Ambien for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 4)

• Hondo
• September 30, 2019

"I’ve got a ton of stress in my life and it causes severe insomnia. I was up for 63 hours straight at one point and asked my doctor for help. At first Ambien was moderately effective. I’ve only been on it for three months and it does little if anything to help me sleep now. I wake from it after four hours. If I take it and it doesn’t work I hallucinate pretty bad. Inanimate objects start moving."

• Dont...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 14, 2016

"On the business class sleeper seat plane to NY, the last conscious thing I remember after taking Ambien was my head resting on the pillow about an hour after the meal service and then waking up in bed in the apartment. How did I collect my coat and things, aware to pack the airline amenity kit and water bottle into the knapsack that was in the overhead bin, deplane and walk far to passport control, use the passport kiosk that requires me to type in on the touchscreen, Thailand, and collect the customs print out and then go to a carousel and collect my bag among all the other bags revolving around, hand my printout to the customs agent and find where to catch the Newark airport bus in the winter cold. How long did I wait for the bus? Did I open my suitcase inside the terminal to take out my sweater, scarf, and wool knit hat to wear --all which were packed in the suitcase. Upon waking up in the apartment the sweater was on the couch, the scarf on a chair, and the knit hat in my knapsack. Once on the bus I had to have reached in my pocket for my wallet that had my return bus ticket. The ticket wasn't in my wallet in the apartment. Once off the bus at Port Authority, how did I hail a taxi, put the stuff in the trunk and tell him where to go? My credit card statement indicates I swiped the card to pay for the taxi home. Once outside my apartment, I had to reach into my knapsack for my keys attached to a clip and open the door. The keys were found on the coffee table when woke up in bed. My coat and jacket were on the bathroom floor indicating that once inside the apartment I rushed to the bathroom. I obviously opened my suitcase as it was found wide open and a of box anticongestion and a bottle of allergy pills that I remember packing in the suitcase in Bangkok were now found on the kitchen counter. From remembering my head on the airplane pillow to waking up in my bed, everything is a blank, hours blank."

• Texas
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 7, 2023

"I recently was switched from Lunesta to Ambien. Lunesta really wasn't helping much. Started Ambien a month or so ago and it's worked great! I try not to eat a big meal close to the time I take it. I also take it when I get into bed and I fall asleep. No staying up and trying to do anything. I take this on average 3 nights a week."

• sylmax
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 25, 2019

"I was on and off ambien for 10yrs. I quit almost a year ago and I'm still experiencing side effects of that drug. Please stay away as much as you can. I thought getting off of it was hard. I was wrong. Life post-ambien is a real struggle. DO NOT TAKE IT FOR MORE THAN IT IS ADVISED, even if your doc says otherwise (like mine did)."

• Jbano
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 8, 2019

"I've been taking 10 mg of Ambien every night for years. There are no withdrawals. I've gone on vacation for 10 days and forgotten them. The worst thing I felt was not being able to fall asleep. But duh. It does not make you high. It makes you tired."

• Sleep...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 30, 2019

"Ambien is AWFUL!! This is my first night on it, I was taking Lunesta. It is 3:47am right now and I am so upset - not only does it not help insomnia it makes it sooo much worse. It did not help me fall asleep, I woke up within the first two hours of taking it and have not gone back to sleep since then. Can’t wait for my alarm to go off!"

• Texjoy
• February 9, 2010

"Although Ambien did the job to rid me of insomnia, the side effects were too frightening so I had to stop using it. I began sleep walking, sleep cooking--yes, an entire meal at 2 AM-- and I don't remember and finally sleep driving. I was stopped by a state trouper, in my pajamas on I-80 heading west at 11 PM. Don't remember any of it. Never took it again. "

• Liam
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 18, 2018

"Been taking these for a few weeks and so far they are effective for making me fall asleep. I have never had any weird side effects like sleep walking, shopping, driving etc. I think if you take the recommended dose and steer clear of alcohol when taking them you should be fine. It seems when people don't heed that advice is when they run into problems. And like other people say you should starve for at least 4 hours before taking this medication as food (especially fatty foods) competes with Ambien."

• Darden
• July 27, 2009

"I have trouble staying asleep. I wake every night anywhere from between 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. and am up for the rest of the night. This medicine helped me sleep, but also made me very depressed. It made me very angry and upset most of the time. I took this for about 3 months, until I got to the point that there was something very wrong with me and it was the medicine. "

• Anonymous
• November 16, 2008

"I started taking this medication 10 years ago. My doctor told me it was non-narcotic and non-habit forming. Up to that time I had never had any addictions to drugs or alcohol, but unfortunately I am dependent on this drug for sleep. It does however work very well with few side effects and I wake up feeling refreshed. "

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 23, 2013

"Works amazing! I have horrible anxiety and panic attacks which causes me to have insomnia as well. Tried just about everything for sleep. Works better than some benzos to for sleep! I know a lot about benzos. Been prescribed Ativan and Valium and this medication puts me to sleep better than those! Note this medication works similar to benzos. 5mg will work great to. You will sleep fine and wake up feeling great and functioning normal as can be. Overall great sleep medicine."

• psuzieq
• July 2, 2008

"I have been taking Zolpidem (Ambiem) for about 6 months now. After I retired I found I could not fall asleep and when I did I woke up after 4-5 hours of sleep feeling tired all the time. This medication has been a miracle for me. I now wake up after 8 hours feeling refreshed with lots of energy."

