Yes, same here. Another example of the government trying to fix stupid.

I remember the flight doc telling me quite clearly you need to have 8 uninterrupted hours to devote to sleep. If you get up during that time, you won't even remember it, never mind function properly.

Store brand sleep meds work for me fine. A normal dose is 2 pills but it makes me groggy in the morning, so I take one. Did the Government really need to get involved with this?

Mark, Count me in as well. I have been taking it for years, but always make sure I have time to get a minimum of 7-8 hours sleep, otherwise I won't take it.

Sorry Dman, I don't know anything about the study, but I take 2 fish oil caps every night and it doesn't seem to affect me at all as far as a good nights sleep.

Ambien has been used in nursing homes for quite some time to 'sedate' the elderly ... so the workers don't have to deal with them. Maybe now they will actually interact with their patients instead of medicating them. Nah, probably not.

There are plenty of natural remedies for helping people sleep. Knocking someone out doesn't promote healthy sleep with good REM state ... it just, well, renders them unconscious for a few hours. Dream Water works well without morning drowsiness, but Big Pharma can't make their billions on that, can they?

I agree - this is more about people taking the pill only after they have tossed and turned trying to get to sleep for an hour or two and not giving themselves the recommended 7-8 hours before they have to get up. If people gave themselves the recommended number of hours before they had to get up, they would not have trouble driving in the morning. Part of this is also that the typical American working age adult does not get 7-8 hours of sleep during the week, most only get around 6 hours. This is why they are still drowsy in the morning after taking these drugs, not because of an excessive dose of sleep meds.

Hmmmmmm I'm wondering why the FDA didn't recommend that users cut their pills in half, which accomplishes exactly the same thing as a stupid new regulation, PLUS, the pharmaceutical companies would only make half of their profits...........................................................Oh,...... I get it now, never mind!

Back off FDA. I have taken Ambien for years due to insomnia from menopause. No problems whatsoever. I play by the rules. My doctor and I need no micro-management from a government agency. The main reason people cannot sleep is the anxiety induced society we live in today. Worry about everything because everything is so screwed up and unpredictable. Nothing over the counter works for me. Never did. BTW - Ambien does not work for everyone. Wow!

What's the difference. Take it, sleep well and be unsafe driving to work,

Or take half the dose, sleep like crap, and drive unsafe to work.

1st world problems.

Ahhh if you only knew...

D.Man, I suppose that is why the FDA is concerned about it or people are having a hard time functioning if they don't have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

Don't worry, someday they'll invent a drug for stupid!

the 10 mg dose of Ambien definitely makes me mildly groggy in the AM, but maybe that's because I'm a smaller-sized person. The 5 mg dose works much better.

the extended release made me way too groggy so I stopped that after 1 or 2 tries.

Some pills cannot be cut as they are in those stupid plasticky (no clue what the covering is) format. I have not taken ambien or the generic of it, so I do not know if this is the case, just wanted to raise the point that it may not be possible for them to cut the pill.

I have been taking the highest mg of Ambien for a couple of years and have no trouble whatsoever. If I don't get enough hours of sleep, sometimes I feel groggy getting up, but once I shower and get ready, I feel just fine. I tried everything before this and nothing worked well. Fish oil, DMan?! Please! You have obviously not had real insomnia.

I took this stuff for a couple of weeks and finally dumped the prescription in the toilet. Felt like I was floating through the day, couldn't think, had mild amnesia and even a bit of depression. Exercise and a complete change in diet did the trick for me.

Perhaps this should have been looked at as a option for women who are still working but for women accross the board it is unfair. The next thing is that the food and drug administration are overstepping their bounds. Soon the doctor will be perscribing your menu and they will ship you your meals pre made and packaged and that is what you will eat. Like it or not. The government will not allow anything else. And if you are caught with food other than your own the insurance that is mandatory that you pay for will not have to cover your illness.

It is called social reform and your president is all for it.

@ David

If you're going to call someone stupid, at least make sure. You do it. With a grammatically correct. Sentence.

Wow! Another example of a few people that will not take medication as prescibed and screws everyone else their right to be treated properly! Now, again, hears comes the government controlling even our medications prescribed by our private physicians. Which by the way my husband served 20 years in the Air Force for the benefits after retiring then worked 20 more years for the government to have a small retirement. And it still is outrageous due to cost to be seen by doctors and specialist and hospital stays and then medicaction. Come on people please just take the medicine correctly. Get real if you don't sleep 8 hours a day then talk to your doctor!

Craxy Mary,I agree with you on this.I took it once to get my sleep pattern back on track.I slept for 8 hours and had no problem the next day. I've never had to take it again.I think that people lie to their doctors to get this prescription.It seems that more people take it nowadays when they can change their eating,drinking and sleeping habits to cure their problem of not being able to fall asleep.At half the dose a person may as well take one of the over the counter PM med's.

loulow,That always worked for me when I was in a horribly stressful job.Haven't needed it in 15 years.But I think that it is more natural and safer than all of these pills the doctors are pushing.

Mike,I agree with your post.

Really?? EVERY drug you take was evaluated by the FDA. If it didn't exist you'd probably be taking lots of snake oil.

Well, the government invented the Internet you're using, so you'd best log off it forever. Buh-bye.

My bro almost died w/ the Ambein that the hosp. was pumping in him; his kidney was closing down; he was turning blue; it was awful!!! Yes they do feed them to elderly or the disabled so they stop pressing the nurses button etc...but my Bro has a lung disease & the ambein

Profran,You and or your brother should have reported that hospital.

John: It's dangerous to cut long-acting drugs in half. It releases the drug faster than intended in your system.

