AMBIEN Reviews (ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE)Average Rating: 3.1 (1453 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare AMBIEN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. 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 | FDA Adverse Event Summary
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR AMBIEN | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | insomnia | nothing but a good nights rest. | if you take ambien the way it was prescribed you wont have any of the bizarre symptoms some of these people are talking about. It cured my insomnia and I can finally go to sleep when I want and wake up in a wonderful mood. | F | 23 | 30 days | 1/18/2010 | 3 | Insomnia due to shift work | SLEEP. Hazziness, memory loss, dependency, anxiety, dry eyes, sweats, stomach disturbances, aggression, drug idealation, headache, jitterness, mania, occassional euphoria, and sleep: walking, eating, emailing, talking. | In the begining it works great putting you to sleep with the prescribed dosages. Soon after though, you'll start taking more and more for less sleep. As the dosages increase, the withdrawal symptoms increase. You can feel your body start to crave the medication like any other addictive drug. I am lucky enough to say that no one has died due to me taking ambien, but I have embarrassed myself and worried my mother. (apparently I call her and obsess over dishwashers). In my opinion, this drug should be used to induce sleep when all other remedies are exhausted. Too many provider automatically turn to this med. All medications have unwanted side effects, and we shouldn't place all the blame pharmacutical companies, but they need to do a better job announcing the downsides. It is their responsibility to inform the consumer and the FDA job to demand it. FYI - when ambien first came out it was prescribed for no more 3-7 days. That was until lunesta came out with clinical trials up to 6 months with no adverse effects. Millions were then spent on advertisement proving ambien safe for long term use but without long term studies. More research has to be done. I've only been on it for a month. I'm in the process of stopping cold turkey and it's going well. I feel sorry for those who's lives were damaged more severly. Good luck | M | 26 | 30 days | 1/18/2010 | 5 | Insomnia/Pain | No side effects that I know of. | Most people can achieve drowsiness and sleep naturally - yahoo for them - I must rely on medication. Also, I have recurring pain due to a medical condition. It's miserable enough not being able to sleep but even more so to lay awake and in pain. While this may not be the right medication for some it certainly seems to work for me every night. | F | 42 | 6 months | 1/16/2010 | 2 | insomnia,pstd | hallucinations,memory loss,cant control bladder,suicidal thoughts,slurred speech | i initially started taking it for sleep. i also was depressed so i eventually started taking it to get high..i would hallucinate and have conversations with the "devil" out loud.he would tell me to take the whole bottle.I kept peeing in bed.I liked the feeling it gave me because i said whatever i wanted to say and didnt care about anyones feelings.But overall i am a single mom and that behavior could not continue.I decided after a week that would not take it again. | F | 21 | 1 weeks | 1/16/2010 | 1 | bi polar insomnia | It does not help me sleep at all so I have been doubling up, temporarly, memory problems , back pain. i am still awake. | Wow, I have been taken a "night med" for over 20 years and what I was taking was designed for deppression but was found to be great on sleeping issues.Trazadone.AWSOME safe cheap.It gives me bad cotton mouth and A FANTASTIC night sleep.I have taken stronger pills when my bi polar was manicy. Horsepills.Still safe side affects. silly sleepy got to go lay down. The hardcore ones took an hour to shake off all the way. but left feeling WELL. I was back on trazadone so I could care for our daughter, 2 now. This drug I can wake up from the sound of just movent. I could get up before she was awake. never miss a beat. go right back to sleep. 4 or 5 times a night and still go back to sleep.I took it too long and it turned on me,adverse reactions sleep waking and eating, not cool. so my doctor put me on Ambien.I am always scared of brand new rx's w/ catchy names. U should not have to run in hide in ur bed in fear of a pill u took. there are lots of good ones. !I have never went through withdrals from mine. not sleeping doesn't count.HA. what if you take your pill and an emergency were to come up. Stay in bed because you fear your behavior will unstable! and might get u arressted! there is always more meds. just in a different catagory. | F | 35 | 3 months | 1/16/2010 | 1 | jet -lag and occasional insomnia | Plethora of next-day side effects including, but not limited to, agitation, aggressiveness, weepiness, depression, extreme anxiousness, not feeling myself, difficulty with vision (focusing problems), lack of confidence, jitteriness, feelings of despondency, shakiness, coordination issues. | First time took this drug and next day I felt terrible emotionally. Very edgy, aggressive, agitated, weepy. Following occasions (about a dozen) I've tempered the 5mg dose with 0.5mg of Ativan. It has helped to reduce the next day side effects but not much. I've had it with this drug. I had to post because so many people seem to have problems with emotional or personality side effects. It does work, but it's not worth it. In the future, I'll just