SONATA Reviews (ZALEPLON)

Average Rating: 2.8 (133 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare SONATA with similar:
 SEDATIVES HYPNOTICS    DEA Schedule IV   

 Type: Rx Drug

  

SONATA  (ZALEPLON):  This medication is used for a short time to treat people who have trouble falling asleep. If you have other sleep problems such as not being able to sleep through the night, this medication may not be right for you. Zaleplon is known as a hypnotic. It works on certain centers in the brain to relax you and help you fall asleep faster.   FDA Approval Date: 1999-08-13 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken longest to shortest.

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

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR SONATACOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 4  Insomnia Easily influenced; insomnia; memory loss I've taken it for many years, so obviously the pros outweigh the cons. Generally, it puts me right to sleep and I have no grogginess in the morning. I learned that I have to be in bed, and ready to go to sleep immediately, before taking it. If not, I would do things that I would not normally do. I would convince myself that it was a good idea to buy whatever they were selling on TV. I had conversations with my daughter that I do not recall. I absolutely HAD to eat something. It was an occurrence last night that frightened me, but it was because I took it and then started looking at some things on the Internet instead of turning out the light and preparing to fall asleep. Apparently, I got up, got dressed and drove to the grocery store at 12:30 a.m. I made several purchases, drove home, put everything away and then must have gone to bed. I was surprised in the morning when I got up and was checking my bank account and saw a charge to the grocery store. I thought someone had stolen my debit card. I got up and went to the kitchen and discovered it was me. I have NEVER had anything this serious happen to me as a result of the Sonata. A review of this website is a relief since it appears that it was the Sonata and not me having a nervous breakdown. It may be time for a break from it. I'm sure I'll need some type of sleep aid since I have always had a difficult time falling asleep. So, I will take precautions like giving my keys to my daughter to hide at nigh F 54 10 years
10 mg 1X day
8/16/2015
Email
 5  insomnia none. IT WONT WORK AT ALL UNLESS ITS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH Great for sleep onset insomnia. Great for middle of the night awakenings. 0 hangover unlike even ambien. Due to its 1hr half life. But because it is weaker it won't KNOCK you out. It does incinerate anxiety before you sleep. You will have to get in bed and close your eyes and "try" to sleep. The difference is you will. MUST take it on empty stomach or will feel like nthing. It can be addictive if you dont treat it like serious medication. As others said it will be incredible at first. Later on the amount of sleep it guarantees will be far less. That said 10 mg still guarantees me 3 hours of sleep. If i am super worried/wired. I take 2 at bed time Usually i take one at bedtime. Sometimes I take a second in the middle of the night. if I want to sleep longer that night. Not saying you will never sleep more than 3hrs after 10mg. I'm just saying it's just not going to deliver that consistently. It will get you 3hrs or so with 0 hangover. So even if you toss and turn all night, its like out of your system in 3 hrs too. If you are a person that can't even count on 3hrs of sleep when you need it. leaves sleep architecure intact Lunesta is way long acting and feels weird to me. Ambien eventually starts to affect your cognition in the day because it's too effective. Trazadone was too much for me and made me feel weird. CBTi only took me so far. Sonata address the root cause of my insomnia which is a anxiety. and gives you just a nudge of gaba M 32 6 years
20 2X day
9/5/2020
 5  insomnia temporary increased desire for tasting food, temporary lessening of emotions, fluid retention in feet, psychological dependence because of effectiveness This drug has long been outstanding for me. I don't get a "hangover" from Zaleplon (Sonata) and it only lasts 4 hours so I can take it even when I only have 5-6 hours of sleep time left. It makes me feel warm, pleasant and peaceful before falling asleep. I sometimes suffer from awful headaches at night and this drug lessens or eliminates those symptoms so I can sleep. I'm surprised so many others have negative experiences, as my wife likes it, too. M 30 5 years
10 MG 1X AN
1/20/2012
 5  Insomnia Occasional mild depression/irritability; Psychological dependency. Works great for me. Tried anti-anxiety meds first; they did not help. Started with 20 mg. Sonata, then reduced to 10, and have been on just 5. Occasionally have to take a double-dose to get to sleep, especially if I've had caffeine that evening or am particularly stressed about something. Tried to quit a couple of times; had heart palpitations and major insomnia for a few nights. Was able to go without Sonata for 3 weeks once, but insomnia returned so I started taking it again. I wish I'd never started taking it. 48 5 years
