my life is shortened by being on Ambien but I have tried absolutely every thing on the shelf of sleep aids, and Ambien is the only one that will give me sleep and no nightmares."

• Anony...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 4, 2014

"Ambien works. Not because it's a sleep aid but because it's a HYPNOTIC. Which means if you don't want amnesia then get yourself straight to bed after taking it. It kicks in in 5-10 mins and may or may not keep you asleep all night. But those of you complaining of eating, etc and having no memory of what you did is very simple: taking a HYPNOTIC while you're still up and showering or whatever is going to make you do stupid things you won't remember. Just take it AFTER you lay down, turn off your phone, and you'll be fine."

• Feath...
• February 26, 2008

"My insomnia comes from anxiety issues when I try to sleep. I found that Ambien didn't make me sleepy, but it did relax me enough to fall asleep. There are tons of stories floating around about strange behavior, and I have my share. I found this only happens when I try to do things between ingestion and onset. Only take it when you are already in bed, relaxing, and attempting to fall asleep, and you shouldn't have any problems."

• JBIRD
• May 9, 2009

"Had sleep problems since college (43 years old now). Took all the normal heavy-duty sleep medicines like Valium and even Benadryl. These only put me in a half-sleep state and made me feel horrible for days on end. After 20 years of suffering from insomnia and after a bout with meningitis in 2000, my friend, a neurologist who was seeing me for post-meningitis, asked me how I was sleeping. I told her I haven't had a good night's sleep in over 20 years. She wrote a script for Ambien. I have never been so in love with a pill in my life as I am with Ambien. I fall asleep within 15 minutes, get a good 7 hours of hard sleep, and wake up bright and early feeling rested like I have not felt in decades. Ambien is a miracle drug, and thanks to the genius who made it."

• Great...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 2, 2014

"I'm 19 and suffer from bad insomnia. I've tried Benadryl, Unisom, even a different prescription sleeping pill, Restoril (temazepam). These all either didn't work or left me extremely groggy in the morning and throughout the day. Anyway, I was scheduled to study abroad and my worst fear the entire trip was not sleeping in a foreign atmosphere. My Dr. prescribed me a few weeks worth of Ambien 10 MG. I can't tell you how great this medication was. It drifted me off to a gentle, deep sleep and I stayed asleep for at least 7 hours. I woke up happy and refreshed In the morning; even energized! I took the high dose and did not experience any side effects or hallucinations. I was able to enjoy my trip."

• Garde...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 19, 2017

"I have been taking Ambien for almost 10 years and it works like a charm for me. I was prescribed Ambien following the murder of my only child. A year later my husband of 40 years was diagnosed with ALS. I am a full-time working caregiver and sleep would be elusive if not for Ambien. I am now 61 years young and healthy as a horse. Unfortunately, Express Scripts, BCBS or my employer is making it almost impossible for me to get a Rx filled. I am very frustrated!! People are different and Rxs work differently on all of us ! I know Ambien works for me."

• Daugh...
• February 19, 2020

"Ambien became a nightmare for my mother and family recently. Because no one fully explained how and when to take Ambien, my mother took it late, around 1am after initially falling asleep around 11pm and waking up sleepless. She’d then attempt to wake up around 8am and function normally. Well, no. We thought she was having a stroke and called 911. Falling over, slurred speech, texts that look like this, “Ecotidhfhudishfjffmn”....all very abnormal behavior for my mom who is very vibrant and healthy! After several days of this mystery morning “illness”, she finally alluded to taking her Ambien dosage at 1am. Well, duh. Mystery illness solved. My intention is to warn others who take Ambien - I insisted she stop taking it and sleeps even better now! - to take it as soon as you go to bed and DON’T expect to function normally until you’ve had 8 hours of sleep after dosing."

• Debbi...
• February 1, 2015

"I have been taking Ambien every night for a over 20 years. I am a nurse and it's very difficult to work swing shift and teach yourself to sleep whenever ..esp if you suffer from insomnia. I have had insomnia since a child, probably sleep walking. Sleep eating prior to taking the medicine. Now that I have it ..my life has improved 200 percent .No one can imaging how disturbing it is to lie in bed for 8 hours wide awake ...knowing you have work soon. When I first took it, I was groggy in the morning ..but now as long as I get 8 hours I wake up feeling awake and amazing ..never grew a tolerance for it. Always works. I will say when I had children under 5 ..I would never take it ...not safe ..when you are caring for others .this med saved me."

