AMBIEN Reviews (ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE)Average Rating: 3.1 (1450 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare AMBIEN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date from oldest to newest. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 |
More on AMBIEN: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR AMBIEN | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 4 | Insomnia | Hunger! I have been taking for about a year and a half but the last 4-6 months I have been experiencing insatiable hunger, both right after taking and the day after taking. I have also gained, and been unable to loose quite a bit of weight from this. Also some mild hallucinations and eating late at night from hunger, stomach growling.....That said, now that I realize what is making me so hungry..I feel that I may be able to work with this in some way to find an alternative to eating all of the time and it is a load off my mind to be able to stop blaming myself for being so hungry all of the time and eating.... | But honestly, I have tried many other prescriptions for sleep both over the counter and prescribed by a doctor and by far this is the best for me. At 50 mg it puts me fast to sleep within 20 mins or so unless I am watching TV and staying awake on purpose...I am somewhat groggy the next day, but not terribly..at 25 mg it is harder to fall asleep and I sleep o.k. To me it is worth the side affects to get a decent nights sleep...Can't function at all without rest.... | F | 47 | 1 years | 3/22/2008 | 3 | Insomnia/anxiety | Partial amnesia, perception changes, clumsiness, bizarre thoughts, cravings. | When I take ambien I will immediately fall asleep for anywhere from 4-5 hours. However, once I wake up I absolutely cannot fall back asleep. The next day I experience mood swings, perception changes, clumsiness, and wierd thinking. One morning I also ate an entire jar of almond butter, which I remembered doing but would not normally do. | F | 29 | 2 weeks | 3/22/2008 | 1 | insomnia | visual and auditory hallucinations, confusion, acting drunk, sleepwalking | Two nights in a row I had been sleepwalking---don't know too much what I was doing, but found evidence of doing things in the house. Books and magazines moved around the house, apparently I tried to put on nail polish (painted 3 nails and then left brush on sink), the next morning found my pajama bottoms at the door of the bedroom, so I don't know what happened there. Besides sleepwalking I had hallucinations: wood paneling moving around like puzzle pieces, wooden sculpture of an eagle was moving (when I walked over to it and held it, I also felt it moving in my hand!), couch cushions moving, computer screen undulating (like a bubble blowing out toward me), out of the corner of my eye I saw someone sitting next to me on the couch and heard him talking to me, but when I turned toward him, he was gone. One night my husband was still up, and he said that I came in and kept talking but made no sense at all, and I appeared to be drunk. | F | 53 | 2 months | 3/22/2008 | 3 | sleeping poblems/shift work | Usually took it a half hour before bed. Big mistake. I have made food, and eaten very large amounts of it while on this drug. I have also made phone calls I dont remember to friends that dont make sense and to aquaintances (which is always embarrasing when i do finally remember) Orderd things online, ebay bids online, booked hotel room, that I had to cancel. Drove a couple of times to get cigrettes when I dont smoke. Thats all while on the drup. The next day I feel fine. No hangover...But I have been on it so long that I am having severe short term memory loss. It is starting to scare me. | Have been on it on and off (mostly on) for 4 years now. The short term memory loss is the scariest for me. The rest of the side effects I can deal with. Would like to try something different but I've gotten so used to this feeling before going to sleep, and I really like it so it would be really hard to stop. | F | 26 | 4 years | 3/24/2008 | 4 | Insomnia | None, just blessed sleep. | I asked for a sleep aid from my doctor because I would go to sleep, then wake up in 3 hours. Then my brain kicked in and I would be awake for 4 more hours. Then I would finally nod off and it would be time to get up. I was given the cr type and I was warned not to take it every night. While I now have to plan what nights I need to sleep well, it has been wonderful. Even if I do wake up, my mind doesn't go into overdrive and I go back to sleep without the previous anxiety and hour counting. I do not ever take it without being in bed ready to sleep. I have never driven or cooked or eaten under its influence, have had no weight gain. Dreams may be a bit more intense, and perhaps my libido is sparkier from time to time (a welcomed side effect!) Seeing the numerous comments regarding memory loss makes me wonder, but I haven't