Thank you so much for your msg. I'm very sorry for your cancer diagnosis. The last thing you need are sleepless nights. That alone can make someone sick. When I have an appt in the morning, I'm up worrying the night before cuz I don't know if I'll get enough (or any) sleep to be able to function when I have to in the morning. I try to only schedule afternoon appts now so that if I can't sleep at night I can hopefully get some in the morning. With Ambien, I knew that if I had an early appt I could go to bed at an earlier hour and actually get to sleep! Most prescription drugs have side effects, so when you're on as many as I am I have to choose the ones that will be the least toxic, but still take care of the problems I need help with. Not sleeping definitely takes a toll on me. I never increased my dosage either, and it made me feel really good knowing that someone could take it for 7 years and have it still work for them. Homeopathic remedies may work for a lot of people, but my body is so polluted from prescription drugs that I don't think they'd do a thing for me. Thank you for making me feel more confident that I could take Ambien long term. I intend to get off this Restoril asap and back on Ambien. Take care and God bless.

I've been taking ambien for over 7 years. Ever since my diagnosis with cancer I took it to help me sleep. Now I take it as a habit. If only someone would slip me a placebo and see if I could go off of it. But it beats worrying about not being able to sleep. It takes the anxiety of it off of you. I never had to up my dosage so I figure that is a good thing.

I have had chronic pain for almost 20 yrs. I've been on narcotics for 15 yrs but still am not pain free, plus other uncomfortable symptoms (like excessive sweating and constant body temp fluctuations), so this is why I need help to sleep. If my body does not get rest at night, I hurt even worse. My psychiatrist gave me Ambien to take every night. I took it for more than 2 years with no problems. I could get 6-7 hrs of sleep every night without fail. I complained to my family doc and neurologist about memory problems. My family doc told me to get off Ambien immediately cuz that's what is affecting my memory and is no good for long term. My neurologist told me the same. I was put on Restoril. 15mg is too much and I can't really wake up during the day, 7.5 is not enough. Next time I saw my psychiatrist, she had no idea why my other docs told me to get off Ambien. She had heard of no side effects taking it long term. I have to get sleep. It's the only thing keeping the pain and depression manageable. I had 2 Ambien left when I stopped it. I took them recently and got the best sleep in months. Ambien seems to affect people all different ways, but after using it for 2+ yrs, I was doing fine. And my memory problems never changed. They were probably caused by the narcotics. I want to ask my psychiatrist to go back on it, but I'm afraid my other docs will get upset because they're treating me for various other serious medical conditions.

I wanted to bump this discussion. I have no real organic problems with sleep. I am a fairly light sleeper but that's never been a huge issue. However, my husband snores so unbelievably loud I cannot sleep with him unless I take ambien. He refuses to do anything about the snoring (yes, I know he should see a doc about it but he absolutely will not). I'm okay with taking ambien in order to stay in the same bed with him - it's an imperfect solution, but it works. If you had to weigh the benefits from sleeping through the night because you took a pill versus waking up after a few hours and spending the rest of the night trying to fall asleep on the couch, which would you choose? I'm so exhausted all the time, and after taking the ambien and being able to sleep I feel amazing. But I don't know what to think about the long term effects of taking a sleeping pill on a regular basis? Do those risks outweigh the risks associated with long term sleep deprivation? Thanks for any input.

Anonymous wrote:Just a heads up to those of you who say ambien take hours to begin working, make sure ur not taking the generic "Zolpidem" made by TEVA. It turns out that clinical trials prove that the maximum concentration of teva zolpidem is almost 10% less than ambien. That, combined with ambien's short half-life (~2.6 hrs), means that you are only getting about 90% of the effect and right after it peaks (which could be more than 2 hrs after taken), it begins to be eliminated. So if u take it with or soon after food, the peak concentration could happen after 2.6 hrs meaning one half life has already happened, so the "peak" effect of the drug could be close to about 5mg of brand ambien. So in the end you would be better off taking 5mg of brand name ambien at 2 in the morning than taking 10mg of teva zolpidem at 11:00 pm

Oh my gosh!! I had a bad experience with ambien a while ago, but I recently tried again and it has worked great! I checked the manufacturer of the old ambien I was about to throw away and it was TEVA. My current stuff is made by qualitest and it is much better!!!!!

Anonymous wrote:Try neurofeedback for insomnia! It has been a miracle in my life.

I have taken Ambien twice before in my life when I developed stress-induced insomnia. I took it every night for a while, then slowly weaned myself as I improved my life to remove the source of stress and was off it completely within 6 months or so both times. I never did anything interesting while on it- no sleep sex or eating or driving or murdering- just got an excellent night's sleep.

