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
 
 4  Insomnia Regardless of having a full stomach or not, sometimes Ambien kicks in within 10 minutes, sometimes its a couple of hours. When the 10 mintues occurs, I experience hallucinations and amnesia. My bathrobe hanging on the doorknob once had eyes and was dancing! I rolled over and told my husband, he told me to go to sleep - which I was trying to do! Love this sleeping tool! F 35 60 days
4/13/2007
 2  Insomnia At first no side effects. Later on (month into it) I started noticing softer erections and a decrease in sex drive. I was taking 12.5 of the CR each night. Took me 2-3hours to fall a sleep after a while. Then I would only get 4-5 hours sleep after that. I got that kind of sleep when I wasn't taking it. So 2-3 days off it. My erections are back and strong, my sex drive is back full swing and making up for lost time. I never thought that this was the cause of the ED symptoms. I had thought it was my blood pressure meds. Guess not. M 29 41 days
4/13/2007
 4  To get a full night sleep. Hallucinations. While reading about the overdoses online the words started moving back and forth and some seemed to wrap around the paragraph. I remember being told to do something then taking a few steps and completely forgetting. I fell once. The as I tried to read a magazine article I found myself making up my own story with the words in the article. It did help me get the sleep I needed though. Take it, it works. M 15 2 times
4/12/2007
 2  insomnia Feeling drugged and foggy-headed the next day, even though I only take 1/3 of a pill (1/3 of 10 mg.) The day after taking ambien I don't want to do anything. I just feel like sitting in one spot and staring at the wall, all day long. Very frustrating. And I've tried this drug about 20 times and every time I feel bad the following day. F 57 20 days
4/11/2007
 5  occassional insomnia I have NEVER experienced any side effects from Ambien. In fact I think it is a miracle drug that has let me get a good nights sleep when I really needed it. And I have been taking it now maybe several days out of the month now for several years and have never experienced any of the side effects that I have heard about. I get so annoyed with these people that are giving Ambien a bad name because they are not following the directions. I mean who the heck would take a SLEEPING PILL and drive a vehicle or not allow for atleast the 7 hours sleep!! How stupid is that! F 56 5 years
4/10/2007
 5  Insomnia The only side effects I had with ambien was when I first started taking it. I would take 1 10mg ambien at night time get in bed and watch TV as soon as the drug kicked in, I felt very funny and I looked up at the ceiling and it looked like a river flowing in one direction, I don't remember much else, but my girlfriend told me I had went in the kitchen because I kept thinking someone was in the house and that I was talking to someone who wasn't there. THe next morning when she told me it didn't make sense, I remeber getting up but I don't remember what I was doing. THe side effects I had mentioned were ONLY DURING THE FIRST FEW WEEKS I now have no side effects when taking this drug and it helps me get to sleep. M 27 2 times
4/10/2007
 5  Insomnia If I stayed awake, I remember being totally coherent in what I was doing, I knew I was under the effects of the drug, and felt completely fine. Amnesia the next day did not phase me, and I gradually remembered bits and pieces of my night. Granted you are supposed to be IN BED when you take it, do not let negative reviews turn you off. The people who write them either did not go to bed immediately, or just cannot handle sedatives. I have taken up to 30mg in a dose to treat my insomnia, and it works like MAGIC. As I type this, I am 30 minutes into a 20mg dose, and as you can see I am not psychotic or anything. Ambien is not for everyone, and if you are a whiner or hypochondriac, DO NOT take it. That leads to people who most likely never needed Ambien freaking out becase they experience KNOWN side effects, and scaring those who could benifit from it away. Here's a hint for all of you negative nancys...TURN OFF OR UNPLUG YOUR PHONE, HIDE YOUR KEYS, TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER, AND EAT BEFORE YOU TAKE IT. (It also helps to be IN bed after you take it...dont try and get a "trip" or force yourself to stay awake... M 20 40 days
4/9/2007
 5  Sleeplessness Falling asleep while talking on the phone, and eating with justa vague memory the next day are side effects I have experienced I also take to anti depressants and vicodin each night. I only take a quarter of a tablet of ambien and I sleep through the night = ready to go to work in the morning. However, if someone calls and I can't get off the phone in time, I will fall asleep on the phone. It does help me sleep, but no side effects in the morning. F 59 3 years
4/7/2007
 1  severe insomnia Hallucinations and paralysis. I was put on this because I'd slept three nights in two years, and had tried everything else. To my great relief, it DID help me to sleep, but THE WEIRDEST thing happened. Not quite 20 minutes after I took it, I noticed that a shirt on the top of the pile of laundry next to my bed was moving. It got up off the pile and walked away. (I swear, I am NOT making this up.) Then, the next day, when I woke up, I couldn't move at all for about two hours. I was fully awake, but completely immobilised -- I couldn't even open my eyes. Both effects were terrifying. I threw out the rest of the bottle a few days later. F 28 1 times
4/5/2007
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 3  Shift Work and Insomnia Light headedness/dizzyness the next day. I am very active if I do not take this drug in bed. I have cooked, trashed my wifes kitchen, gone skiing, called friends at 2:00 AM etc all without any subsequent memory of the activity. This drug is pretty heavy duty. I typically take 5-10 mg. DO NOT MIX THIS DRUG WITH ALCOHOL!!!!! It seems to have a multiplicative effect on my craziness. This is not a good drug for anyone who has addiction issues. If you regularly use alcohol, I would recommend against it as it lowers my willpower and I find myself likely to drink and not even realize I am doing so. I have found it extremely hard to discontinue. DOes anyone else have side effects that range toward rashes? My skin itches and I have severe dry spots that I did not have a year ago. M 42 10 months
