Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
I have wondered more than once if the pharmacy substitutes a couple of sugar pills for a couple of the ambien tablets. I take ambien every night, and have for years. Usually it works like a charm. I take the pill, go to bed, fall asleep within 10 minutes. A few times in the past several months, the pill I take does nothing -- nada, zilch, no reaction of any kind -- as if I had taken nothing!
If it happened only a couple of times, or if the ambien didn't work so well the rest of the time, I wouldn't think anything of it. But this happens about every third bottle. One bottle had five such duds in it -- I didn't get any sleep 5 of the 30 nights. I won't take 2 in the same night. I don't want anything to set me on the road to addiction to these things.
I don't know if the pharmacy does it on purpose (maybe trying to get rid of expired pills?) or if they are just weaker strength from the manufacturer.
I mentioned it to the pharmacy tech once. He said to journal the success or failure of the pill to work. I haven't done that yet.
Tonight is one of the dud nights. I took an ambien at 10:30 p.m. It is now 1:30 p.m., and I am wide awake, haven't been able to fall asleep, haven't felt sleepy at all, haven't felt dizzy (which I do sometimes if I stay up too long after taking it), nothing! This is the second dud in this bottle, and I just picked it up last week.
I'm just curious if anyone else has this kind of experience.
If it happened only a couple of times, or if the ambien didn't work so well the rest of the time, I wouldn't think anything of it. But this happens about every third bottle. One bottle had five such duds in it -- I didn't get any sleep 5 of the 30 nights. I won't take 2 in the same night. I don't want anything to set me on the road to addiction to these things.
I don't know if the pharmacy does it on purpose (maybe trying to get rid of expired pills?) or if they are just weaker strength from the manufacturer.
I mentioned it to the pharmacy tech once. He said to journal the success or failure of the pill to work. I haven't done that yet.
Tonight is one of the dud nights. I took an ambien at 10:30 p.m. It is now 1:30 p.m., and I am wide awake, haven't been able to fall asleep, haven't felt sleepy at all, haven't felt dizzy (which I do sometimes if I stay up too long after taking it), nothing! This is the second dud in this bottle, and I just picked it up last week.
I'm just curious if anyone else has this kind of experience.
ladybuglover369
I have had that happen before myself, and I was never given a clear explanation why either. I hope you get some sleep tonight!
deleted_user
When I was taking Ambien, the only way it worked for me was to go to bed on a completely empty stomach. Anytime I ate something that night, it wouldn't work at all. Do you know if the nights your pills didn't work, if you happen to eat that night prior to bedtime? Just curious.
deleted_user
I'm amazed that any of the pills still work, as you have taken them every night for years. On my pill box, it says they are to be taken occasionally, and no more than three in one week. I try to stick to this, but even so, my body has become so used to them, that it no longer works at all. Most people find the effects of ambien stop after only a few months of taking them. You are lucky that they have worked for so long. I doubt the tablets that didn't work are any different to those that have, simply that after so long they are losing their effect.
JustShootMeNow
I always take them on an empty stomach. I'd read about the impact eating can have on ambien. I go to the website "askapatient.com" where you can read about people's experiences with medications. Many of the reviewers of ambien have been taking it for years. If I don't take it, I don't sleep. I stop taking it for a week or two every now and then, just to see if I can sleep without it. I'm awake most of the night without it. The little sleep I get is fraught with disjointed dreams and nightmares, so I get very little good rest while sleeping. So I always end up going back to it, just to get some sleep. I have tried everything else to get a good night's sleep, and nothing works. The sad part is, I used to be a really, really good sleeper. I could fall asleep instantly and sleep so deep it would take an act of Congress to wake me. Those days disappeared about 12 years ago. I'm currently on one of the weeks where I'm not taking ambien. I'm exhausted!
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