Anyone taken Ambien?

powernoodle

powernoodle

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I will be going to the hospital for a sleep study and may be prescribed Ambien if I cannot go to sleep. Has anyone here taken this medication, and how did it work for you? Side effects?

thanks
 
I have not taken it, but have been close to people that have. It is a hypnotic, and can become addictive. It also can make you forget some things that you've done prior to sleep. It is also not wise to take with alcohol and there have been risks noted of suicidal thougths or actual suicides with Ambien. It is nothing to fool with in my very layman's opinion. If you must take it, limit it to a short term and stop.
 
i take ambien that is prescribed for my ptsd related sleep issues. it takes effect very quickly, i would say in as little as 15 min. it works well gets me asleep fast which is good because when i lay in bed my minds starts going back to the night my humvee was ambushed and my heart starts racing, so the quickness in which it acts is good for me. you need at least 8 hours of sleep to feel good, any less and i still feel very groggy. it has not been very addicting to me at least, i dont feel the need to take it every night. let me know if you need any other info, i have been taking ambien for 2 years now and feel it is a decent product.
 
My wife was on Ambien and she did A lot of strange things while on it. But she doesn't remember any of it!!!!!
 
If I took Ambien, it would be only for one night while at the sleep clinic, and I would only do it if I had to. I don't like taking meds for anything, if I can avoid it.

Maybe I need to steal the Ambien and make Mrs. Powernoodle take it.
 
I took Ambien for quite a while for a sleeping dis order and never had any bad effects. It did help me sleep good.
 
I took it once. I slept well (or at least I think I did) but felt completely groggy the next day.
 
It'll knock you out mentally, but it takes a little while for your body to catch up. Expect to do weird things that you have no memory of for about an hour or so after you take it. I wouldn't recommend it for long term, but it's OK for a sleep study.

Don't even think about giving it to the misses unless you enjoy having her take a sudden interest in the second joint of your right index finger. I kid you not.
 
I take Ambien about once a week. It's great, knocks me right out. The only side effect for me is that I can't remember much from the last hour of the day I took it. While waiting for it to kick in I've sent e-mails I don't remember writing. Watched shows I don't remember. Had conversations. Etc. My wife is aware of this now and tells me that I agreed to things that I normally wouldn't. So I told her that in the case of Ambien she has to video me agreeing or it doesn't count.
 
I've seen what it can do, and I have seen people do a lot of stuff they cannot remember whilst taking it. It does work, it makes them sleep, but they really don't remember what they do for a good half hour to an hour before they fall asleep.
 
I've been taking it for many years off and on... depending on pain levels, I might take one every night for weeks, or only need to take it a couple days a week. As others have said, it can cause some memory issues and drowsiness if you don't get the 8 hours sleep. It does work fast, I haven't had a problem with addiction, but do notice some memory issues. I have heard of people actually doing things, or actually walking places and not remembering... sort of like sleepwalking. For a one-time use for a supervised sleep study, I'd take it and wouldn't think twice...
 
I took it every night for about 4 years... I've always had problems sleeping. My mom and grampa were the same way. My brain just won't shut down when its time to go to sleep.
I never noticed any ill effects from it, and didn't have any problems remembering things. You will find that most of the possible side effects listed on Ambien, are listed on just about all medications.
I did have to switch about two months ago though, because I took it so long, it wasn't working any more. Now I use Sonata, and it works great.

I know it isn't recommended, but I have taken Ambien after drinking, and never had any problems.
 
Ambien is reasonably effective for sleep but if I had my druthers I would prefer a couple of quick drinks or a Valium or a Klonopin. I would not take Lunesta.
 
I could not even tell I was taking drugs in this class, and I tried them all. Ambian acually made me more hyper and I couldn't quit moving my legs the two nights I tried it. I had to get out of bed both nights I took it.

I took Trazadone for about 10 years, and it is the only thing that worked well for me. If lowered my ejection fraction rate(heart) so I had to go off of it a few years back. Haven't had a good nights sleep since.

I now take 600mg Neurontin around 11pm, and a Prosom(Benzo) about 2 hours later, and can often get about 4 hours sleep that way. Many nights I still don't sleep at all.

Good luck.

ps- don't worry to much about having to take a med if you need it. The effects of no sleep are usually worse than the effects of the meds.
 
Well, compared to some of you guys with real sleep problems, I'm a lightweight because I'll just take it one time at the sleep clinic.
 
If you're only going to take it that one time, I wouldn't worry about it.

I took it for a while when I was working nights.

Most of the time it worked great with no side effects.

I did sleep walk a few times. I woke up once making a sandwich, another time playing guitar.
 
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