take some Ativan or Temazepam and be done with it. Someone has labeled this Ambien as the 'Devils's Drug'-I would agree with that characterization. | M | 60 | 1 years | 1/16/2010 | 5 | insomnia | ambien gives striking effect. it eases my sleeping problem. | M | 28 | 2 weeks | 1/15/2010 | 4 | Insomnia | Middle of the night carb and sweets binges. Addictive qualities. | I have been taking Ambien and Ambien CR for years. It allows me to wake rested with no grogginess or other side effects. The only downside is you do build a tolerance up which I have and it becomes less effective. In addition, the night eating has just begun for me. I fight it though. All in all, it has helped my insomnia problem. It is very hard to go off of being that it is very addictive. You also need to take it IN BED when you are ready to sleep. | F | 43 | 3 years | 1/15/2010 | 1 | Insomnia | Headaches, anxiety. | I have taken Ambien off and on for five years, but have taken it everynight for the last two years. I have taken Ambien and Ambien CR. When I first started taking Ambien I thought I found heaven. When it kicks in I got this "life is beautiful feeling" and then fell into a happy, peaceful slumber. Waking up the next day, I felt refreshed. However, I discovered this honeymoon period did not last forever. I developed a tolerance and moved on to Ambien CR. In my experience Ambien CR does not produce that "life is beautiful feeling". It takes longer to work. You are supposed to take this on an empty stomach and that is very important - no food 2 hours prior. Taking it after 1 to 1 1/2 hours after eating and it would stay in my system the next day. Then came the worst part. I got a good night sleep, but the next day I experienced extreme headaches, anxiety, depression, aggression, dread eventually panic attacks. Ambien is something that should only be used occcasionally. Unfortunately, for those of us who have lived with insommia for years, once you take it - it is easy to get mentally addicted to. That is the risk you take it with it. I just quit it - because the anxiety and depression is unbearable. | F | 46 | 5 years | 1/15/2010 | 1 | INSOMNIA | No real side effects. The drug did not help my sleeplessness at all, for me it was worthless | F | 75 | 2 days | 1/15/2010 | 1 | Severe Insomnia | Hallucinations, sleepwalking, sleep-talking, incoherence, night-eating, panic attacks, etc... | I took Ambien for about five months. It's addictive properties were immense. It was something I used at a borderline recreational level toward the end of things. Numerous times, parents or girlfriend would comment on something EXTREMELY bizarre that I had done the evening before (like peeing in the garage "so burglars wouldn't come in"). I gained weight from eating meals I didn't remember. Finally, it culminated when, one night, I took an Ambien, woke up (apparently) in the night, not remembering I had previously taken one, and took two more. I ended up in the hospital after assaulting a paramedic and accusing a police officer of having an affair with my girlfriend. I'm a calm, rational, non-violent person with no predisposition to addiction or drug use. This is by far the worst thing you could put into your body. | M | 19 | 5 months | 1/9/2010 | 5 | Insomnia/ptsd | Sleep | I wish I could find the people who invented Ambien and give them a big hug. Insomnia has plagued my entire life. I've never been able to sleep. I've spent huge chunks of my life in a stupor from lack of sleep, been fired from jobs, could not participate in major events because of no sleep. For the 1st time in my life I can get a full nights sleep and be ready to go in morn. It's changed my life. I work, I do things. I make more $ than ever before because I am productive functioning and happy. I suffer none of the side effects mentioned by others...well don't send emails right after taking, as it relaxes me they tend to get sappy. I can't recommend it enough for those with severe insomnia. Sleep is not a luxury. | M | 47 | 5 years | 1/6/2010 | 1 | insomnia | loss of memory, loss of motor skills, and a number of other horrible side-effects | It has been just over a month since I ditched Ambien and I am here to say it DOES get better. A lot better. It was horrible at first when I quit and there is a definite detox period. Time passes and you can still be existing with Ambien (because it certainly isn't living), or you can shake it and get off the stuff.As I posted before I lost my job, most of my life and finally almost my marriage because of Ambien. Nothing is worth losing what God blessed me with. What bothers me here are people that say the DRUG is great and they have hardly had any bad experiences EXCEPT for a few crazy emails or whatever. If you can have a convesration (or whatever) that you don't remember, then what else could you do and not remember? Why not hurt your child or take a knife out of a drawer to stab somebody? Really, there isn't a difference if you don't remember....Just go to bed immediately? What if you need to get up? What if there is an emergency of some sort with a spouse or child? Are you just MIA? Or will you get up and do God knows what? Save yourself. I am against this horrible drug 110% | M | 46 | 1 years | 12/30/2009 | 1 | Insomnia | Started taking the Ambien around 2 months ago and it was great at first, but the last few days have been terrible. The first evening my symptoms started, I was having severe anxiety and panic attacks, and the following day was even worse. On day 3 I decided to speak with my Pharmacist about possible