Ambien User Reviews & Ratings (Page 5)

• Anonymous
• December 11, 2012

For Insomnia "I took my daughter to dinner, during which she mentioned our ride to school that morning. I asked what she meant. She told me I had given her a ride to school that morning. I have no recollection of taking her to school, leaving the house, or coming home. It was a surreal experience, and after reading the reviews here, I have decided to stop taking the medication. It does help with sleep, but driving in a blackout is too scary for me."

• alt...
• January 2, 2008

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

• jus...
• June 9, 2008

For Insomnia "I have been taking this drug for a few months now. I had a severe accident at work, so I have severe nerve pain and found that taking Ambien helps me sleep at night. However, it does sometimes-like others have said-make me forget what I did after I took it, but I have lots of energy the next morning."

• Dar...
• July 27, 2009

For Insomnia "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
• July 18, 2016

For Insomnia "People, be careful with Ambien. I was put on Ambien 10 mg back in late 2014. I recently stopped the medication cold 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 newly prescribed medication."

• pjr...
• July 16, 2015

For Insomnia "Take it on an empty stomach, or it won't work. I have terrible insomnia and have been on it long-term. It still works after 15 years. It had some initial side effects, but they went away after a few months. It works very well, but I gave it eight stars only because you have to take it on an empty stomach. If I eat a late dinner, I can count on it not working. Otherwise, it's the only medication that has helped me sleep. I take 15-20 mg per night."

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

For Insomnia "Without Ambien, I'm up literally all night. But if you don't take it on an empty stomach, it doesn't work at all. I take it at midnight and can't eat after 5 or 6 PM 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..."

• Dev...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 20, 2013

For Insomnia "I suffer from both sleep onset and sleep maintenance insomnia. My doctor recommended that I take 5 mg (half a dose) of Ambien prior to bedtime. In terms of overriding sleep onset insomnia, this product is excellent. It also does a good job of keeping me asleep throughout the night; however, I still wake up approximately five to six hours later. (My ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours.) Still, getting six hours of uninterrupted sleep is preferable to eight hours of fitful sleeping. It's also worth mentioning that Ambien doesn't leave me feeling groggy in the morning. Unlike some of the other reviewers here, I haven't experienced any of the more pernicious negative side effects, e.g., the various somnambulist activities."

• Lyn...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 20, 2017

For Insomnia "After years of being a zombie, I found a psychiatrist who prescribed it for me, and I changed into a functioning person. I've never had a bad experience. I only take 5 mg a night, 10 if I wake up in the middle of the night. I never take more, and about half the time, 5 mg is enough."

• Dol...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 7, 2013

For Insomnia "I have been on a fairly high dose of Ambien (20 mgs) for periodic limb movement disorder, which a sleep study showed woke me up over 100 times per night. I've been on the same dose for over fifteen years. Before I tried this, I was given over thirty different medications over two years, none of which really worked. This is what works. It works pretty well still, helping me fall and stay asleep, and I haven't noticed any side effects except midnight snacks and very mild memory haziness (I can still remember what happens, it's just muddy, like waking up in the middle of the night). Recently, my doctor told me the FDA had suggested I drop to 5 mg a night. That dose would never work for me, even when I started it. It's safe and still works."

• Anonymous
• November 5, 2012

For Insomnia "My bipolar disorder triggered severe insomnia, and so my doctor gave me Ambien. It worked wonders. The first few nights taking it, I saw double/blurry and then just knocked out, got AMAZING rest, woke up refreshed. Over time, I had some sleepwalking/talking/eating episodes. One time, I woke up and ate a batch of cookies, and another time, I made some midnight hot dogs. I would wake up feeling unusually bloated, haha, that's why. One time, I took the Ambien and decided to take a quick 5-minute hot shower afterward, well, my husband told me he caught me talking to the shampoo bottles. So weird! Listen to the directions, take once you are lying in bed, unlike me. You won't remember a thing. Once I swallow the pill, I don't remember anything after that."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 18, 2012

For Insomnia "Ambien is something I have very mixed feelings about. To be honest, I was hooked on it the first time I took it. It took me a year to realize this. It is an extremely subtle dependency that develops, but eventually it will stop working. When it stopped working, I started feeling like I didn't get quality sleep at night at all and was dizzy all the time. I think it has a very subtle withdrawal that many people might not understand. Terrible, I will be up for three days straight at a time, it's been two months off of Ambien, and I sleep worse now than I ever did before I had it. My advice is to take it EXACTLY as it's prescribed, no long-term."

• dan...
• July 15, 2018

For Insomnia "Ambien saved my life. I’ve suffered from severe panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias since I was 5 and 6. I was also diagnosed with ADHD when I was 11. The anxiety has come and gone, and I have been on 25 mg of Zoloft for years. Well, I’m 21 now and thought that I could get off my anxiety meds about a year ago, and boy was I wrong. It was fine for about a year, but in December, something snapped and I was in full-fledged panic mode. I couldn’t eat or sleep or even function. I felt like I was dying. Anyway, my dad used to take Ambien for travel and he happened to have some left. I was in a fit and was bawling because of sleep deprivation, and he’s like, here, take half of one of these. I took my first 5 mg of Ambien and I could sleep! I cried when I woke up because I started to feel better. I then got my own prescription and eventually I didn’t need them and I went back to normal. I have some in case of emergencies, but I don’t need to take it every night."

• Ldy...
• August 20, 2008

For Insomnia "I am a poster child for Ambien and have been taking it for 2 months now, and it has been a lifesaver. Without it, I would average at the most 3 hours of sleep, and that was after fighting sleep for about 6 hours."

