AMBIEN Reviews (ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE)

Average Rating: 3.1 (1450 Ratings)

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 SEDATIVES HYPNOTICS    DEA Schedule IV   

 Type: Rx Drug

  

AMBIEN  (ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE):  Zolpidem is used to treat a certain sleep problem (insomnia) in adults. If you have trouble falling asleep, it helps you fall asleep faster, so you can get a better night's rest. Zolpidem belongs to a class of drugs called sedative-hypnotics. It acts on your brain to produce a calming effect. This medication is usually limited to short treatment periods of 1 to 2 weeks or less.   FDA Approval Date: 1992-12-16 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR AMBIENCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  sleep disorder/PTSD Groggy in the am. For a couple of weeks I have been waking up at 3:00AM. Prior to that I slept a full 8 hours. May be due to high stress lately? I dunno. Have been experiencing some blurry vision in right eye. Have also been using Wellbutrin XL and am tapering off of that at this time. So hard to say about the vision issue. There are so many relative variables in life. The only thing I don't like is I stopped using it for two days and I COULD NOT SLEEP AT ALL THOSE 48 hours! Don't know how others have dealth with this issue. M 50 3 months
1/7/2007
Email
 5  Insomnia None that I am aware of. Memory (more like forgetfulness) started going with onset of early monopause...so cannot really blame it on this med. Have had great restful sleep and am dreaming for the first time in many years. Granted, some dreams are more vivid than others, but, isn't that a side effect of deep sleep? My quality of life has increased greatly since being able to sleep resfully. No hang-over effect that I experienced with OTC meds. I wake up feeling like one should after a good nights sleep :) I TAKE IT ACCORDING TO DIRECTIONS. Get in bed and THEN take the pill. Don't read! Don't watch TV! Don't wash the dishes, etc! It is intended to assist in SLEEP. Take it and close your eyes and fall asleep. I sleep for exactly 7.5 hours. I get up once to go to the bathroom...(one of the other side effects of menopause) then I go directly back to my bed (no detours to the fridge, or the car.) I am thankful for this medication, and perhaps dependent on it at this point as on the odd night when I decide not to take one I fall back to the exact same (lack of) sleep pattern that led me to it... F 50 3 months
6/5/2008
 5  counteract drug induced insomnia Short-term memory loss beginning about 30 minutes after taking Zolpidem, which is the generic version of Ambien, until I fall asleep. After taking it for 8 months I am beginning to occasionally experience memory loss during the day, difficulty concentrating, difficulty staying focused, and a slight overall degradation of mental ability. This drug is wonderful for counteracting the insomnia caused by other drugs. I am taking Pegasys injections weekly to treat Hepatitis-C (HCV), which for me causes severe insomnia (that is not the case for everyone taking Pegasys). The only way I could remain on HCV treatment was to address what I refer to as drug induced insomnia. HCV treatment has been very successful! I might have liver cancer by now without the Zolpidem/Ambien to permit me to stay on HCV treatment. I will stop taking Zolpidem/Ambien when HCV treatment ends. I recognize that I may experience long-term consequences from taking Zolpidem/Ambien for so long, but I need to solve one problem at a time. I'm very grateful for this drug! M 50 8 months
5/4/2009
 5  insomnia none Best sleep drug on the market. Ihave tried them all and this is by far the best. I take 12.5 cr and it puts me to sleep fast and I wake fine in the morning.I have also experienced the memory loss;sleep walking and the munchies with no memory of eating in bed and the late night phone calls that i dont remember. But so what!!! Im in the privacy of my own home and if you consider what i described as a side effect bad; than you know nothing about drugs. And if you really want a kick have a couple of drinks first. It intensifies it like 5x.I dont advocate that but it has happened to me a couple of times. Bottom line is the drug works great; I wouldn"t use anything else. M 50 3 years
11/16/2007
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 5  insomnia amnesia that occurs after taking the pill, can't recall things I have done after it gets in my system. The amnesia is not long lasting. I go to sleep and am fine the next morning. I love it. I do wish it would help me sleep longer, I wake after 6 hours. It can be addictive but I believe it is psychologically not pysically. I only take 5 mg. and do just great on it. I love this drug, it has saved my life! F 50 2 years