side effects from taking this drug, and of course everything I was experiencing were possible side effects. I went home and flushed the Ambien and I am now on day two of being Ambien free. Its been very scary and I'm still experiencing the nervousness feeling but I do believe I am starting to feel a bit better. | I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS MEDICATION TO ANYONE!!! I WISH TO GOD I WOULD HAVE NEVER TAKEN IT. | M | 35 | 2 months | 12/29/2009 | 1 | insomnia | my best friend's husband was prescribed ambien while he was CLEARLY depressed, he started making his "final arrangements" so my friend went to the doctor with him but she knew nothing about the side effects. The doctor failed to mention them. She told the dr. that the man next to her was not the same man she was with for 21 years. All the dr. did was give another refill. The next day he got up in the middle of the night, drove a mile and a half, pulled over. and shot and killed himself. | Don't EVER take this medicine, I am listing his age and sex, not mine | M | 53 | 6 days | 12/29/2009 | 1 | Sleeplessness, insomnia | Initially, it was a miracle drug. 12.5mg Ambien CR each night prescribed after a painful surgery. It's now six years later, and I've not been able to work for a year due to fatigue and depression that's gotten progressively worse. Why isn't SOMEONE doing a study of the long term affects of this horrendously addictive and dangerous medication? | I took Ambien for 4 years before major depression issues appeared. For the past year, I've been so fatigued, I haven't been able to return to work. I've talked to internists and psychiatrists, had every blood test imaginable performed, and tried at least 15 different antidepressants. They all say my problem is "stress." I tell them "The stress is from not being able to get my life back!" Not one doctor suggested the Ambien might be the problem; they just kept writing the refills. After reading many blogs, I'm convinced Ambien is the culprit. My symptoms are: chronic fatigue, depression that is being managed somewhat successfully by Effexor XR, inability to concentrate, blurred vision, sensitivity to noise and visual stimulus (TV, movies), needing higher and higher doses of Ambien to sleep, major social anxiety, mental confusion, sleep-eating, sleep-cleaning, and sleep-emailing. I've realized over the last few weeks that my whole day revolves around how soon I can take my Ambien and escape from the world - just like an alcoholic waits for that first drink of the day. If that's not a physical ADDICTION, I don't know what is. I'm on day 2 tapering off the drug, and the withdrawals are hell (anxiety, crying, fatigue, major depression, body aches, head aches, nausea). Conclusion - ADDICTION!! And the addiction came on so slowly, I didn't know it was happening. I agree that Ambien is the Devil's Drug and I cannot believe it's still on the market. Class lawsuit, | F | 53 | 6 years | 12/29/2009 | 1 | Temporar stress | Day after confusion and inability to focus on anything | I have periodically used ambien on occasions when I needed sleep due to stress related issues or airline travel. The last two times I took a pill, I experienced day after side effects of confusion and disorientation. | M | 69 | 1 days | 12/24/2009 | 1 | Insomnia | Amnesia and eveything others have posted. | This is my second post and I just want to encourage anyone that is thinking about taking Ambien or stopping to read all these posts and think if it's really worth it for sleep. My insomnia almost drove me nuts but did not destroy my life like Ambien has (or close to it). Anyone could be that 1:1000 that suffer great loss because of Ambien. I read this periodically just to remind me how horrible this drug is and it's roll in some of the fallout that occured after taking it and not going to bed immediately. Some have called this the "devil's drug" and I couldn't agree more. I work in the pharma industry and can't understand why there isn't more pressure from FDA on the manufacturer. The insert instructs the user to go to bed immediately but does not highlight why, and that not going to bed immediately is a huge reason why these bizzare side effects occur. I just figured the instruction is given like for any other sleeping pill, not as alert. With Ambien, the consequences are far greater than being sleepy and stumbling on the way to bed and maybe hitting your toe on something. | F | 45 | 2 years | 12/19/2009 | 5 | insomnia | some nights works fine, other nights not at all. | very pleased with ambien, no side effects except a few looney emails to my daughter. so,no pc for me after I take it. Go right to bed! | F | 75 | 10 years | 12/18/2009 | 1 | I quit Ambien two weeks ago and I can tell you I am going freaking NUTS. I want to grab my ears and pull them off. I can't sleep, just like before. My teeth are gritting and I wish I could bite off my tongue!!!! I know the relief Ambien has - I spent YEARS staring at the ceiling and watching the sun come up with no rest at all. Then I went to work and suffered. I have depression, so that went wild too! I know your pain. Let me just say, this crap is not worth it. Hitting my head with a hammer would feel better than I feel right now. I have posted twice. I have said I was quitting to get my life back. For the love of God, don't put yourself where I am. Talk a good game about falling asleep and feeling good....lots of luck. This really is a devil's drug. You could be wher I am right now and never know what happened. | F | 46 | 1 years | 12/16/2009 |