4/2/2007
 3  Shift Work / insomnia I decided that the below wasn't enough. This med also lowered my resistance and will-power to the point that I have "bumped" my dosage while sleep walking. I had no idea until I found my medicine bottle out the next morning and I started to track my quantity. I believe that I have taken as much as 30mg in one night after initially taking 5mg. I would recommend involving your spouse to help control your dosage. My wife frankly is tired of this drug and specifically its effects on me and my antics while taking it, but I am pretty much addicted at this point. I think I would rather be addicted to alcohol (keep your comments to yourselves AA members, I know what I am saying). Alcohol was easier to kick than this stuff. M 42 10 months
4/2/2007
 3  Shift Work and Insomnia Light headedness/dizzyness the next day. I am very active if I do not take this drug in bed. I have cooked, trashed my wifes kitchen, gone skiing, called friends at 2:00 AM etc all without any subsequent memory of the activity. This drug is pretty heavy duty. I typically take 5-10 mg. DO NOT MIX THIS DRUG WITH ALCOHOL!!!!! It seems to have a multiplicative effect on my craziness. This is not a good drug for anyone who has addiction issues. If you regularly use alcohol, I would recommend against it as it lowers my willpower and I find myself likely to drink and not even realize I am doing so. I have found it extremely hard to discontinue. M 42 10 months
4/2/2007
 1  Insomnia Depression, twitching, aching muscles, fatigue, general overall feeling lousy I prescribed this medicine by a family physician. After being on the medicine for 6 weeks, I went back to the Dr. and told her all of my symptons, she prescribed an anti-depressant - Cymbalta. The symptoms became worse. I went to an internal medicine physician. He immediately took me off the Ambien and told me to gradually go off the cymbalta. I was feeling like in a couple of days. I would never take this medication again. F 54 3 times
3/30/2007
 1  Insomnia, perhaps menopause-related Greatly increased depression, anxiety almost to the point of panic attack, feeling drugged all day, headache, could not remember conversations I'd had during the day, inability to work or do anything other than just roam around the house feeling bad. Affected my ability to sing properly for a couple of days. Took as directed, time release. It did help me sleep the night but it was not worth the horrible side effects. It took me 2 days to feel even remotely normal again. F 53 1 days
3/30/2007
 1  insomnia increased insomnia, unable to fall asleep until 6:30 am after 10mg at 11:00 pm. tried it for one more day - same lack of effectivness and increase in agitation. vey surprised- won't use again. ineffective for me M 42 2 days
3/28/2007
 5  mistake walking while asleep, memory loss during the medication my father in law took ambien by mistake (thinking it was a hay fever pill as my mother in law kept it in the same box), they went out to do some grocery shopping straight afterwards. He stood in the supermarket check out point and fell asleep and had to be waken several times to be ask to get back in the car, he even helped 2 load and unload the groceries and ate a bag of lychee after he got home, my wife said he was acting weird untill we realised what happened, i asked him to go to bed and he did just that. He took 10mg at 12:30pm and woked up at 6pm and wondering why he was left at home by himself lol M 59 1 days
3/25/2007
 5  Life=long insomnia Memory problems but I was forgetful for years before taking the drug. Disadvantages: 1. It is powerfully addictive and difficult to stop taking it. Interestingly, when I ate strictly macrobiotic for a few weeks, I stopped needing it. I had been taking it for years and the drug just fell out of my life. Macrobiotics is a difficult discipline, though, and it is hard to be consistent. When I stopped eating macrobiotically, the sleep disorder returned and I went back on Ambien. 2. Some memory loss. 3. Taking too much gives me an edgy, irritable feeling. Advantages: 1. Wonderful sleep. 2. My life-long depression was greatly reduced. For the first time in years, I felt joy. 3. PMS vanished. 4. I started enjoying life. 5. I am no longer irritable and angry all the time. I have patience and compassion for the first time in my life. I am a nicer person. Yes, I am dependent on it although currently I have not taken it for over 30 days and am taking antihistamines to sleep. Because of a sleep disorder, I could not sleep in the same bed wi M 5 years
3/24/2007
 2  Insomnia Fatigue, muscle pain, anxiety, inability to concentrate I was taking Ambien CR for about 4 months and at best, I was getting only 4 hours of sleep with many significant side effects. I went "cold turkey" and took an Art of Living class instead, which teaches a combination of yoga, meditation, breathing and stress management. Now, I still get the same 4 hours of sleep but do not have the anxiety, fatigue or muscle pain. I also feel I have more energy even with limited sleep. I would definitely recommend this as an effective and better long term alternative to Ambien. F 44 4 months
3/23/2007
 1  insomnia severe depersonalization, panic attack Ambien CR caused me to experience dissociation/depersonalization to a terrifying degree, and thanks to the extended release formula, I got to deal with it for eight hours. Oddly enough, the drug doesn't make me drowsy at all. F 26 1 days
3/23/2007
 5  unable to sleep waking during middle of the night and eating ..... i have been taking ambien for many years. it has proved to be a miracle cure for my insomnia. i have tried many times to discontinue but after 17 days of little sleep and feeling like a total wreck during the day i resumed the medication. i take 5-10mg nightly as i get into the bed and fall asleep in approx 15-20 mins. whatever side effects ambien may or may not have i am assured of a good nights sleep. of course it's not a 'one size fits all' med. it has worked well for me for years. M 61 6 years
3/21/2007

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