forgotten anything serious nor have I forgotten anything that I haven't later remembered, so i don't think that's an issue either. Even when I don't take it, I | F | 55 | 11 months | 3/25/2008 | 3 | insomnia | Memory loss, confusion, inability to make decisions, anxiety syndrome, and addiction. | I used Ambien CR for two months, everynight. I slept like a baby until I developed a tolerance to it. In the daytime I would feel very muddle-headed, not hung over, but feeling like I'd had a mild stroke. I had definite memory loss, and difficulty with concentration. After two months I developed an actual physical addiction to it. I would experience severe (and I mean severe) anxiety, elevated heart rate and b/p. Eventually I got off it using the anitidepressant Remeron. Remeron worked like a charm at first, but eventually that too stopped working. The best cure for insomnia I have ever used has been hemp. It's been used for thousands of years for depression and insomnia. Although it is unhealty to smoke any substance, pot (in my experience) been the most effective treatment for chronic insomnia. It never stops working. | M | 52 | 2 months | 3/25/2008 | 5 | Insomnia | a little groggy upon awakening when I first started using it, but that subsided after a few days. | Has been a lifesaver for me. Never could fall asleep due to husband snoring. Now I take 5 mg. and in about 30 minutes I'm asleep for 6 hours straight. It doesn't work if I eat food within 2 hours of taking. Lunesta gave me nightmares, and Rozeram didn't work at all. | F | 58 | 2 days | 3/26/2008 | 4 | Chronic insomnia | The onset of ambien started in about 10 minutes and hit hard. I could not walk straight and my vision was then blurry. After that, I would not remember things I did, like order and expensive watch, a laptop computer, a cell phone, etc. Even scarier, I had to go to a store to get smokes and was on ambien and crashed my car and didnt remember it in the morning. | The medicine will mess with your memory so be careful. | M | 30 | 7 years | 4/2/2008 | 1 | ...recreation... | Man, this stuff really messes you up. Don't take it. I got about 10 or 12 pills from a friend cuz he said they get you fucked up and i took 2 or 3 at about noon one saturday and then don't remember much of anything until about 9:00 that night. Turns out i took every last one of them (thats 10 or so pills--WAY TOO MUCH) while i was under. Think about that: I took a double, maybe triple dose (wish i could remember) and was so screwed up from it that i took pill after pill after pill. I bet if i'd had a whole bottle i'd have taken every last one. I literally have no recollection of putting any more pills in my mouth after the original 2 or 3, but the bag was empty when i looked the next day. Scared the hell out of me. This isn't a sleep medication, guys--its a hardcore drug. The "side effects" are ridiculous: I was seeing double, and i could not focus my eyes to save my life. It's a complete de-inhibitor--i remember doing awful things that i would never do if i were sober. Basic | M | 19 | 1 times | 4/2/2008 | 1 | Insomnia | hallucinations, sleepwalking, headaches, vertigo, memory loss, confusion, sweating, nausea, fatigue, vision problems, weird sensations, heavy head, loss of balance. After 8 months of non-use, on top of the memory loss, I still get terrible headaches, eye twitching, and vertigo from time to time, which never happened before first taking Ambien. I only took the drug a total of 12 times over the course of 6 months, but I know I've been afflicted with permanent damage. | No amount of sleep is worth all the health problems this drug has created. Now I'm just waiting for the class action lawsuit, because from the little internet research I've done so far, I know there are many others out there like me who have horrible lingering effects from this dangerous drug. | F | 34 | 6 months | 4/3/2008 | 3 | insomnia | confusion, memory loss | I have horrible problems going to sleep and staying asleep. My doc says the next step is GHB so I am really trying to stay with ambien. So I take 10 mg ambien, 2 20 mg benedryl, and 2 4 mg Tizanidine before I go to bed. It usually works but I am drowsy in the mornings! Without all of this I would never sleep. | F | 33 | 12 months | 4/8/2008 | 1 | severe insomnia | I got out of bed and into my car in my night clothes, drove a few blocks and into a tree. I remember nothing about the whole episode except for "waking up" in the booking room of the county jail. Apparently I was "cooperative" with the police during the whole thing, but have no memory of it at all. I have never even sleep-walked before, or done ANYTHING like this. For days afterward I felt confused and disassociated. Now I am facing major legal problems, and I still can't sleep! | Stay away unless you want to end up dead or in jail! | F | 54 | 5 days | 4/9/2008 | 3 | insomnia | severe headaches in the morning, dependence, rebound