I used to take Ambien for about a year. At first it was pretty effective, but still did not allow me to sleep a whole 8 hours. I had to keep upping the dose to get the same effect. I was all the way up to 20mg just to get 4 hrs of sleep, which I had increased on my own without consulting with my doctor. I was not having any side effects on that high a dose that I remember. Then I had to unexpectedly go in for surgery for something and of course they ask you about any meds you take. The nursing staff was horrified that I was taking 20mg of it, which I didn't realize was a problem. Since I was still only getting 4 hours of sleep, I thought it was time to come off it. Which I did, cold turkey. I felt better after I was off it. I still had trouble sleeping and tried Melatonin after a period of time and that worked very well for me. I only took a small 1mg dose. I discovered about 6 months later, taking some blood work, that I had a build up of Melatonin in my body that was way too high. So I had to stop taking that too. I still would use that in an emergency and have no problem with using it occasionally, but haven't had to. I sleep better now than I did then, which was about 10 years ago. I take some supplements for other reasons and I exercise more which has helped a lot. I think I was under more stress then. I still rarely get even 7 hours of sleep, but when I am doing well, I will consistently get 6 hours straight with no help. I feel that is very good after many years of a lot less.

I am a diagnosed insomniac - have been to a sleep disorder clinic. I can't take over the counter sleep aids because they all seem to contain the same ingredient that is used in anti-histamines and decongestants - and I am allergic to said cold meds. I can't take codeine either. The "happy" shot before surgery doesn't take and a local that should keep an area numb for a couple of hours will burn off in 5 minutes - so procedures don't scare me, it is the knowing that I will feel the pain that does it. So I count to 3 and wait for it. I woke up still in the operating room after the surgeons yanked out a kidney stone and remembered the names of all of the nurses and doctors. I tried the Cdn. equivalent of Ambien - 5 days later I was still up. When I wake up - usually after 3 or 4 hours sleep I am instantly alert - should have been a brain surgeon. My husband has witnessed it - he wakes up and then goes back to sleep - but not me. And I have tried everything. The tapes knocked my husband and aunt out - all they did was irritate the heck out of me. I am in quite in good health for a 63 year old but as my doctor said I have these issues that make life miserable. I don't take pain killers either. Re Vioxx - I get migraines and zip worked - except Vioxx had the side effect of working on migraines. I only took one when desperate - so if I had 30 pills I would have 26 three years later. I was about to pop one when the recall notice came on the news so I didn't. I don't have a condition that would be aggravated by Vioxx, but no point in risking it. Good thing that I have perfect blood pressure even when I appear to be bouncing off the walls - the gold standard. It makes life hard though because it was hard enough when I was younger when people were constantly telling me how tired I looked - and at 63 well I do look older and tired. It is really hard to make plans not knowing how I will feel. I eat nothing from a can/box or anything that has been preserved to the best of my ability. I only eat anti-biotic free meat - which in Canada means our food bills are high.

Ambien has a number of significant side effects, not the least of which is somnambulism - sleepwalking and in some cases sleep driving. While I think you are using the medication as it was designed to be used, you may be reacting to it in some way. Is there an alternative that might work better for you? Also, I would advise googling "sleep hygiene" to see if you can improve your sleep environment and sleep process. In general, hypnotics are not designed to be taken long term, that is more than two to three weeks. Once a person goes over this threshold, you begin moving into the area of "active placebo," increase chance of psychological addiction, and unpleasant side effects. There was a good article about this in the NY Times called "Sleep Drugs Found Only Mildly Effective, but Wildly Popular" Here is an excerpt: "Not the stuff most dreams are made of. But if the unusual pitch makes you want to try Rozerem, consider that it costs about $3.50 a pill; gets you to sleep 7 to 16 minutes faster than a placebo, or fake pill; and increases total sleep time 11 to 19 minutes, according to an analysis last year. If those numbers send you out to buy another brand, consider this, as well: Sleeping pills in general do not greatly improve sleep for the average person." According to Consumer Reports (see their website for more information): · Drug side effects occurred in 63% of people who took sleep medications. 25% said that the became dependent on their sleep meds and 21% said repeated use reduced the effectiveness of the drug. · In a survey of 1093 people with insomnia, 7% stated that taking a sleeping medication resulted in bizarre and dangerous behavior (beyond the dangerous behavior of taking the drug in the first place) including sleepwalking and sleep driving. · Even though sleep medications are not recommended for more than two weeks, 14% of Consumer Reports respondents took some sort of sleep medication at least 8 of the past 30 days and 5% took such medications every night. Consumer Reports analyzed the experiences of 2,021 problem sleepers and discovered that 75% of them found prescription medications helpful. In a finding that is not surprising to me, 70% of this same population found the use of a sound machine just as helpful. Concerning SAD - I strongly urge you NOT to use tanning to treat this disorder, which is like saying you should take up smoking to bring up phlegm from your lungs. Instead, use an approved light box that has been created for this purpose. The dose is generally 10,000 lux at a distance of 20-24" for 20 to 30 min. Apollo (which is now owned by Phillips) is a good place to start your research.

I had a Complete Hysterectomy at 33 yrs old. Was on HRT- Premarin until just 3 yrs ago. I felt GREAT !!!! Yes, a family history of cancer and heart issues. Still felt great and no problems until >>> I flew long distance flight and got DVT- PE. Now Doc's won't give me anything! Crap! I felt so good on them. No herbal stuff helps, they finally tried Paxil on me. Worked for a while but then I gained 55 lbs. in the snap of my fingers and CANNOT lose it. I am just giving up....I want my Uterus BACK a.s.a.p. !!!