What to do when Ambien stops working?

My doctor added Mirtazapine 7.5 mg to my ambien cr. It does help me sleep but I feel hungover and drugged for a couple of hours after waking. I've been taking the ambien for years wish I knew how to get off.

I also had the same issue with Ambien. It only worked for maybe two weeks, and then even taking two 10mg pills did nothing. I went back on Trazodone and I take 200mg. It worked quite well for a while, but I was up all night last night, which happens occasionally. Like so many of us I have become somewhat resistant to both pain and sleep medication. I have been a chronic pain patient for many years and suffer from depression and anxiety as well. I know how difficult it is to deal with the pain/depression cycle, and my heart goes out to my fellow sufferers. I have had issues with insomnia since I was a child and it is so exhausting to be exhausted all the time. After reading everyone's posts I plan to ask about trying Belsomra, since I doubt adding additional Trazodone would be a good idea. Blessings to you all in the new year!

The lorazepam binds to the same benzodiazepine receptors as the ambien which it sounds like you now have a tolerance for. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine H1 antagonist and some people get drowsy from that others get alert. trazodone an antidepressant but off label prescribed for sleep. Common side effects are nasal swelling and respiratory breathing difficulty so if that gets prescribed have someone with you. Some people take ltheanine to balance stimulation from caffeine ingested.
It is hard to out do a hypnotic especially when using it for years.

I am currently on enough sleep medicine to tranquilize a horse. Once my body got acclimated to the Ambien and it became ineffective I took a drug holiday for a month and tried Lunesta which worked well at first but then began to fail so we switched back to Ambien and Trazodone combo works much better. Good luck! Not being able to sleep really stinks

This may sound silly... but.
I am aware of the empty stomach in regards to ambien. However, if I "wash" my ambien down with a little bit of peanut butter, like on a 1/4 piece of bread, it seems to help me sleep.
I am also a restless legs person. For whatever reason, putting a few bars of soap next to my legs seems to alleviate the restless legs most of the time(I know... but I was so desperate the first time I heard of this solution I drove right to the store and could not believe it worked). When it doesn't, I rub my legs with aloe vera or Jergans ultra moisturizer. Sometimes I have to rub them several times, but the restlessness dissipates after each application.

Hi Rachel104,
I've taken almost everything for my insomnia from OTC AND Rx. When Ambien stopped working for me my Dr put me on Lunesta but it only worked like a month. It seemed closely related to Ambien. Then he put me on Belsomra. It's relatively new and insurances don't want to cover it unless you've tried all the others first. Anyway, I've been on it a year and still doing great. I even cut my dose in half. I strongly suggest this. Good luck. Insomnia is horrible!

I do have a lot a trouble fighting insomnia as well. Since I was a teenager I use to wait hours and hours on bed until I finally get to sleep. Now I have depression and everything is worsening. Last month I started sleeping about 3 hours a day or not sleeping at all. Then I started used Ambien CR. It worked like a dream, but only for the first two weeks. My doctor refused to change medication and, as I'm already on the higher dose of it, I'm just here, second day fully awake and looking at my ceiling.

Ambien has stopped working for me,Completely... i look terrible,and feel terrible... i was on 10 mgs,I feel like I got,Placebos,by mistake

I have been taking Ambien for about 10 years. The empty stomach was a problem. Then effectiveness was diminishing. I put tablet under my tongue to dissolve. More fully absorbs and acts faster.

I have had chronic insomnia since '97..I have fibromyalgia. I have been taking ambien since 2001. Used to work like a charm. But over the years I have had to take a ''cocktail'' of different sleep meds. After ambien alone was not working well I took ambien with melatonin. ..5 mg. Years later I increased the melatonin. For quite some time I have been taking about 3/4 of an ambien,10 mg of melatonin and one generic Doxylamine tablet as a sleep med ''cocktail'' .. I am not recommending it... I am just saying what I take and have for at least the last year. I have to take it early in the evening. Not working as well as it did for a while. After so many years of insomnia and having a high tolerance for most meds I am wondering how long this is going to keep working for me. So I ended up here.

You can ask your doctor about trazadone. I've been on 10mg of ambien for 9 years. Still works fine as long as I take it on an empty stomach. Doc wants me off of Ambien, so tonight I'm trying the 50mg of trazadone. He said if it don't work that I can take half of an Ambien with it. Good luck. Remember, take it on an empty stomach.