insomnia, suicidal ideations. | this drug became less and less effective, never sleeping more than 6 hours a night and often taking 1-2 hours to fall asleep. Feelings of depression and hopelessness increased. When not taking ambien had vivid dreams through out the night. | M | 54 | 14 months | 4/12/2008 | 4 | insomnia | it really really works but i absolutely crash.somewhat of a drunk feeling but other than loss of memory no real problems i know i'm in for kinky sex(don't really remember)when my husband gives me my 10mg.with a martini i'm pretty sure i'm naked before i finish the drink | it actually works great it is a sleeping pill and it knocks me out i take 10mg.never more than twice per week-once for me,usually at least a good 8hours (right at bedtime)and if i take it a second time during the week that is for my husband-by agreement,usually with a cocktail,he then basically does what he wants with no complaints from me although i do admit i no longer have pubic hair,he always seems to be careful. He tells me i'm smiling and i do sleep well | F | 52 | 5 days | 4/14/2008 | 2 | bi polar anxiety | loss of memory bigtime,food tatsted horrible after taking it, hallucinations | This stuff is wicked. After the latest bout I am going back to see my p doc to tell her to find me something else. | M | 30 days | 4/17/2008 | 4 | night terrors | Kind of groggy during the day; I always wonder if I should quit it. | Without the drug, I have night terrors. I do things like smashing sliding glass doors to get us out of a horrible situation. 5mg Ambien does allow me to get a good night's sleep. Like others, if I wake up after 6 hrs, I can't get back to sleep. I cannot sleep without the ambien. Helpful when driving when tired; no chance of falling asleep. No chance for taking much of a nap either. Works great to help with jet lag when travelling over seas. Can't imagine taking more than 10. 10 really knocks one out. I need at least 5. | M | 65 | 5 years | 4/18/2008 | 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 | insomnia | Amnesia of events after a dose if I do not go straight to bed; having sex with no memory the next AM; increased appetite; numbness around mouth. | I'm a nurse, so you'd think I'd know better than not to listen to my doctor who warned me to GO STRAIGHT TO BED AFTER TAKING AMBIEN. If I do so, it works great with a full 8 hours of sleep. Although my husband has reported a few times when we had sex that I can only recall bits & pieces of uninhibited craziness. I made him promise not to get frisky after Ambien. Make sure you are with someone you trust! And some nights, I didn't go straight to bed and I sent crazy e-mails & didn't know it until days later when I saw them in the "sent box." I talked about a pet jumping mouse that I made a hotel for out of a shoebox. One night, I was sitting on the sofa watching tv after a dose, when I couldn't focus. My teen daughter said I started talking gibberish, so she tried to get me in bed. She said that I got in my empty laundry basket and when she tried to pull me out, I said "I'm just making sure there is room for more clothes." Then I started kicking the c | F | 35 | 2 months | 4/21/2008 | 4 | Fibromyalgia | 1st night took full dose 10mg, but husband unable to wake me for 20mins, so cut back & eventually ended up on only 2.5mg(!) per night. | regulated my sleep quite well, but didn't result in significant improvement in pain levels, and after time fatigue seemed to be caused by the Ambien - even during daytime, 12hrs after having taken it, so shouldn't have continued for so long. Stopped taking after about a year, had no problem sleeping, and got a little energy back. | F | 45 | 1 years | 4/22/2008 | 3 | Chronic insomnia, 60 years | Have amnesia about what I do at night after I take it. So far I have not left the house or tried to drive the car but I do see things that I have done after I got up and I have no recollection of having done them. | Not too bad, all things considered. I can usually sleep with it but I'm usually always up during the night going into the hot tub, getting something to eat, or the like. I wish I didn't have to take it especially with the amnesia. I try each night to sleep without one but never make it. You do get more used to it and have to take more of it than is prescribed. I tried Lunesta and that wasn't bad but not as effective. I tried Rozerem and that was horrible. It kept me awake all night like it was a benzedrene. Have tried all the others: Melatonin, Valerian Root and two or three more that I can't remember now. Have avoided all the things that are supposed to cause it. Have done all the things that are supposed to help you sleep. Have read all the books & techniques. So, like it or not, I'll have to try to keep using it until something better comes along or my condition improves for some reas15on. Thanks for sites like this where we can help each other. | M | 72 | 15 years | 4/22/2008 |