Has this happened to anyone else? I took 5 mg. as prescribed by my doctor. Is it possible the dose is too low?
Also, I didn’t have anything else that would interfere with it, like alcohol, caffeine, other meds, etc. Not looking for medical advice, just want to hear people’s experiences.
Works fine for me, but hey, different people react differently to the same drug. It could be that you’re one of the people Ambien doesn’t work for. It could be the reason you’re having sleeping trouble is something Ambien doesn’t work for.
It works well for my husband, but not at all for me, FWIW.
What are you taking it for? It might help to know that little detail, I’m thinking.
Could be…my experience was this: the directions said it works quickly. When I took it, I didn’t fall asleep right away, I tossed and turned all night, and I woke up @4:30am, so needless to say I am tired and crabby today!
I’ve been waking up every morning with anxiety/ panic attacks for some time now. While my doctors are trying to get to the root of it, I thought it would be nice to have a night or 2 of relief. I know Ambien can be addictive, so I don’t want to go down that road and take it too often.
Too much java?
I take it from time to time, and find that once in awhile , it just doesn’t work. This ends badly because it’s even worse to be up all night on Ambien than without it!
But, in general, it has removed much of my anxiety about sleeping, so it even works when I don’t take it because I’m less worried about sleeping. I would say as a once in awhile thing when I need to break a sleepless cycle, it has been great.
I tend to take 10 mg though.
It doesn’t work for some people. Call your doctor and tell him/her and see if something else can be prescribed. I don’t like the sleep on Ambien, its better than no sleep at all, but not by much. I liked Rozeram better since what that did for me was help me fall asleep - and that was what I really needed. Years ago I had a sedative sleep aid (probably Trazadone?) and that worked well for me, too.
Have you tried OTC? For me, a combination of valarian and benedryl work as good as anything I’ve been prescribed nine times out of ten (don’t take valarian if you are on an anti depressant.)
And have you been evaluated for depression and anxiety - for me, treating that usually means I don’t need sleep aids at all.
Well, in my experience it doesn’t work quickly. I generally take it an hour before bed. I also take 10 mg, not 5. To me, it doesn’t put you to sleep…it makes you slightly drowsy. What it’s great for, IMHO, is that once I fall asleep I generally stay asleep all night, instead of periodically waking and having trouble getting back to sleep all night. Also, in my experience when I do wake up I’m not groggy or anything…just totally refreshed. It’s the best sleep aid ever, IMHO.
One thing though. If they have you on the generic (Zolpidem) I’ve had more mixed results for some reason. Not sure why but it just doesn’t seem to work as consistently for me, even though presumably it’s the same stuff.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO, forum for medical anecdotes, experiences, advice, and diagnoses.
It can take 2-3 hours for my Ambien to really kick in. At times I’ve taken it, gotten in bed, and read until I start to feel very sleepy and loopy, and it can definitely be a long wait for that level of sedation. Though I think a more gentle sleepiness kicks in sooner.
Just like you, when I first tried Ambien, I would wake up at 4 am and still not be able to get back to sleep. Since this was the original problem I was taking the Ambien for, I was disappointed! BUT, there is an extended release form that works a treat for me. I wake up at 6 or 7 feeling well rested and awake.
(Went and grabbed my bottle: I take Zolpidem ER 12.5mg. That is, generic Ambien, in extended release tablets.)
Missed edit window:
I love Ambien, but I’ve found Unisom works almost as well (the one that has doxylamine succinate).
Also, they probably tell people that it works “QUICKLY!!!11!” because otherwise there are some idiots who would take it on the way home from work or something. And of course for some folks it probably kicks in faster than for others.
I’ve taken Ambien one time (prescribed 5 pills for high stress period). The first night, it knocked me out within 20 minutes (I also hadn’t slept well for months prior). The second night, it kind of worked in about an hour. It has never helped again. I asked my doctor about it and he said that a lot of people have the same experience with it not working. I’m thinking that the first and second nights were placebo effect and that it definitely doesn’t work for me.
It really can hit fast! Two anecdotes:
My sister was given IV Ambien after surgery. She was out cold before they even finished injecting it (and she told me that she awoke hours later in exactly the same position as she fell asleep in, so stiff and numb she couldn’t move unassisted!).
Same sister’s BIL took one and a few minutes later, reached over the arm of his recliner to pick something up. That’s how his wife found him, draped over the chair arm, out like a light!
I shaved off half my mustache, put on Sunday clothes and shoes and went to bed. When I woke I asked why Chuck Berry had come over and shaved me.
Nothing else to share since that was THE ONE time I used Ambien.
It doesn’t really work at all for me, either.
I used to take it - then decided to stop. When I called to re-up my prescriptions, I specifically said not to fill that one.
But the pharmacy filled them all. And the Ambien looked just like my ritalin.
The day after picking them up, I was working at home with a colleague from out of town. I reached in and took a ritalin. He got up to go stretch his legs or something. When he came back, I was *literally *drooling into my keyboard.
I don’t remember too much of the rest.
He feared I had had a stroke. He made me touch my nose and other stroke tests. (Not sure if they were real or ones he just figured were good tests.)
He then put me on my couch and kept working. My dog would not leave my side. He tried to get her to play ball, but except for going out to pee, she just lay there and stared at me. Around 6 he left for the day, after checking to be sure I was breathing.
So yeah, Ambien worked for me.
It never works immediately for me, in fact it usually takes a few hours. I get in bed early and take it, then watch television or surf the net until I go to sleep. When it kicks in it seems sudden - I can go from coherent to not, very quickly.
5 mg should be sufficient. I’ve been on 10 mg for a few years but recently started breaking them in half without lessening the effect. Conventional wisdom suggests I should have to up my dose in order for it to work now, but that’s not been my experience.
It won’t hurt anything for you to take two to see if 10 mg works better. I also agree with what someone said above - you may need the extended release to stay asleep all night. That said, I usually sleep through the night without problems on the regular (non-extended) version, but occasionally go through periods where I frequently wake up in the middle of the night. A week or two ago I woke up every night between 1:30 and 3:00.
If you haven’t tried on the shelf stuff first, I’d suggest trying some out. And I second the Unisom stuff. I get generic version, and it works a lot better than Tylenol PM did for me. I do take a melatonin with it, as that makes me not care if I sleep, until the sleeping pill kicks in. Half the anxiety of not sleeping is worrying you’re not going to be able to sleep; don’t you hate that?
My understanding is that it’s not supposed to keep you asleep, it’s supposed to help you get to sleep.
I had similar issues earlier this year, and was prescribed Zopiclone sleeping tablets, which I think are similar (but I’m not certain, and would have to check). Whilst they helped me get to sleep, which was an improvement, they didn’t stop me waking up panicking. I’m on anti-anxiety medication for that, which has worked wonders.
My issues were at least partly caused by quitting drinking at the start of the year, and your experiences may be very different depending on what’s caused your issues.