But now, I am going through a difficult divorce. I stopped sleeping again, so I got some Ambien to get me through but it's been almost 6 months and I haven't been able to wean myself at all. So I decided to try neurofeedback. Within a week of starting neurofeedback I skipped a night of Ambien to see what would happen- I slept 6 hrs. After three weeks of neurofeedback I haven't taken an Ambien for almost 2 weeks and I am sleeping 6-8 hrs a night and functioning well. Better than well, actually- I also have much lessened anxiety and depression. Anyone with insomnia should give it a try!

What is neurofeedback

Just a heads up to those of you who say ambien take hours to begin working, make sure ur not taking the generic "Zolpidem" made by TEVA. It turns out that clinical trials prove that the maximum concentration of teva zolpidem is almost 10% less than ambien. That, combined with ambien's short half-life (~2.6 hrs), means that you are only getting about 90% of the effect and right after it peaks (which could be more than 2 hrs after taken), it begins to be eliminated. So if u take it with or soon after food, the peak concentration could happen after 2.6 hrs meaning one half life has already happened, so the "peak" effect of the drug could be close to about 5mg of brand ambien. So in the end you would be better off taking 5mg of brand name ambien at 2 in the morning than taking 10mg of teva zolpidem at 11:00 pm

I thought the main problem with taking Ambien every night was that eventually the body would require a higher dose for the same effect. That was my experience as well. Now I exercise to try to be more tired at bedtime. Works pretty well and on the occasional night it doesn't work, I do take an Ambien, but rarely more than once a week.

Try neurofeedback for insomnia! It has been a miracle in my life.

I have taken Ambien twice before in my life when I developed stress-induced insomnia. I took it every night for a while, then slowly weaned myself as I improved my life to remove the source of stress and was off it completely within 6 months or so both times. I never did anything interesting while on it- no sleep sex or eating or driving or murdering- just got an excellent night's sleep.

But now, I am going through a difficult divorce. I stopped sleeping again, so I got some Ambien to get me through but it's been almost 6 months and I haven't been able to wean myself at all. So I decided to try neurofeedback. Within a week of starting neurofeedback I skipped a night of Ambien to see what would happen- I slept 6 hrs. After three weeks of neurofeedback I haven't taken an Ambien for almost 2 weeks and I am sleeping 6-8 hrs a night and functioning well. Better than well, actually- I also have much lessened anxiety and depression. Anyone with insomnia should give it a try!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need to ask. . . . . Come on OP! You know that's not healthy. You're hooked, get help.

This was a really unnecessary, not to mention completely not helpful response...

OP.. If the doctor tells you that it's ok.. providing you were being honest with him about how much you take it, than you should be alright. If you have doubts, you can try not taking it for a night or so, and see what happens.

FAIL FAIL FAIL.

I agree -- every doc does not know what she/he are doing!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need to ask. . . . . Come on OP! You know that's not healthy. You're hooked, get help.

This was a really unnecessary, not to mention completely not helpful response...

OP.. If the doctor tells you that it's ok.. providing you were being honest with him about how much you take it, than you should be alright. If you have doubts, you can try not taking it for a night or so, and see what happens.

FAIL FAIL FAIL.

I took ambien every night for 8 years. I got to the point that I could not sleep without it.

Then, I switched Doctors. The new doctor was adamant that I could not take ambien every night. I was taking it partially because of sleep apnea. Apparently, ambien results in the oxygen dropping even lower in the blood than with just apnea.

I have been off it for about 6 months. I am not sleeping well, but I am more awake during the days.

For anyone that is suffering sleep deprivation it is helpful. Forced sleep deprivation will clinically depress you over time it is necessary for some people to function normally regarding sleep. You''ll probably find the purist responders get right to sleep and love to tell you how bad it is to take. Common sense.....watch you drinking get alcohol out of system prior? Again common sense 1 hour or longer per ounce

I take it and have been for about 5 years. I try to take a third of a pill just to get to sleep. Once in a while I will stop for a few days but have difficulty sleeping nights 1 and two then right back to my old 1 hour to two hours to get to sleep. Basically, it's ok to take in small dosage. If you begin to feel dependent for sleep purposes, just quit for a few days. It isn't that big of a deal. Or try l-lysine and L-Triptophan those nights. Beats staring at ceiling all night. Also wear some ear plugs to block out noise.

Been on Ambien for a year, almost every nigh and never have any side effects, just a good nights sleep. Why should I spend three hours tossing and turning with an over active imagination? Am I wrong?