• HKGirl
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 19, 2014

"When I got prescribed Ambien I started with 5mg and it worked but I only slept for 4 hrs. So the following night I took 10mg and I was asleep in no time and got a full 9hrs of sleep. Best night ever in years. I woke up feeling refreshed. Minor headache but I don't know if it was due to the Ambien. 1 Tylenol pill took it away so no biggie. This is the only sleep pill that has helped me. I tried Restroil and Seroquel and got no sleep only bad side effects. I love Ambien."

• sher
• December 2, 2007

"I take ambien occasionally to help me get a full night sleep. in the morning I wake up with so much energy it is unbelievabe.I sleep 7 full hours and wake up without feeling any side affects but full energy."

• Ajano
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 23, 2019

"This Is really answering JK's question after a certain amount of time yes the ambien loses its effectiveness what I would suggest what you do would be to go to something else for 60 days maybe even 90 days then go back to ambien. This will make your tolerance to the ambien all but disappear and you'll be good to go. I have found I have to do this about every 8 to 10 months"

• Anonymous
• June 24, 2008

"I have been taking Ambien for many years and am totally addicted to it now. I can't sleep if I don't take it. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to. It is best to take it and get right to bed, no lingering in the kitchen. It really works!"

• Chris
• October 5, 2018

"After being a good sleeper out of the blue I began to suffer bad insomnia, taking hours to fall asleep or repeated awakenings which was not like me! Possibly because of neighbor issues for years causing stress which finally started to impact my sleep, I tried over the counter meds with no success, then my doctor gave me Ambien and it works so well for me at 10mg, it does not always keep me asleep all night but at least it knocks me out and destroys any anxiety due to insomnia. It seems those of us with insomnia find it hard to calm the brain down and repeated sleepless nights makes us more anxious making sleep increasingly hard to come by. Medications like Ambien are effective as they increase GABA in the brain leading to relaxation and then makes it easier to sleep. I would say this drug is safe, surely better than drinking alcohol to sleep which has bad health impacts. Regular good sleep improves my mood, appetite, lowers anxiety and depression, Ambien does this, it's a good thing!"

• Bad...
• February 4, 2014

"I have been taking Ambien on and off for 8 years for severe insomnia, mostly related to anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. Over time my body has built up a dependence and a tolerance. I will lay awake till 5 am if I don't take it miserable and exhausted for days. The generic doesn't seen to work as well and since I have been on it so long I usually have to take 20mg to get a full nights sleep, but with certain generics I still wake up at 3am and can't go back to bed. It has been a God send over the years as I tried everything else. I was treated for depression but those medications made it harder to sleep. At some point I would like to stop being dependent on the medicine but every time I try to quit I go through weeks of with no sleep."

• insom...
• March 3, 2014

"I've had horrible insomnia since I was a child. Diagnosed with severe sleep apnea a few years ago. Ambien is not the holy grail. You build up a tolerance over the years but 12.5 is as high as most doctors will go ) from 10, 8 years ago). Pluses for Ambien - it will put you to sleep; no half-life so no grogginess in the morning. Minuses- it will put you to sleep but generally not keep you asleep. Thus the waking up wide awake at 3 a.m. There is now intermezzo - and sublingual 3.5 dose of Ambien meant for this problem - works for me 50% of the time- otherwise I just stay up. Another minus - if you take Ambien on a full stomach IT WILL NOT WORK. I generally eat before 5 and allow 5 hours before I take it. But in all - a savior!"

• phant...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• December 26, 2013

"I have terrible chronic insomnia. I have safely taken this medication for over 12 years, with no significant side effects. Go to bed as soon as you take the medication. In my case the window for working is very short---7-10 minutes. If it hasn't helped me sleep by 15 minutes, it isn't going to help for that particular time. I would recommend this medication to anyone!"

• hilborn
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 22, 2016

"Have bad insomnia. Been on Ambien for 10 years now. I decreased my dose to only 3 mg about 5 years ago. All I need is to get to sleep. Anxiety prevents that. So Ambien works great for me. I have never had any bad effects at all with this drug. No after effects. Wake up refreshed. I have had instances where it doesn't work, if I am in a bad anxious state. But usually I take it right before bed. I don't delay at all because it is pretty fast working. Hope and pray there are no long term effects like Alzheimers. So far I have no memory problems. I am 74. I need sleep. It's that simple. Feel awful when I don't sleep. I do try not to take it every night. Go off for days in between. Try and go weeks if I can. So far that's working for me."