• Pol...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 1, 2013

"I was put on 10mg of Ambien after I was having trouble sleeping during a breakdown. I made the mistake one night of taking it and then answering the phone, I was on the phone for an hour.....Oh man, the cupboard moved all on it own,t hen they were strange people walking up and down the stairs in my house. Strange thing is I thought this was funny. I fell down twice, once breaking a little coffee table. Luckily for me my partner was there to help me up the stairs and put me to bed. I now only take 5mg about an hour before bed and it really relaxes me and makes me forget all problems. I don't have any trouble sleeping anymore as such just the odd night here and there."

• Fred
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 15, 2018

"10 mg worked great for about 3 weeks of nightly use but after a while I could not get back to sleep after waking in the middle of the night. This was probably stress for me and worrying about not falling back asleep. It should be noted though that this drug is classed as a short acting sleeping pill with a "duration of action" of 3 hours, so if you wake up early it's not that surprising. The CR version works for about 5-6 hours. The regular version does however do a good job at getting you to sleep. If your problem is both falling and staying asleep the CR version would be better."

• altur...
• January 2, 2008

"I've taken ambien for years. I can honestly say I can't sleep most nights without it. It really works, but im codependent on it now. The generic for it, zolpedum, in my opinion doesn't work as well. I have chronic pain and can't sleep at night, this is why it was perscribed in the first place. I have also had amnesia."

• lissa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 31, 2013

"I love it. I am a very restless sleeper, wake up almost every single hour then have a hard time falling back to sleep. The only time I could sleep through the night is if I drank a load of alcohol. Well, first I started out with half of a 5mg Ambien just to see how it would affect me, I slept a solid 4 hours, woke up, but it didn't bother me, I didn't get all upset because I woke up, and I easily fell back to sleep. So even 2.5 MG took the edge off for me. It depends on how good I want to sleep as to how much Ambien I take, last night I took 5mg and slept a solid 6 hours, got up went to the bathroom, slept another 3 hours, I don't have all the weird side effects. I feel like a whole new person taking this medication."

• Anonymous
• July 18, 2016

"People, be careful with Ambien. I was put on Ambien 10 mg back in late 2014, I recently stopped the medication told turkey. It's been a week since I quit, I have been having severe withdrawal. Nightmares, night sweats, and frequent urination are the most occurring symptoms I have been dealing with. Doctors seldom tell patients about drug withdrawals, which is why I am suffering from these problems. So, be careful before you take a new prescribed medication."

• Quaal...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 9, 2015

"Works splendidly when first prescribed but over time loses it's effectiveness and one develops a tolerance to it's effectiveness. Due to it's short half-life in the body, it peters out quite quickly ( /- 2 hours). Would not recommend long-term treatment with this medicine (>6 months)."

• Melse...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 10, 2017

"I absolutely love Ambien. Love it. However, building up a tolerance sucks, the drug testing sucks, having to have a doctors appointment monthly to get a prescription sucks, and knowing I'm taking something I know I could become dependent on sucks. No groggy mornings, if taken within a half hour of going to bed I can fall asleep easily, and a few funny text conversations to wake up to. I have tried SO many things and this is so far the only one that has even helped."

• Klblu...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 11, 2018

"After having gastric bypass in 08, I ended up in hospital for a month. It took one of the night nurses to notice I never slept. He talked to other nurses and they noticed too but never said anything. They called dr that night n gave me an Ambien. I was in heaven. I've always had problems with insomnia. It kept getting worse, so I took 2 a night. I'm lucky if that works every 2 or 3 days n that only works for 4-5 hours. We tried the extended release, and if u can believe this, is worse. Maybe 2 1/2 hours. I've tried every sleep medicine, done so many sleep studies and no one has any ideas on how to help me at all. 7 days was the longest without sleep n ended up in hospital for the same amount of days. No sleep is the most horrible mind screwing thing ever. It's horrible, horrible, horrible and don't wish it on anyone!!!!"

• LouLa...
• January 13, 2015

"Ditto on rebound sleepless when discontinued. I have done very strange things with no memory including taking additional Ambien. It has helped me sleep when under extreme stress but watch out. Now I am trying to learn how to sleep naturally."

• Beth...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 30, 2016

"Without Ambien I'm up literally all night. But if you don't take it on am empty stomach it doesn't work at all. I take it at midnight and can't eat after 5 or 6PM or else it won't work. If you try and stay up after it starts to work you may do things you wouldn't normally do - like shop online, which I've done and many people I know. Luckily everything I've bought is stuff I've wanted, but still..."

• Someone
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 5, 2017

"I'm 23 got I just got presrecribed 10 mg ambien for sleep . is was probably the best sleeping thing for meds I've had for insomnia. I've never had any weird experience or others problems either. Even though I've been on it for 6 months now."

• Amabi...
• July 4, 2017

"I love ambien! It is the only thing that works for me. A few yrs ago when I started becoming a worse insomniac nothing would work. I remember trying tylonal pm and at first one worked.. then had to bump up to two.. then so on and so on.. until one day I had taken way too many and a Valium and I still wouldn't pass out. I would be all drunk off the meds but it was like the light switch in my head wouldn't turn off. I slept maybe a nap here and there for about a week and was thinking of checking my self into a nutty house because I would drive somewhere without remembering all from lack of sleep. Very long story short ambien is the only thing to me that I take and feels like a natural lay my head down and go to sleep"

• Mark...
• August 30, 2015

"I experience insomnia in that my mind often does not "turn off," I tend to keep thinking once I lay down in bed. Over the counter sleep aids have been ineffective and leave me drowsy the day after. Ambien turns off my mind and I sleep well. Sometimes I wake up in about 5 to 6 hours, if I need a bit more sleep then I take a half pill (5 mg) for the remaining two extra hours of sleep that I need to feel well rested. I have had no side effects."