| I must say.. I am thoroughly terrified. I just wish I had realized the problem sooner. I fucked a lot of shit up and I didn't even realize I was doing anything or my personality had changed.
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* Ambien works by effecting areas in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is also the area that is responsible for rational decision making.
1. .I have been taking Ambien for about 5 years now. I've done some really stupid things, driven, taken my dogs out for walks, amongst many others, while on this drug. I don't remember half of the things i do, i have to be reminded the next day by my roommate, and it just makes you feel so stupid. I always get on my friends for driving when they've had a little to drink, but yet i go out and drive on this drug... I've gotten lucky that I have not harmed myself or especially anyone else... I just can't seem to get off this drug though... i think it has a mental hold over me... atleast that's what it feels like... I know the things i've done are wrong, I'd like to say i'm sorry and i'll never do them again, but half the time, i dont know what i'm doing nor do i remember it in the morning... I need to get off of this harmful drug before there's no tomorrow for me.
2.I had been taking Ambien for about two years. During that time I have had several occasions where I did things I canot remember. Once I went to work and was driving crazy not like me at all and I was having black periods. I went home thinking I might have had a stroke. Many people told me that my personality changed or that I would become zombie like. My wife even told me once that I had had rough sex with her and that I became someone she never even knew, again she thought I had had a small stroke as I was acting very odd.
Since I have stopped taking Ambien my life has gone back to normal again. I wouldn't recommend this drug to anyone.
3.When i take ambien, i become really paranoid. I was talking to my girlfriend and, in a very drowsy state, flipped out on her for no real reason, as bad as if she was seeing someone else. Also, i hallucinate about anything and everything. I once thought i was at a county fair.
4.I am a terrible insomniac and have never slept better than with Ambien. I had to stop taking it though because the side affects were life threatening. In the beginning, all I did was hallucinate with the lights on the cable box, but over the past few weeks my entire personality has changed. Last night I tried to hang myself from a 2nd floor window twice in the same night. When the life saving crew arrived, I had become rational so they did not take me. My bp was 180/100. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DRUG TO ANYONE. We are all better off not sleeping. My family was extremely frightened. I am a 65 year old female.
5.Be very cautious with Ambien. I found that the potential for wicked interactions with common SSRIs like Effexor, and really weird interactions with even a little alcohol, can make this drug very dangerous. I experienced some really abberational behavior (vandalism, believe it or not) of which I have no real memory. I was arrested, which was the first real indication I had that something was going on and I haven't touched Ambien since! It may work for some people but the risk of very strange side effects is real!
6.made me weepy, crying over nothing.
7.I was given one Ambien for getting some sleep immediately after Lasik. I had terrible side effects (and it did NOT make me the least bit sleepy); agitation, agressive and almost violent demeanor. I wanted to punch holes in the walls and kick doors down. I started to take a walk throught he neighborhood to burn off the excess energy, and ended up running and sprinting through the neighborhood in the dark to purge the Ambien from my system, still with the post-Lasik goggles taped to my face... then in a couple of hours I was OK again. Just a nasty experience.
8.I do not recommend this drug. I've taken it for the past 2 nights for sleepnessness and my family says I've acted very strangly. I was talking nonsense and I grabbed my son's arm and wouldn't let go. I was laughing and calling him "weak". I do not remember any of this. This frightens me and I'll NEVER take this again!
9. I am upset reading these comments as I realize that I too had a bad reaction to this medication. I was only on it a couple of weeks, but during that time I became emotionally strung out - seriously anxious and paranoid. I had racing thoughts and exhibited compulsive behavior. I was extremely emotional. My best friend wrote me a heart-to-heart email saying she was worried. I needed to slow down and get grip. I was doing things like locking my keys in the car, leaving my wallet at home when I went to the store, getting in the car to go somewhere and not being able to remember where I was going. To make matters worse, I was combining Ambien with SSRIs, and going out and having a few drinks. I had headaches in the morning and felt weird. I started getting up at night and eating at 2 and 3 in the mornng - I was compltely aware of doing so, but that's never been a normal thing for me to do. At one point was feeling sick on my stomach for about three days in a row and I thought i was getting the flu. Now I read that others were experiencing flu-like symptoms.I am very sad about all this because it affected my persoanl relationships. My best friend was so patient but it must have tested her patience to have me calling her at work three times a day and then at night too. I was out of control emotionally. I was sleeping OK, but never felt rested. In fact, I felt exhausted.
10. I have taken Ambien off & on for years; I recently started taking again. I would take 1 15 minutes prior to bed time only to wake up doing odd things and even taking more ambien. One night I counted my pills before going to sleep & I counted 15 - the next day when I woke up there were none! My whole personality changed; I went into a rage w/my roommate, cooking (not remembering) nearly burning our apartment down; calling people; sending non readable text messages & ironing my roommate's uniforms at 2 a.m. & I am so embarrased. What if I had hurt someone? What if I had killed myself? Please, please be careful with this drug.
11.I have been taking Ambien for about a week now. Last night I ate half a cake and screamed at my mother for a full hour AND I DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT! Apparently I sat on the stairs and cried and screamed. I didn't even know about it until she mentioned it at breakfast this morning. I've had horrible nightmares - waking up crying in the middle of the night.