1/14/2006
 5  Insomnia Occasional mild depression/irritability; Psychological dependency. Works great for me. Tried anti-anxiety meds first; they did not help. Started with 20 mg. Sonata, then reduced to 10, and have been on just 5. Occasionally have to take a double-dose to get to sleep, especially if I've had caffeine that evening or am particularly stressed about something. Tried to quit a couple of times; had heart palpitations and major insomnia for a few nights. Was able to go without Sonata for 3 weeks once, but insomnia returned so I started taking it again. I wish I'd never started taking it. 48 5 years
1/14/2006
 5  Insomnia I take 10mg before bed, works well, very mild. I try not to take it for more than 3 nights, then take a night or two off, so that it doesn't lose its effectiveness, and to limit my withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes it's hard to get to sleep on those off-nights, but Sonata is habit-forming and I don't want the symptoms to get severe. M 58 5 years
2/21/2007
 5  insomnia; waking up too soon fatigue for about 8 hours after waking up, although decreasing as that 8 hours wears on; aggravation, irratability and depession during that 8 hours I have taken this medication on an as-needed basis for 4 years. I have tried all the others on the market as well. Sonata is not meant to be a put you to sleep for 8 hours; it has a 4-hour half-life, so it's more useful for put you BACK to sleep than to put you to sleep at the inception of your sleep cycle. Nevertheless, when you can't fall asleep to begin with, i.e., insomnia, it is capable of putting you to sleep (with some exceptions), hopefully for the rest of the night, or only for about 4 hours, after which its effect begins to wear off. So is best taken on those (hopefully) rare nights when you wake up between 2-4am, and need to get back to sleep. Beware that if you take it consistently, your brain receptors adjust to having it as part of their regular diet, at which point they are hooked, and you can experience withdrawal symptoms if you try to quit, this being those brain receptors way of letting you know that they are that they feeling deprived. Exceptions when Sonata m M 56 4 years
9/17/2006
 5  middle of night insomnia None. It helps me fall asleep when I wake at 3, 4, or 5am and have to be up in a few hours. It never leaves me feeling groggy or lethargic. And it usually works within 10 to 15 minutes. I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the only residual is that I HAVE to get 7 to 9 hours sleep a night to function. Zaleplon has been a god-send. I thankfully only have to take it 2 - 3 times a week. I only take it when I waken in the middle of the night. F 54 4 years
10 mg 1X AN
4/9/2017
 5  Severe Insomnia Drowsiness This medication along with a small dose of Seroquel which I take for Bipolar 1 and took both at bed is this only med combo that I have tried since I was initially diagnosed with severe insomnia (when I was 10yo an I was 33yo when I was first prescribed) the results were consistently effective I never have had to up my dosage bc I built a tolerance it has always worked well for me F 35 4 years
10mg 1X day
8/21/2023
Email
 4  Early awakening I take Sonata between 2:00 am and 4:00 am if I have woken and can't get back to sleep. In the mornings I sometimes experience lethargy lasting a few hours, and lapses of memory. Usually Sonata DOES promote sleep (not always). Sometimes the quality of sleep with Sonata is not good and occasionally it gives me bizarre, unpleasant dreams. The trick with Sonata is not to take it too often. I try not to take it two nights running. It usually helps me to get back to sleep after early awakening, but the level of sleep may not be restful. The scary thing about this drug any any other sleep aid is the memory lapses. Is this occuring naturally because of my age? I don't think so. This has frightened me a little, and I take Sonata as little as possible. One other thing to consider: Alcohol will cause early awakening. Attend to that before resorting to Sonata. That said, I wouldn't be without it when I actually need. Hence the 4/5 rating. To sum up: Use it sparsely. M 70 4 years
1/19/2008
 3  insomnia; waking up too soon fatigue for about 8 hours after waking up, although decreasing as that 8 hours wears on; aggravation, irratability and depession during that 8 hours I have taken this medication on an as-needed basis for 4 years. I have tried all the others on the market as well. Sonata is not meant to be a put you to sleep for 8 hours; it has a 4-hour half-life, so it's more useful for put you BACK to sleep than to put you to sleep at the inception of your sleep cycle. Nevertheless, when you can't fall asleep to begin with, i.e., insomnia, it is capable of putting you to sleep (with some exceptions), hopefully for the rest of the night, or only for about 4 hours, after which its effect begins to wear off. So is best taken on those (hopefully) rare nights when you wake up between 2-4am, and need to get back to sleep. Beware that if you take it consistently, your brain receptors adjust to having it as part of their regular diet, at which point they are hooked, and you can experience withdrawal symptoms if you try to quit, this being those brain receptors way of letting you know that they are that they feeling deprived. Exceptions when Sonata m M 56 4 years