• Ran...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 26, 2015

For Insomnia "I was in a horrible car crash Sept. 7th, 2014. I was air cared to UC. I was in ICU for 9 days and remained hospitalized 3 months. I never used to have trouble going to sleep, but since my accident, I will lay in bed for hours. On really bad nights, sometimes it's all night, with my eyes closed, trying to fall asleep, but I just can't. I believe being on a dilaudid drip for so long during my hospital stay, then morphine and oxycodone for a while, plays a big role in my sudden insomnia. Also, I was diagnosed with GAD 6 years ago, which I'm sure sometimes adds to my trouble sleeping. ZzzQuil or Benadryl helped some at first, but now neither helps at all. Finally, I was given Zolpidem 10 mg, and I LOVE it. I fall asleep and sleep all night. Definitely recommend it!"

• JDa...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 26, 2018

For Insomnia "I've been on Ambien for 3 years. I started taking it during lots of international travel to help me sleep on planes. I continue taking it now for help with sleep. I take 10 mg two to three times a week. When I first started taking it, it didn't do much to put me to sleep, but it definitely helped keep me asleep. 3 years later, this stuff knocks me out and keeps me sound asleep for 6-7 hours. Contrary to other posts, I have never felt the slightest dependency or addiction to Ambien. It is a wonderful product."

• Don...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 9, 2016

For Insomnia "I have severe insomnia. My therapist prescribed me 10 mg Ambien as a short-term solution. I was so amazed and excited to SLEEP! Within 20 minutes, I just fell asleep, and it was so wonderful. She had warned me of sleepwalking. But I told her 'that was impossible because I had never done that in my 65 years of life!' In my 5th week of taking Ambien, I woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth, a loose tooth, a skinned knee, and a bruised shoulder. Yes, I had walked in my sleep, sat in a chair, and fell out of it face-first. Luckily, one of my granddaughters was spending the night and witnessed the incident. So, if you are naive like me and think it cannot happen to you, please think about it. Good luck."

• nig...
• January 19, 2009

For Insomnia "I have taken Ambien, on and off, for several years. I have bipolar disorder, resulting in a chronic sleep problem. 10 mg/day works well for a few months, then I become habituated. I have tried increasing to 20 mg/day, but I eventually become habituated to that dose as well, and neither I nor my doctor will go to a higher dose. Nothing else works as well, so I usually struggle along for a couple of months, then go back to 10 mg/day of Ambien. The other problem I've seen is that I cannot mix it with alcohol. I learned the hard way. I had 'waking blackouts' after I'd had a couple of drinks. People told me of things I'd done, of which I had no memory."

• Oh ...
• October 20, 2009

For Insomnia "My husband loves that I take Ambien. He's never been happier. The amnesia that accompanies Ambien really works in his favor, if I wake up in the morning and he's smiling, I know I have forgotten something (something really important :) But for me, it's the best night's sleep ever. I do have Ambien amnesia, so I have to be careful. The Ambien CR has a two-hour hole in the middle of the night for me. For two solid hours, I'm wide awake. Zolpidem is the generic form, and I have found I have to take a higher dose than the name brand. Insurance demands generic. I have been taking it for 10 years."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 3, 2012

For Insomnia "This is the only sleep aid that has ever worked for me. I get a good full night’s sleep, I wake up refreshed and not groggy. Bless the makers of this medication, you have literally changed my life. I used to sleep 15 to 45 minutes a night, now at 6 to 8 hours of sleep. My blood pressure has come down, I no longer battle depression and fatigue, and I am productive at work!"

• Amb...
• August 25, 2017

For Insomnia "I work in a hospital with long hours that can vary between days. When I finally got home and needed to sleep, I'd be kept up with adrenaline from the shift. I started Ambien and was pretty happy with it. I would be out like a light for a solid 7-8 hours and wake up 100% refreshed with no hangover side effects like I get with Benadryl or melatonin. You might wake up and eat something weird some nights and not remember, but I just look at it as entertainment... 10mg/night...stay up for about an hour and get the 'high' people say and then put yourself down for some incredible relaxed sleep."

• Col...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 24, 2017

For Insomnia "I began taking Ambien 15 years ago. I stopped it while I was pregnant with my first child and then ended up going back on it from lack of sleep for so long. I took it again the first time 6 1/2 years before becoming pregnant again and then had to stop it. When my youngest son was a year and a half old, I started taking it again because I could not sleep longer than an hour. When I first started taking Ambien, I think the chemical compound was different because back then I would eat in my sleep, cook meals in my sleep, but then after going off of it and going back on it, I believe the formulation changed. I have not had any of those issues for over 13 years. Taking it on an empty stomach makes a huge difference."

• syl...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 25, 2019

For Insomnia "I was on and off Ambien for 10 years. 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 doctor says otherwise (like mine did)."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• July 14, 2012

For Insomnia "I've taken Ambien, and now the generic, for 10 or 11 years. I usually took it only when sleeping away from home. The last month or so, I've needed it every night to fall asleep. I always try to fall asleep on my own first, but it has become increasingly difficult. I have absolutely no side effects and never have had. I never get out of bed during the night and feel totally refreshed when I wake in the morning. I don't know what I'd do without it."

• Eri...
• December 27, 2015

For Insomnia "You can do things and not remember them. You will tell awful stories about squirrels jumping out of glass boxes and say things to your spouse/significant other you don't mean if you try to talk while on this drug. So by all means, do not take until the very last thing before sleep, i.e., you are in bed, ready for sleep. It kicks in super fast, and you won't know what hit you. You only get 5 to 6 hours of sleep on Ambien, but you feel rested with no druggie zombie after feeling. Note to single parents taking this drug: you will be worthless in an emergency situation and helpless to assist your children in a fire, a break-in, a trip to the ER at 1 a.m. (never drive on this drug!!!)"