• Boner
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 2, 2019

"This drug Ambien works great. I have used it on and off for at least 15 years. The drug works fast, the onset is 10 minutes (for me), dosage does not seem to build tolerance (for me). The only downside is I get the munchies from zolpidem which is problematic at bedtime. Generics seem to be similar potency as original."

• grama...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 15, 2014

"Age 66 with advanced arthritis, multiple spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc disease. Awaken refreshed after 9+ hours without usual back or muscle pain. Dosage only 5 mg. Absolutely awesome! Only up to use restroom once or twice and able to go straight back to sleep. Only problem. Insurance limits me to 90/year. Yeah, only 1.7 nights a week do I get decent sleep and pain relief."

• Wanna...
• July 11, 2019

"Meds work fairly fast but to those like 'Sleepdeprived' says of it not working, here is a suggestion for those whose body isn't fallen asleep fast--Take ambien while in bed and eat a tiny snack after it. Even though directions says on an empty stomach, I have found with certain people that for some reason ambien works faster when snacking after swallowing med. Some feel that this could be due to the fact of eating right behind it that since food goes immediately thru the process of breaking down the food and distributing the nutrients of the food thru your system this makes the ambien break down faster and get thru your system quicker. So for those who are having a hard time of meds not working, try it that way. And for the ones that says they woke up after 2 hrs and couldn't go back to sleep, if you find that is you, it is safe to take another one but no more. In fact you can get a pill cutter and cut it in half and use only 5mg when cut and it will get you back to sleep right away."

• Gary
• August 10, 2019

"Great drug for insomnia never failed to put me to sleep but one thing I've learned is take it right before bed otherwise I get complete blackouts because there's been a couple of times I stayed up for half an hour after taking it & not remembered getting into bed, one minute I was on sat on the couch next thing I remember is waking up in bed the next morning. After hearing crazy stories of people sleep driving to the next state I asked my wife if I did anything crazy & she said no I just went to bed. Thank god for that lol"

• ether...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 28, 2015

"Helps put my mind in a blank slate. My mind is constantly running all the time, everyday. When nighttime approaches, I can't shut my mind off. I have a fear of initially sleeping. I also use it for nights of when I have really bad anxiety, depression, or panic. It calms me down, and soothes me. I no longer have any worries. It helps me get to sleep easy, and really sedates me. I love those aspects."

• Nutsy...
• February 27, 2009

"I think I have the story of all stories about Ambien. I used to take it, and I loved it. I woke up refreshed without any strange things happening. Until one night I had taken a few. I took one and I had built up a tolerance for it so I took another. Next thing I know, I'm naked out in my backyard and I couldn't remember why. Then I come in the house, and there were cops there. I got upset because A) I was naked and B) I didn't know why they were there. Apparently I went nuts, and started throwing things at my boyfriend, and he didn't know what was wrong with me so he called the police. Then they were cuffing me and I was struggling because I could not remember our fight what so ever."

• ATINA
• August 28, 2007

"HELLO: I TOOK AMBIEN AND HAD TO BE HOSPITALIZED BECAUSE I LOST ALL USE OF MY MUSCLES. i COULD NOT MOVE OR SPEAK HARDLY. THIS ONSET HAPPENED JUST AS I WAS GETTING READY TO GO TO WORK. I WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR THREE DAYS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT I HAD A MINI STROKE. AFTER COMING HOME I TOOK AMBIEN AGAIN AND THE SAME EPISODE HAPPENED. "

• Suffe...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 4, 2019

"I've read almost 100 opinions + and - . For those that have lack of results or side effects .. you should verify if you are taking the Name Brand Ambien .. the Generic Ambien was absolutely Terrible .. The Brand Name Ambien directly from the Manufacturer was Excellent .. I asked my PCP to Specify Brand Name Ambien and it made me change my opinion to a Positive one overnight. I'm a Stage 4 Congestive Heart Failure Patient .. On CPAP .. a fear of sleep, problems with CPAP Mask, COPD, Pain and Insomnia too .. but I'm alive .. I Have Not Experienced any Side Effects from Name Brand Ambien .. it's been 2 years now .. tried many other meds .. nothing else worked for me .. I take 10mg Ambien as Needed PRN too .. It works for me"