Has anyone taken this for a long time? i have been taking it as a substitute for sleep trying to get off Ativan. i can't sleep if i don't take something. I will literally stay awake all night and get up trashed the next day. I still can't get completely off the Ativan yet, i have to take a quarter of a 2mg pill at night or i will get muscle spasams ( very light ) and a feeling of anxiety. I have had phantom pain for 25 years and usually need something for sleep. i have been getting it under control now that the TENS units are much better than they were 25 years ago. ( Here's hoping ) i have taken about 60 Ambien so far.

To my knowledge there is no long term side effects to taking Ambien. I took it for two years I dont take it anymore. The risk is that you could become dependant on it some people decide to take more as they use it becuase they dont get to sleep right away anymore. Ambien works like a hypnotic so you should take it and go right to bed, sometimes you wont realize that you really are tired after you take it becuase you get into like a trance like state. Dont ever take more than the dose perscribed my your DR. that is where you get into trouble.

I am fine and I took it for a long time, there is a new drug on the market that works with the central nervous system of the brian and I am not that familiar with it nor do i dare try and spell it, but you can ask your Dr. about that.

There is a book that helped me called "no more sleepless ngihts" read that, that will for usre put you to sleep :D

Has anyone taken this for a long time? i have been taking it as a substitute for sleep trying to get off Ativan. i can't sleep if i don't take something. I will literally stay awake all night and get up trashed the next day. I still can't get completely off the Ativan yet, i have to take a quarter of a 2mg pill at night or i will get muscle spasams ( very light ) and a feeling of anxiety. I have had phantom pain for 25 years and usually need something for sleep. i have been getting it under control now that the TENS units are much better than they were 25 years ago. ( Here's hoping ) i have taken about 60 Ambien so far. The biggest problem with Ambien is that it does create a psychological dependence. It will not cause withdrawal pain, but if you stop taking it there will be a few sleepless nights until your body adjusts to the fact it won't be getting a drug to sleep. If you are very concerned about withdrawing from the ambien, when you get ready to, substitute a small piece of candy that you swallow at night(a tic tac) candy mint would be excellent substitute for ritual puposes and will make you breath fresh as well. I know how difficult it is to break a major habit when the consequences is not sleeping and having to wake up and go to work regardless of quantity or quality of sleep.

When I went off ambien after two years, i went to sleep that night. Nothing ever happened.

I've been taking Ambien 10 mg. for 5 days now for insomnia. The first night I took it, I slept really well and got 6 hours of sleep. Then, the next night I took it and only got 3 hours of sleep. I heard that Ambien has a half-life (strength) of only 2.5 hours, thus the reason why I'm metabolizing it so quickly. I didn't want to increase the dosage to 20 mgs. (I did that one of the nights) and becoming dependent because I want to quit "cold-turkey" on Saturday. I don't know how many nights of insomnia I'm in for, but I know I can't sleep without it. Here's to a few nights praying, reading, and watching tv without it. I don't want to become addicted to it. Some people do become dependent on it, some people don't. It just depends on the person.

:confused: What is the drug basis for Ambien CR and regular Ambien? I have been on Ambien (Zolpipidem Tartrate) 10 mg a night for over a year. My Dr switched me to AmbiemCR at my request as I was waking up too many times during the night. I noticed that the "CR" is 12.5 mg as the regular was only 10. I am 76 and havn't had a "real' nights sleep in over a year and a half (meaning not taking anything)