1/10/2008
 5  insomnia caused by other meds Have had moments of euphoria and amnesia when staying up too long after taking medication. Slight memory problems but nothing serious. taken it off and on for over 2 years. This is by far the best sleep medication on the market. NO bad side effects. If taken as directed you will fall asleep and stay asleep for about 5 to 7 hours and wake up without any "hangover" effect. It is kind of habit forming but getting off of it only requires a few uncomfortable nights of off & on sleep and then you're ok. Highly recommend it if you must take something to sleep. F 50 2 years
8/12/2007
 5  Insomnia Got hungry at times Worked GREAT for 20+ years! I decided to come off it and did it easily in a few days. Easy to get on and off for me. Must be taken on an empty stomach for it to work well! M 50 20 years
10
12/29/2019
 4  inability to fall asleep ocasional headache after awakening. That may just be a hangover. Memory loss while under the drugs influence. Hope my wife did not use those anal beeds again I always drink a beer or 2 before taking the drug. 10mg tablet I break in 1/2 and take the 1/2 tablet and chase it down with the last drink of beer. Asleep with in 30 minutes and sleep 3 to 4 hours. I always wake up a few hours later. Some times I will drink another beer or 2 and take the other 1/2 and sleep another 3 hours, or sometimes I am just up and ready to go the rest of the day. Am I addicted? YES. I will lay in bed for hours and can not go to sleep without it. The reason I take it is a condition called "HAND ARM VIBRATION SYNDROME" Long term exposure to vibration will screw you up physicaly and permanently and cause you the inability to sleep normally M 50 5 years
5/12/2009
 4  insomnia caused by hot flashes Ambien is a very effective sleeping pill if used for that and only that purpose. When I took my very first Ambien I experienced horrible, frightening hallucinations. I took a 10 mg. pill which my doctor prescribed. After researching and consulting with my doctor about the drug, I cut back to 5 mg. or less and the hallucinations and other frightening symptoms were gone. I went to sleep, woke up and that was that. Since that time (one year ago), I can now take up to 10 mg. per night without too many negative side effects. I'd say the one most disturbing ongoing side effect, though, is the memory loss that results while I am taking the pill. The next day I have little recall of anything I might have said or done while taking this pill. If you are taking other central nervous system depressant drugs such as pain medications or tranquilizers, then Ambien may not be what you need. It will sometimes compound the negative F 50 1 years
6/10/2005
 4  Trouble getting & staying asleep. No real side effects, though it does take me some time in the morning to feel fully awake on 5 mg. F 50 2 weeks
4/20/2008
 4  Long term insomina Aminesia, eating and not remembering. I also will send e-mails or other things that I have no memory of. I'm also getting a drunk like euphoria from it. When I first started taking Ambien, I had the best night's sleep I could remember and thinking it was a good send. However, the side effects are becoming a concern M 50 2 years
5/15/2006
 4  Sleep M 50 2 years
12.5 1X day
9/6/2010
 4  insomnia and headaches at night Amnesia... I ordered items over telephone and don't remember. I have done this several times and by looking at my phone it happens within the 1st hour of taking it. Also, I have actually walked outside at night and brought an item back into the house and don't even remember. That's the only issue I have experienced. I have found however that if you take 1/2 pill you will sleep all night versus when I take a whole pill I wake up about 4 hours later. SO... 1/2 pill works great for sleep! I have been taking this drug for many years and have found that 1/2 pill works better than 1 whole pill to sleep ALL night. For some reason when I take a whole pill I wake up 4 hours later and can't get back to sleep. I am just very concerned about the Amnesia though. F 50 6 years
10 1X day
12/18/2012
 3  insomnia no side effects really Ambien works, but doesn't keep me asleep. I wake up about 2 to 3 hours after taking it. Insurance will not cover Ambien CR F 50 6 years
10 1X day
1/23/2012
 3  Insomnia I have become so forgetful. I have started back to school and can't remember anything I read! I can't even remember names of co-workers. It is also addictive so you have to wean yourself off after several nights of taking it or the insomnia is awful. I am currently weaning off the drug. I would rather be tired than feel like I am losing my mind. F 50 6 months
6.25 1X day
9/12/2010
