Ambien User Reviews & Ratings (Page 3)

• Wan...
• July 11, 2019

For Insomnia "Meds work fairly fast, but to those like 'Sleepdeprived' who say it is not working, here is a suggestion for those whose body isn't falling asleep fast: take Ambien while in bed and eat a tiny snack after it. Even though the directions say to take it on an empty stomach, I have found with certain people that for some reason Ambien works faster when snacking after swallowing the med. Some feel that this could be due to the fact that eating right behind it makes the food go immediately through the process of breaking down and distributing the nutrients throughout your system, which makes the Ambien break down faster and get through your system quicker. So for those who are having a hard time with the meds not working, try it that way. And for the ones who say they woke up after 2 hours 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 5 mg when cut, and it will get you back to sleep right away."

• Sug...
• March 10, 2019

For Insomnia "I have to say, for me, Ambien was the holy grail of sleep medicines out there; and I've tried quite a few, from OTC to prescription medication. Since about 6 months ago, I had a horrible, horrible case of insomnia. Wide awake at night but crash for a few hours in the day and be right back. Same dreadful cycle all day, every day. Meanwhile, in that time, I had gotten ZzzQuil, Unisom, 10 mg of melatonin pill, tablet, and liquid form. Equate sleeping pills... that's just the tip. I can't remember all the names, but it goes down the line with OTC medicine. Then, when I saw my doctor, he first tried Vistril. NOPE, like taking candy. Then trazodone, still nothing. He tried me on Valium, Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin, and I did not like those from the very beginning. But he still wanted to try. See, I don't like taking controlled substances but wanted to see if it would help. Next, Belsomra-nope, nothing! Ambien is the best sleep aid so far."

• Deb...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 27, 2014

For Insomnia "Ambien has been a huge help to me. I have horrible hot flashes whenever I try to fall asleep and end up awake all night. When I take half an Ambien, I am able to fall asleep and I do not feel tired or out of it the next day. I am so grateful for this medication. It has helped the quality of my life substantially. I've never experienced the side effects others mention, I simply fall asleep."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 1, 2018

For Insomnia "I suffer from high anxiety and insomnia. I have tried many sleep aids, both OTC and by prescription. Nothing has helped. Ambien is the only sleep aid that helps calm me down so that I may sleep soundly. It works very fast. I have been prescribed the 5 mg and 10 mg. The 10 mg I usually break in half. The prescription is only for 14 days. Belsomra and Trazodone did nothing to help me. Ambien has been a lifesaver."

• Dau...
• February 19, 2020

For Insomnia "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 1 a.m. after initially falling asleep around 11 p.m. and waking up sleepless. She’d then attempt to wake up around 8 a.m. 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 1 a.m. 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."

• don...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 16, 2017

For Insomnia "I'm a 68-year-old male, and I've taken this drug for almost 10 years, and it has helped me enormously. I have had no side effects, yet, my doctor now says he wants me to get off it. I asked why, and he said Ambien is dangerous. After 10 years, now it's dangerous? I now am cutting down to 1/4 of 5 mg, and it is not working. I asked what options do I have, and he said, 'natural sleep is best.' Thanks, doctor."

• Joh...
• May 19, 2015

For Insomnia "I love this stuff! It's improved my quality of life immensely. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. I now take 5 mg at bedtime, and I still wake up after about 4 hours, but then take another 5 mg (I cut the pill in half) and fall right back asleep for another 3 to 4 hours. I've been taking it for 2 years now, and it still works as well today as the first day I took it!!"

• Mor...
• June 7, 2014

For Insomnia "I have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and bipolar disorder. I've been on Seroquel for three years. I kept having to increase the dosage to help me sleep, as well as to keep away delusions and such. I was at the point where it wouldn't help me sleep at all. I'd take it at 10 and go to bed when the sun was coming up. I tried Ambien 10 mg last night for the first time. I fell asleep in one hour. I was out! I slept a good 10 hours. Amen for Ambien."

• Can...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 19, 2019

For Insomnia "This Ambien doesn’t work for me at all. I took 1 pill (10 mg) on an empty stomach and waited an hour, and nothing happened at all. So then I took another pill (10 mg), and still could not sleep. Only thing that happened was I felt a little foggy."

• Mic...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 25, 2019

For Insomnia "I’ve had horrible, horrible insomnia for years. I’ve always just laid in bed with my mind racing for hours. It took a big toll on me mentally and physically. I’ve been on Ambien for over 2 years, and it’s a true lifesaver. I take it every night. If I try to go to sleep without it just to test it, I can’t sleep. No side effects with this medicine. I wake up just fine in the mornings."

• Bar...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 30, 2019

For Insomnia "I have taken 2.5 mg of Ambien off and on for 20 years. It has saved me as I have insomnia and cannot sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night. I take Ambien in the middle of the night and feel rested with no side effects in the morning. I am 81 years old and feel tired if I have only 3 hours of sleep. I take Ambien several nights a week so I am not exhausted during the day."

• ona...
• November 17, 2013

For Insomnia "This medicine works to get me to sleep and stay asleep. However, I quickly become dependent on it and can't get to sleep without it, so I can't take it as needed. Also, I noticed that I seem to need larger doses rapidly. My insomnia issues are generally manageable if I avoid caffeine and don't eat too close to bedtime."

