# Variations in Ambien effects? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750 "2006-09-07T04:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/1 "2006-09-07T04:33:48Z")
I have been taking Ambien on and off for years now due to a sleep phase disorder. I’ve noticed that sometimes, the Ambien works in a narcotic way. I feel dizzy, drunk, then if I don’t get to bed, I go into this weird twilight state where I am a zombie who eats things and doesn’t remember doing it in the morning. Other nights, Ambien does nothing. I feel completely unmedicated and lie awake for hours with the insomnia. Can’t take another one or I’ll be zonked the next day, so it’s like not taking anything at all. I have noticed no difference in the amount of caffeine intake, previous night’s sleep, or anything else that would cause this discrepancy between the effect the drug has on different nights. Anyone know what would cause this? Anyway, off to bed with Prince Ambien. Thanks for any insight into this you might have. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/2 "2006-09-07T15:03:27Z")
Yes, Ambien is strange stuff. [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=Ambien&btnG=Search](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=Ambien&btnG=Search) Ambien Linked to ‘Sleep Eating’ \* Daniel DeNoon March 15, 2006 - New reports appear to confirm weird behavior in patients taking Ambien, the world’s most popular sleeping pill. Perhaps the strangest of these behaviors is sleep eating. It was first reported in 2002 by Michael H. Silber, MD, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorder Center. Silber is the president-elect of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “What happens is the patients get out of bed, walk to the kitchen, prepare food – often sloppily, and often with strange, high-calorie ingredients,” Silber tells WebMD. “They have microwave food sometimes. They eat in a very sloppy way, either in the kitchen or after taking the food back to bed. And they have no memory of it. They wake to find a mess in the kitchen or crumbs in the bed.” In each case, Silber says, the patient took Ambien as prescribed. At the time of the 2002 report, Silber had seen no more than five cases. He now has seen some 20 cases of sleep eating in patients who took Ambien as directed. “It could be injurious – but I have not had anyone who set the kitchen on fire,” Silber says. “The most important thing is the severe embarrassment and discomfort these patients experience. And some put on a lot of weight due to high-caloric sleep eating. We have some patients who have had it happen often – in one patient, more than once a night.” \* More interesting cites: [http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/527670](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/527670) [http://www.regencerx.com/docs/physicianRx/sedativeHypnotics.pdf](http://www.regencerx.com/docs/physicianRx/sedativeHypnotics.pdf) > **[Driving, Other Erratic Behaviors Reported After Taking Zolpidem](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/528415)** > > Case studies of impaired driving from Wisconsin show that zolpidem produces severe deficits in psychomotor performance and cognitive abilities when driving is attempted within 5 hours of use. I suggest you discuss your issues with Ambien with your MD. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/3 "2006-09-07T17:22:48Z")
My personal experience was that within 5 minutes I was OUT, and came to as if out of anaesthesia several hours later. My modus operandi was to put on my pajamas, take the pill, and go directly to bed. If I was awakened too early I was in a somewhat somnolent state for a while. One of my daughters said it had absolutely zero effect. The other had the sleepwalking experience, waking up in the morning to find dishes of food around that had not been there before and that she did not remember preparing. After the morning she found a burn in the carpet that had not been there the previous day, she discontinued it completely. I prefer trazadone, myself. YMMV, but of course you knew that, and all of these meds are prescription only, so I’m sure you’re discussing this with your doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/4 "2006-09-07T18:20:52Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] I prefer trazadone, myself. YMMV, but of course you knew that, and all of these meds are prescription only, so I’m sure you’re discussing this with your doctor. [/QUOTE] Yeah, my doctor told me about the sleepwalking thing, which I pretty much have under control. It’s more the way it works sometimes and doesn’t others that I wondered about. The doc didn’t have much to say about that, so I was looking for more anedotal experiences to figure out why this happens. It’s unpredictable and weird how it can be like getting chloroformed one night and have zero effect on others. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/5 "2006-09-07T18:38:31Z")
Well, I take two aspirin, a melatonin and a generic Benedryl, and sometimes they knock me out, and sometimes I lay there wide awake. Caffiene? Naps? Those two variables change things for me. Have you asked your MD? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/6 "2006-09-07T19:03:14Z")
It can cause you to [compose weird posts](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7366260&postcount=4), for one thing… ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/7 "2006-09-07T19:31:42Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Have you asked your MD? [/QUOTE] He doesn’t have all the answers, and he’s one of the rare doctors who can admit it. Naps have no effect on how the Ambien works, and I limit my caffeine intake to mornings only. I was wondering if it might have something to do with food? Like, take it on an empty stomach v. after a snack? Or something even more specific? Or hormonal fluctuations? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/8 "2006-09-07T20:45:53Z")
Sorry, dude, I did the best I could on Google Scholar, suggested you discuss this with your MD and suggested things that make _my_ sleep difficult. Beyond this I can’t/won’t go. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/9 "2006-09-07T23:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Well, I take two aspirin, a melatonin and a generic Benedryl, and sometimes they knock me out, and sometimes I lay there wide awake. Caffiene? Naps? Those two variables change things for me. Have you asked your MD? [/QUOTE] What’s the aspirin for? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/10 "2006-09-07T23:13:14Z")
I’ve suspected that there are some dummy pills mixed in with Ambien, because either I get the best nights sleep ever, or once in awhile, it does nothing and I like awake. So, I can just add that I’ve had similar experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/11 "2006-09-07T23:14:25Z")
“lie” awake. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/12 "2006-09-07T23:17:59Z")
I took it once - I was on a family camping trip and couldn’t sleep to save my life. One of my nephews gave me one of his. Here’s what I remember: I was wide awake, waiting for it to take effect. Then I was OUT. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/13 "2006-09-07T23:43:22Z")
I have a couple of friends that take it, and when they take it and don’t fall asleep, they act like they’re high as kites. I’ll get the most random MySpace messages from them and then the next day, they will apologize. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/14 "2006-09-08T06:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] What’s the aspirin for? [/QUOTE] In some dudes aspirin helps them go to sleep, and even if not- it gets rid of the minor aches and pains you might have that prevents sleep. Note this is what **I** take, not what I suggest _you_ take. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/15 "2006-09-08T23:45:53Z")
I also have the same experience with Ambien. Most nights it takes 20 minutes to work: 15 minutes of feeling normal, 5 minutes of high giddiness, then blank space until morning. On some nights, however, it simply doesn’t work. At all. I’ve always attributed it to hormonal surges disrupting Ambien’s effects, as the no-effect seems to correlate with PMS. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/16 "2006-09-29T22:51:58Z")
The instructions with mine say to take on an empty stomach unless otherwise directed by your doctor. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-ambien-effects/371750/17 "2006-10-02T06:18:04Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] I was wondering if it might have something to do with food? Like, take it on an empty stomach v. after a snack? Or something even more specific? Or hormonal fluctuations? [/QUOTE] I had much the same kind of problems as you, and perhaps worse. Ambien, for example, occaisionally caused me to _live an entire, waking day_ acting bizzarely but leaving no memory at all of that whole day! I’ve now switched to Lunesta, which works much better for me (but I have to take it twice a night). But regarding the food question, the package insert and other sources regarding Lunesta state that the effect of the drug is greatly reduced if you’ve eaten higher-fat food within two hours of taking it. Since Ambien and Lunesta are chemically similar, that note may apply to Ambien, too.