12. I would take some of my moms Ambien until I finally got my own at 10mg (That was the she took) . i only took one a night. the thing is i was having hallucinations and never really thought about it untill i almost hit a wall in my car. they thought i was having seizurs so i have done numerous MRI's and EEG's. For me all of a sudden i get vertigo, sick to my stomach, and have visual hallucinations. They have no pattern at all (or so i thought). Saturday night i took an ambien for the first time in a really long time so i could get to sleep because i had to be up early. Sunday night at work and this morning(monday) i had a total of 4 episodes (which i call seizures because i don't have a better way of explaining them). I hadn't had any of these episodes in 6 months and then i took an ambien and had 4. i finally think i figured out what the problem was.
13.I am a 52 year male and have never had any problem with any medication I've ever been prescribed. I suffer from insomnia and was prescribed ambien two weeks ago. WHAT A NIGHTMARE! Right off, I knew something was wrong. I started getting racing thoughts, and lots of negative thinking. It didn't even work that well for insomnia. Then I made the big mistake of combining ambien with Night Quill (anti histamine sleep aid). The next day, I almost had a complete break down; pounding heart, the shakes, terrible headache, loud ringing in my ears. Then, my right arm went numb and I thought I was having a stroke. I really thought I was dying. My wife took me right to the doctor, who told me he sees lots of bad reactions to ambien, especially when it is combined with anti histamines. Why the hell didn't he tell me that when he first prescribed it? Needless to say, I stopped taking it, and have almost recovered totally. I still feel a little spaced out. I am not one of these "sensitive" types, who has a problem with most medications. Nothing has ever bothered me before, until this stuff. Real horrible stuff.
14.We spent the night in the ER yesterday with my daughter after she took Ambien. She was behaving as though she was extremely drunk, slurring her words, combative, falling down, doing and saying bizarre things. The drug screen showed the presence of Ambien and Lortab (prescribed for a chronic orthopedic injury). He said the amounts were not high consistent with her memory of taking them the night before. She had been acting like this on and off for about a year. Looking back, it corresponds to when she was having more trouble sleeping and took the Ambien. She is now feeling so guilty and so ashamed for her aberrant behavior. She doesn't remember her actions and was angry when we would tell her that she was acting "wierd". She would always say that she was just tired . Well, after this ER trip this Rx of Ambien was sent down the kitchen disposal in a hurry. It helps to know that she is not alone and that her actions are consistent with others who apparently have a sensitivity to it. My oldest daughter also suffers from insomnia and takes Ambien but has not experienced the same problems. Thanks to all who have shared their experiences. It gives some comfort.
15. Ambien is a dangerous drug and I believe should be taken off the market. My husband took Ambien CR for six months almost every nite. After four months - he became very depressed and was diagnosed with major depression. He also became suicidal. He had a significant personality change - he was not like himself at all. Unable to make decisions and very withdrawn. At the same time his sister was also taking Ambien for restless leg syndrome. After two months of taking it every nite she also became very depressed and suffered amnesia, weird behavior episodes and not remembering eating large amounts of food.
16. I'm a 65 yr old male. I have had at least three separate incidents of amnesia from Ambien. The worst incident occurred about an hour after I took it. I woke my wife talking and laughing and speaking Thai. After some time spent trying to get me to make sense, she called EMS. I was giving bizarre answers to questions, not providing my wife's name or my children's names correctly and answering many questions with nonsense, singing or breaking into Thai, a language I understand but noone else did. In the ER, the ER MD was baffled. They did a lumbar puncture, CT Scan, blood tests, x-rays... thinking I might have had a stroke or meningitis. Neither EMS nor ER figured it out even though being told I had taken Ambien. So don't assume that medical personnel will recognize the symptoms. About 6 hours later while in ER, I suddenly came out of the amnestic state, asked where I was, provided correct answers to all questions, and was released. I remember none of the period between going to bed and 7 hours later in the ER, and there was much activity that I missed. I had two lesser incidents, one of which made it clear to me that Ambien was the culprit. I am a psychotherapist in private practice. Since then, I have discovered several of my patients reporting similar incidents. After a little research, it turns out that Ambien is similar to Halcion which had a similar fate in the marketplace. Do not take Ambien without supervision. Amnesia is not uncommon and judgement is severly impaired. The amnesia may happen days, weeks, or months after starting the drug.
17.Woke up this moring with a plate on my bed and crumbs of fried meat stuck to my face. Walked into the kitchen to discover an empty pack of bacon and a grease filled frying pan with a spatula melted on it. I was later informed by my gf, I had hosted a slumber party that night attended by Will, Carlton, and Uncle Phil.
18. I had a terrible episode last week where I got up in the middle of the night and decided to have scrambled eggs. I had 3 house guests that I decided would want scrambled eggs as well. I woke everyone up, dropped the eggs on the floor, said all sorts of odd things, and then promptly went back to bed. I have absolutely no memory of this. It's a good thing my friends love me! Now I wonder what else I have done that I don't remember. That is disconcerting, to say the least. Terrifying, really. Needless to say, I will never take Ambien again and will seek alternatives to address my insomnia. |
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