• Nes...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 27, 2019

For Insomnia "I've also been on this medication for about 10 years on and off. It can be highly addictive for some. From experience, I started with 5 mg, which worked great! I was finally able to get 7-8 hours of sleep. After 1 year, I noticed it wasn't working (I was only getting 3-4 hours of sleep), so my doctor prescribed me 10 mg. I went back to getting a good night's sleep, but after 2 years it wasn't working again and I went back to getting less sleep. I decided to take 1½ pills (15 mg) but it still wasn't working. I felt very groggy in the morning and couldn't remember certain things, which worried me. I decided to stop completely and experienced really bad withdrawals. I began to have seizures and ended up in the hospital, now I have to take anti-seizure meds. So my suggestion to you is: don't take this medication for a long time, it's only meant for short-term use, and do not take more than prescribed. Now I take a sleep aid that's not a controlled substance. There are other options other than sedatives/hypnotics that work."

• Liz...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 20, 2013

For Insomnia "After a car accident where I suffered a head injury, I had horrible insomnia worsened by pre-existing fibromyalgia. Nothing over the counter was working at all to help me sleep. My doctor put me on this. When it works, it's awesome. I cannot have any food on my stomach if I want this to work, though. I don't take it until I've washed my face, brushed my teeth, and am actually in bed for the night. That's the trick! I hate that the FDA cut the dosage by half for women - the lower dose doesn't work for me because I'm big and tall. Weight makes a difference in this medication's case. Not everyone sleep-drives or sleepwalks on this."

• Nut...
• February 27, 2009

For Insomnia "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 whatsoever."

• llc...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 5, 2013

For Insomnia "I have many incurable diseases that are very painful. One of those is called fibromyalgia. When you have fibromyalgia, you rarely, if ever, go to stage 4 sleep. Without Ambien, I can be awake for 2-3 days. In pain, exhausted, crying, and not able to sleep. I have been on all OTC medications for sleep. I have also tried Ambien CR (which for some reason doesn't work at all for me), Lunesta, Sonata, and chloral hydrate. (For those who don't know, chloral hydrate is VERY strong). None of those worked. Ambien does!"

• Mis...
• January 10, 2014

For Insomnia "I've been taking Ambien for about 8 years now due to chronic insomnia. Multiple medical issues have caused most of the problem with not sleeping. I already have 3 fusions in my neck (one of which is falling apart and causing a compressed spinal cord that my NS is trying to avoid further surgery on so that I don't have to have rods in addition to the screws and plates that are already in there), plus I have laminectomy from L2 to S1 with bulging discs, fibromyalgia, bone-on-bone arthritis in both knees, and I also need both hips replaced. Oh, there are also a couple of bulging discs and bone spurs in my cervical spine in addition to the problems already mentioned. I have never had any side effects or trouble with the Ambien at all."

• Kev...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 9, 2019

For Insomnia "Have been having insomnia for about 45 days related to some family stress. Used trazodone with some success. Then it decreased in effectiveness, and I was getting maybe 3 hours. Went to Ativan, and it worked some days and some days nothing. Back to trazodone, hoping for 3-5 hours of sleep. My NP suggested Ambien. First night last night. I was a little nervous. Took it and slept 7 hours 50 minutes without interruption. Night 1 would give it more stars if I could. The question is how long it lasts."

• Jba...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 8, 2019

For Insomnia "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."

• Lia...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 18, 2018

For Insomnia "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 sleepwalking, 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."

• sle...
• April 3, 2008

For Insomnia "I've taken this medication three different nights now and honestly, I haven't slept this deeply in ages! However, from the time I take the medication to the time I get to sleep - I have no memories of this time period the next day. Also, if I am sleeping and someone wakes me up after I've taken the Ambien, I won't remember anything the next day from being awake at the time. Really upsetting to my boyfriend the next day..."

• Bub...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 8, 2014

For Insomnia "It helped me sleep, but I did the most bizarre things while I should have been sleeping and had no memory of them the next day. I initiated sex with my husband twice and had no memory of doing so, called and ordered things that I had no use for from some shopping networks, and even gave out my credit card numbers to open an account. This stuff scares me, and I quit taking it. Worried about what I could do next!"

• cra...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 21, 2015

For Insomnia "It works to put me asleep, too well! I was told by my husband that I was doing stuff I don't remember doing. One time, I became sexually aggressive, and last night, I didn't recognize my husband and was doing stuff totally off the wall. I will not be taking it again!"

• Ell...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 6, 2024

For Insomnia "I have been taking Ambien (Zolpidem 10mg) for over 20 years. I recently decided to taper off and have been taking 3/4 of a tab for the past week. The first couple of days I slept lightly, but now I am sleeping very well. Next week I will taper to 1/2 tab (5mg) and see how that goes. I am determined to stop taking it completely. In the beginning, I didn't really have insomnia, there were maybe a few times I couldn't fall asleep right away. But my doctor gave me free samples of Sonata at that time. I am very hopeful to get this monkey off my back, lol. Updates will be coming."

• Tex...
• February 9, 2010

For Insomnia "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 sleepwalking, sleep cooking-yes, an entire meal at 2 AM-and I don't remember, and finally sleep driving. I was stopped by a state trooper in my pajamas on I-80 heading west at 11 PM. I don't remember any of it. I never took it again."