As others have mentioned....do NOT take the Ambien unless you have at least 8-10 hours before you are driving anywhere! I actually wait 12 hours to be safe.
Do not mix with any alcohol or any other sedative type of medication OTC or not.
And especially if it is the CR (Controlled Release) version, this metabolizes slower as it releases the medication in steps...
If it is the CR version...those are meant to be swallowed whole and they are NOT to be cut in half. Only the regular ones can be cut so make sure that you know which one you have.
With all that said, I have been on Ambien for 6 years now and it's the only thing that helps me feel rested. I also have Fibromyalgia along with my spine pain issues so one of the things that my first Rheumy believed was those with Fibro do not get to stage 4 sleep...the restorative type sleep.
All I can say is that within a few weeks of starting Ambien I felt like a new person with energy all day as well as it helps with my pain levels to have gotten some sleep. I still wake up every hour to hour and a half to switch positions but fall back asleep.
I would hope that your Dr. started you on a 5mg pill and if it's the regular one you can cut that one to only take 2.5 and see how that works. I got by with the 5mg pill for a good 3 years.
As the side effects can all vary by person...it's best to take a medication like this when you have someone who can monitor you in the sense that you don't try to do anything dangerous...I only had the issue with craving and eating some strange foods within two hours of taking the med IF I hadn't fallen asleep yet but I never got up and did this once in bed. As well as I can get very "chatty" after taking and learned to stay away from the computer now after about an hour after taking to avoid any embarassing things...LOL
For me, I decided to take it after ALL other things had been tried that were non prescription like Melatonin, Sleepy time tea, etc.....
The other things that I do to promote good sleep is to turn off ALL electronics from your phone, computer, and TV...People "think" it's good to fall asleep to but it's actually much more distracting to the brain and doesn't foster good sleep.
Make sure the room is completely dark (again..covering up phone or other things that even blink when on sleep mode), make sure your room is cool...they say 68 degrees or cooler is best.
I don't do any caffeine after 11am...And eat a small dinner and snack/dessert before 7pm. I also take my dog on a walk every night (1.4 miles) at around 5:30/6:00pm so that it helps tire me out but not so late that it wires me up!
So exercise is very important in the day to make sure our bodies are ready for sleep.
One of the best things that has helped me fall asleep is I have audiobooks on my phone. So, the lights are all out, my eyes are closed, I'm snuggled in bed and set the book on "timer" and just fall asleep being read a bedtime story...LOL..It not only helps my neck pain as I can't hold a book...but having the lights off and eyes shut helps get the body ready for sleep...
Ok...those are my suggestions...sorry for the long post!:)
Post Edited (Snowbunny21) : 1/17/2013 10:07:33 AM (GMT-7)