Zolpidem and Hallucinations: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Jac...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 2, 2019

For Insomnia "Good med for insomnia if used properly. Which I did do at first - I took it, then went straight to bed, but be careful with addiction. I realized if I stayed up after taking it, I ended up out of my mind with hallucinations. From what I remember, I was acting like an idiot, talking to people that weren't really there and falling all over. I'm lucky nothing bad happened to me. I ended up taking 3 or 4 tablets all in one go, seemingly without a second thought. I did not remember taking them until I realized in the morning when I looked at the medication packaging that they were gone."

• Cat...
• June 23, 2017

For Insomnia "Don't underestimate the warning about depression in the pamphlet! Following a traumatic experience, I've been experiencing anxious and depressive episodes for the last couple of months that have cost me restful sleep, but after taking 5 mg of this medication for one night, I hallucinated really terrifying stuff, slept the same or worse than I normally would (woke up 2 hrs later and then slept in short interrupted phases after), and then coped with WAY worse than normal emotional lows, self-hatred, and horrible suicidal thoughts the next day. Reading other reviews and waiting for the medication to pass helped a lot, and I feel much better now. But never again."

• Sun...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 19, 2017

Zolpidem for Insomnia "Ambien or 'Zolpidem' was terrible. I started hallucinating. Now, I do drink caffeine in the morning, but it should not have this koo-koo effect. My ceiling turned into peaceful, lit-up jellyfish tentacles, and my pillow turned into a moving/billowing cloud of a worm. Pretty crazy, but that is what I saw when I took this crap. I was dazed... it didn't initially help me fall asleep. Perhaps I'm allergic to Ambien, I have no idea. I believe I took it with 5 or 10 mg of melatonin. Whew... that was a cocktail to go nuts. Stick with temazepam (Restoril)... way better."

• Old...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 12, 2022

For Insomnia "Let me begin by saying this is by a LONG shot the absolute strongest sleeping tablet ever made. I can take 20 mg diazepam and it won’t have 1/10 of the effects of zolpidem! It works like magic BUT stay awake and you’ll hallucinate, see weird things, experience the weirdest effects EVER! Take it and instantly close your eyes! And ONLY use it as an absolute last resort if you have tried everything! If you use it for more than a few days, you’ll get anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and everything in between, consider it a trade-off! I have used every sleeping tablet, but this is the only one that works! At 5 mg, it’ll shut your brain down, at 10 mg, you’ll be in a different part of the universe. Please be VERY careful when using this medicine and only when things get critical. I have had bouts of insomnia for as long as I can remember, but this past month it has been the worst it’s ever been. I usually get prescribed 14 tablets x 10 mg twice yearly."

• Reb...
• July 11, 2016

For Insomnia "After having spent 6 days with absolutely no sleep, I finally asked to get something prescribed. I admit it worked right away that night. With time (one week), I feel like I got used to it and became a zombie at night. Awake but not awake/aware. Some nights it works and some nights it doesn't at all, keeping me up all night doing anything but sleep. I'm not sure whether to recommend it or not, I'm almost done with my month, and I have mixed emotions, as the amounts of times I fell asleep are less than the ones I did not. When I don't fall asleep after taking it, I become paranoid and think to myself, 'Oh my god, I HAVE to fall asleep now,' creating a rather nerve-wracking situation...or I find myself cleaning the house or doing laundry and so..."

• kas...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 1, 2019

"I was the victim of many traumatic events. I have had PTSD, depression, mental breakdowns. I have taken 2.5 mg zolpidem during the day in order to fight intrusive thoughts. While taking it, I felt relaxed, many of my symptoms disappeared. But my depressive thoughts were just suppressed, and I continued having strange hallucinations, this being a strange effect of the drug, too, after the drug lost its power. I also had twitching and other odd symptoms. And I felt tired all day. I am currently trying to give up drugging myself."

• KJC...
• May 31, 2018

For Insomnia "I don’t know why this drug is on the market. At first, I was brushing off reports of sleepwalking and other issues because it hadn’t happened to me. About 6 months into taking zolpidem, I experienced sexual parasomnia and memory loss. Thought it was a one-off, it was helping me sleep, so I didn’t entirely mind. It just got worse and worse. At one point, I’d ripped up a bunch of homework (I’m in college) and destroyed other things. Then the hallucinations started. I was seeing bugs in my house, a dead mouse in my boyfriend’s shoe, an animal carcass (it was a blanket), etc. I actually called the police to report that there were people in my house that wouldn’t leave (I am extremely embarrassed by this), was trying to get a dog to come to me to see if it had a tag (it was a campaign sign), thought my dad had come over (haven’t spoken in 2 years). It was awful. My boyfriend flushed the pills down the toilet, but it took about 3 days for me to finally stop hallucinating."

• Anonymous
• December 9, 2009

Zolpidem for Insomnia "This drug made me visually hallucinate so bad I had to be driven to the ER! It stopped within a couple of hours, but I never took it again, and the hallucinations went away after that night."

• Ben...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 27, 2022

For Insomnia "Tried half a tablet. Was hallucinating, and the next day was just full-on headache and drowsiness. Couldn’t function."