I kinda liked Ambien. Restful sleep & no hung over feeling the next morning. But, then I didn't take it every night.

Ambien is, to put it plainly, evil. There's no way I'd ever do the drug again. It cost me my relationship and a bunch of lost business. The side-effect of irritability (to the point of hostility) probably rivals that of steroids. Nobody really knows the radical extent to which this drug rewires the human brain, but you can be it's doing something heavy-duty when you can wake up, drive a car to the store, carry on a conversation with someone WHILE YOU ARE ASLEEP! Then wake up the next morning and know nothing about it.

Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Carlat listed Ambien as a medication he would feel comfortable with being sold OTC- over-the-counter.

"trazodone for insomnia, and even Ambien for insomnia. Some would argue that Ambien is too abusable and causes too many strange side effects for OTC, but currently many many of my patients depend on some version of OTC benadryl, which can cause oversedation and memory loss."-Dr. Daniel Carlat " (It's all linked up on my blog if reference is needed)

Jon, the author of Living with a Purple Dog blog, talks about his experience with Ambien which included "sleep sex".

Interesting drug.

My first thought when I read this was don't you know you're not supposed to take this kind of drug every day for 3 weeks? It's a PRN kind of drug not an every day thing. And yes, it did have a rather positive effect on the libido. ; )

I wonder how many readers are aware that Ambien and other so called hypnotics (for once an appropriate name for this class) act very much like benzos in terms of long term effects on overall health, dependence and withdrawal. Ambien has a very short half life making it a killer to withdraw from. A cross over to a longer acting benzo can help get off a hypnotic too. Anyway it's a very dangerous drug. No one should kid themselves.

I'm just not too sympathetic on this one. I think it's common sense to know that you don't take sleeping pills every night and not expect a problem down the line. They are not supposed to be taken every night.

The story didn't pass the smell test for me. He was skeptical about using it because of the stories he had heard. So, he is so concerned yet proceeds to take it every single night for 3 weeks? Where did he get the idea that that's a good plan? Did his physician recommend that?

Actually, Lisa, 3 weeks which I agree with you is too long to be taking it every night, is still well within the recommended guidelines of 2-4 weeks. This is on the label. Many people take Ambien every night for far longer than that. The point is, if 2-4 weeks is recommended, theoretically there should not be an acute rebound if you stop and in this fellow's case there was. In fact I think you can get the rebound after just a very few nights in a row. Ambien is portrayed as a benign, safe drug. It's addictive potential is not emphasized at all by doctors. Certainly few people are told it's just like a benzo. So all in all I think Savage is doing a service here with his remarks.

Interesting. I didn't realize they said nightly for 2-4 weeks was okay. I guess I didn't read the label. I'll have to go back and read up on that. Even my screw ball of a psychiatrist didn't recommend that.

I suppose my NOT reading the fine print was helpful in this case. I was just always under the impression that it's a bad idea to take a sleeping pill every night because of the potential for tolerance and/or addiction.

I knew when I first took Ambien & liked it, that that was a red flag. So, I took it every once in a while & it worked beautifully. The most restful sleep I think I've ever had. I wouldn't hesitate to take it in the future if I were to need it, but I also wouldn't take it on nightly basis. It doesn't surprise me at all that people would build up a tolerance to this drug.

I've taken Ambien myself and I agree it does work"beautifully" and it scared the beejeezus out of me. I admit to sometimes keeping a half tablet by my bed in an egg cup. Just doing that makes me sleep better! ;)

Sara, is that you?! :) ha ha that's too funny!

I knew that would make people laugh! Hard to believe isn't it?!

Yes Sara, if we were in person we'd be laughing for a long time, and I'd accuse you of being in bed with pharma! (I have bad humor) :)

Well, I have been taking Ambien (not Ambien CR) every night for almost 5 years now. I have been following a few simple rules my doctor gave me an it works great. I only take it at night and not for naps during the day. I also don't get any diffent of an effect from taking an entire pill or taking half so I take half a pill. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I take half of the other half of pill. I have never taken any more than that and every night it has worked for me. I know I cannot sleep without it but because I have stuck to the rules I don't think I will have any trouble weeing myself off of the stuff if I needed too. I do get tired at night and the ambien just is just the over the edge thing I need to help me fall asleep.