 2  Insomnia None that I'm aware of, and that's the problem!! I usually take this on a Tuesday/Thursday night so I can be assured of a solid night's sleep, and drop my dog at daycare by 6AM the next days. You can't take this every night or you build up a tolerance and it stops working. I will watch a half-hour TV show and check the time to make sure I swallow the pill and give myself 15 minutes before I make sure I am in bed. Sounds fine, right? Wrong. My husband just told me I've been having wild hot monkey sex with him during several Ambien-fueled trances. I wondered why I was waking up all sore, with wild clothing strewn about the house, and have a chronic bladder infection. I believe this only happens, not on the Tues/Thurs I take it, but on a Saturday when I combine it with alcohol. I've always made my H hide the bottle from me so I don't accidentally sleepwalk and double-dose myself, which my dad did on Ambien, and his wife was so scared she called 911. It would be easy enough to say "I'm never taking this stuff again!" and just stick with the OTC stuff I take on the other nights. Problem is, my husband LIKES Crazy Ambien Me! Now I'm afraid if this Sexy Alt-Persona of mine doesn't visit any more, he'll stop liking me!! He told me some horror stories of things I've been doing in a trance, dressing up like a nurse, demanding to take his temperature. I had to tell him to stop talking b/c I was so horrified!! . F 50 3 years
10mg 3X W
6/10/2011
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 2  insomnia (trouble staying asleep) rebound insomnia I've never had a probem FALLING asleep, only STAYING asleep longer than 3 hours. The first night I took Ambien CR 12.5 mg I slept 7 hrs straight (a success), but I noticed the next night (before taking a pill) I was really wired--lots of nervous energy--DEFINITELY coud not have fallen asleep on my own. I took it again and was able to sleep relatively well. Took it for a total of 5 nights with progressively lessening benefit and then tried to go without. OMG! First night it took me 5 hrs trying to sleep, and then I only slept 2.5 measley hours--way worse than BEFORE I tried Ambien. Second night w/out meds was a little better--slept 5 hrs straight. Third night no meds got a total of 7 hrs (in 3 segments). Still feel a little of that nervous, toe-tapping energy. Won't ever take Ambien again. Helen Houston, TX F 50 5 days
6/1/2006
 2  Insomia Have been taking Ambien (10) off and on for two years. I took it daily for three months, then stopped cold-turkey because I couldn't function the next day. Unfortunately, I also could not sleep for more than an hour each night thereafter for the first couple of weeks. Then sleep increased to 3 - 4 hours each night. Doctor put me back on 3 months ago, and I'm back at not being able to function, no energy, no short term memory. Daily buzzy head. Constant fatigue. Almost no short term memory. After I get off of it this time, I think I'll stay off of it. I've repeated this cycle 3 times now. The last time I went off of it, I found that taking one 25mg tablet of Benadryl (Diphenhydramine hydrochloride), and two 200mg tablets of Motrin (Ibuprofen) at bedtime did not help me sleep but it helped stop the buzzy head feeling. This stopped after the first week of "detox". After the first week going off of Ambien I did begin to establish a bit of a sleep pattern without the use of drugs. Unfortunately, insomnia has been with me for about 32 years, so I know once things "normalize" this time, I'll just be getting ready for another cycle. M 50 2 years
5/28/2009
 1  couldn't sleep Awful ..scary ..was never told to hide the phone ..keys..car..whatever can do damage if you don't go to bed immediately..twice I apparently thought good idea to drive! But don't remember except when next thing I know someone trying to fix flat tire that I had no idea how got it..hate it and stopped all at once taking it..never again ..I Also prayed alot for help with withdrawal and was ok after 3 days.. F 50 3 months
10
11/24/2013
 1  Inability to go to/stay asleep It put me right to sleep, no problems the first night. The second morning, I woke up to find candy wrappers all over the buffet. I had NO memory of waking up. The third day, I found peanut butter and a knife on the kitchen counter. I started thinking about what to do--how can you hide things from your own brain? Finally it hit me that I might actually get in my car to go get a hamburger--without any way to stop myself. I threw the rest away. This was way before I started reading about the bizarre stories, and I don't drink. I told my daughter about it--she said she tried it and put on all her jewelry, makeup like Liza Minelli, then looked in her mirror and saw her face melting. She doesn't drink either. I'm sure not all people have these side effects, but it can be dangerous for some people. And it seems to be too many people. F 50 4 days
9/12/2006

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