9/17/2006
 5   none This medication works great. Gets you just sleepy enough to drift off and doesn't last more than 4 hrs, but by that time you well asleep and wake up feeling bright and chipper. From what I understand, it's the only RX sleep aid that is approved by the FAA F 56 3 years
9/19/2006
 5  mild insomnia No side effects of any kind except for slight forgetfulness. I have been taking Sonata for 4 years. At first just occasionally but for the past 2 or 3 years almost every night. I fall asleep easily but wake up every night at 3 or 4am and then take 10 mg. I fall back to sleep and usually get at least 8 hours every night. Although it is still working fine for me, it is expensive and I am thinking seriously about weaning myself off of it. F 55 3 years
7/28/2007
 4  insomnia None work great but only for 4 hours of sleep. F 41 3 years
3/6/2005
 2  Insomnia depression? Least effective of the new sleep medications. I usually need 20 mg to stay asleep, (even then it may not work). Ambien Cr is much effective. M 52 3 years
4/21/2006
 5  Get back to sleep. None. I average 5 - 7.5 mg per night, almost every night. Dosage depends on when I wake up and how long until alarm set to go off. No drug hangover or other noticeable afteraffect. I very highly recommend this drug . . . but then I'm from the Dow Chemical/Berkley-in-the-60s "live better through chemicals" generation. M 64 2 years
2/8/2006
 5  Insomnia I used to watch TV in bed after taking rather than going right to sleep. The medicine put me in a highly suggestable state and I was convinced that I wanted to buy the stuff on the infomercials. Once, I actually did. Usually I'm alseep in 30 minutes after taking a 20mg dose -- 10 mg did absolutely nothing. Meds work better on an empty stomach. I've taken right after dinner a couple of times and they don't work at all then. In one situation (tonight, which is why I'm writing this), I fell asleep on my own at 9pm. Woke up at 12:00. Took 20 mg sonata at 12:30. At 3am, still awake. took another 20 mg. Not sure what to do now. I shouldn't take anything else so late at night or I won't wake up. Still its better than Ambien. Ambien made me sleepwalk down to the kitchen to eat any fattening thing that I had the willpower to avoid otherwise. Gained about 20 pounds. F 42 2 years
6/12/2006
 5  insomnia Don't stay awake when you take it. If you stay up for too long when taking it, you can have visual hallucinations. Nothing scary, just be in bed ready to go to sleep. No grogginess the next day. Sometimes it doesn't work, usually due to you eating a high fat meal shortly before taking it. I love it. Its not for people who need help STAYING asleep. I need help GETTING to sleep. Once I'm out, I'm a deep sleeper. M 20 2 years
20 mg 1X AN
9/22/2010
 3  Insomnia Fuzzy head, double vision, eating food and buying things on the Internet without remembering anything about it! Scared me but nothing serious except spent some money and gained a few lb's. At times I did have a feeling of general overall wellbeing. It did get me to sleep most every time for at least half the night. Short lived, but does not have lasting side affects other than some moderate anxiety durning the day. Loses affect over time. Sometimes I have to take 40 MG to get to sleep. M 47 2 years
20MG 1X day
1/17/2016
Email
 2  Insomnia Took on and off for 2 years. At first, it worked well. Would take it for stress related insomia one night and not need it again for several weeks / month. But it became so easy to keep taking it for more than one night. I wouldn't take it for a long time, then I'd take it 4-6 days in a row. It quit working effectively after my first 2 prescriptions ( approximately 9 months / 60 capsules). I began to take it for several days (4-5)in row, and it made me extremely irratable and angry the next day. It quit working effectively, so I'd take a double dose, which put me right to sleep but only for 4 hours. But it affected my behavior the next day. It took me over a year to realize this. When I stopped my weekly dosage of 2 capsules a night every other night, I had significant withdrawal symptoms, even though it's not supposed to be addictive -- heart racing, heart palpitations, anxiety, sadness, insomnia, etc. Beware of Sonata, especially if you find yourself becoming angry or irratable the next day. Stop, or it could ruin your relationships with those you care about, without you're even knowing the cause. M 53 2 years
2/4/2005
  

SONATA  (ZALEPLON):  This medication is used for a short time to treat people who have trouble falling asleep. If you have other sleep problems such as not being able to sleep through the night, this medication may not be right for you. Zaleplon is known as a hypnotic. It works on certain centers in the brain to relax you and help you fall asleep faster.   FDA Approval Date: 1999-08-13 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

      Next Page

BACK TO TOP