I had to ground test four different sleeping pills while I was in the military. Can't remember all of them, but the one that worked for me was ambien. It helped me sleep without feeling bad the next day. Probably depends on the person as to what works for them.

Yeah I have never taken Ambien. When I have my days of not able to sleep right, I take whatever is available over the counter. I guess they make a difference

Try melatonin. It's the hormone secreted by the brain during the day that puts you to sleep when it gets dark. Doesn't always work, but I never had any side effects the few times I used it.

Melatonin always makes me feel like I have a hangover the next am.

I have vivid and very odd dreams on melatonin as well!

Funny, and tell me if I'm alone, but if I eat cheesecake right before bed, I have vivid and horrible dreams. It must somehow kick in some chemical like melatonin.

The FDA just wants to appear to be looking out for us... they're not. Their real mission is to protect the profits of their benefactors in the drug industry.

The problem is most doctors use the 10mg dose by default. I was on the 10mg dose of Ambien for about three years, and was having problems with lag in the morning (and not really realizing it) even though I was taking it eight hours or so before I had to be up the next morning. Eventually I fell asleep at the wheel on my way in to work, and I had to insist, and I mean really insist, that I get the 5mg dose. Now I have been on the 5mg dose for about 18 months, and it works just as well with little to no lag. When I dont take it, I have less problems with "dependency" and am able to fall asleep naturally better than I used to be when I was on the 10mg dose.

My father, who has been on the 10mg dose for eight or nine years, has taken one of my 5mg pills a handful of times when he forgot to pick up his prescription, and it works for him just as well, so he started just splitting his 10mg tablets to save on cost.

So as someone who has taken Ambien for years, I think this is a good move. If the 5mg doesnt work, a patient could always take more.

or you could exercise and sleep like a baby.

The Side effects of Ambien are terrible. I was prescribed it and quit taking it because the side effects were so bad. The above list is real people. Find something else to take to help you sleep. It should be taken off the market...

Never had any of those problems with 5 mg. Ambien I take very occasionally. Works beautifully for me and gives me a good night's sleep.

sleep drugs don't work:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/15/sleep-drugs-are-wildly-popular-despite-barely-working.aspx

improve sleep naturally:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/04/17-ways-to-improve-your-sleep-hygiene-tonight.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/01/06/8-natural-remedies-that-may-help-you-sleep.aspx

I hate to sound like a self-righteous old woman, but Ambien only treats a symptom. Why not examine your life to discover why you can't sleep then address that? Maybe stress management, a better diet, exercise, or something else.

Of course there are exceptions, like pain or managing the stress of a serious disease, hormonal imbalances due to menopause or surgery or disease, etc, but I have a completely unscientific hunch that most Ambien users aren't grappling with anything like that.

Martha, you are right that a good exercise regimen works wonders for many conditions, including a good sleep. I think what we have today is a stressed out society, lots of desk jobs where the person is busy mentally, but not physically, and easy answers in available drugs. But that easy answer just makes things more difficult in the long run.

Martha,You hit the nail on the head with the Menopause insomnia.ambien took care of that on a two week course.Never took it again because I didn't need it.

Then maybe its the ones I have been taking, since I just get whatever the local pharmacy has. The act of putting me to sleep works well enough, but yeah I feel it almost the entire next day. Same when I take a Benadryl.

TFNJ... got news for you. Just about all over the counter sleep meds are benadryl. Check the label... diphenhydramine - better known by it's brand name of benadryl. Same for over the counter pain meds that have promote sleep (Tylenol PM). They have just added benadryl. Save yourself some money. Buy the store brand "benadryl" instead of the brand name sleep med.

I already do, due to allergies. But yes noticed that a side affect is also the drowsiness. So I did some reading on the origins of diphenhydramine. Its interesting that at first, it was created as an anti depressant. It has the same effect as the earlier versions of Prozac. releases the... someone remind me of the chemical.. Seratonin? Whatever is released in the brain to calm you down.

Interesting long term side effects.

Once again, at the risk of sounding like a self-righteous old lady, what's the point of taking a sleep aid if it makes you groggy the next day? How is that better than a restless night of sleep? Then, if you are groggy, you probably drink lots of caffeine to compensate and the cycle deepens.

Martha, the difference is that people who don't sleep start to lose their mental ability. I myself get strange after a few days of no sleep. By that I don't mean I take these pills often. But there are times when there is some stress in me, and I'm a naturally hyper person who can't shut his mind down. To the point of anxiety. So after a few days, and I start to say weird things, I take a pill. I might be groggy the next day, but at least I slept. The grogginess isn't overwhelming though. Just a light fog.

TFNJ - thank you for sharing. I've had similar mind-racing nights, but never long-term. I can understand how prolonged sleep deprivation could be extremely debilitating.

peechyrose,You are absolutely correct about the Benadryl,the oldest allergy medicine on the market and the most effective one for allergies.It's the cheapest too.

Yeah, all those cancer patients should just take vitamins and herb tea and smile. They'll be dead a lot sooner, but at least they'll have good levels of Vitamin C!

Pharmaceuticals definitely help when used judiciously and for the purpose for which they are indicated, but there is no denying that overuse and misuse are rampant in our culture.

Martha,You are correct again.Great comments from an intelligent poster.Thank you.

Buying weed has some frequently bad side effects: getting arrested. It's also incredibly expensive (at least where I live). I get the generic Ambien for $10 a month.

Ambien doesn't make me binge eat or paranoid, either, ala pot.

Not a big fan of Ambien (had it a few times while hospitalized after surgery since I can NOT sleep in a hospital comfortably).

Melatonin is best for me, and best when taken with some Valerian. Valerian smells something awful, like a combo between Parmesan cheese and Athlete's foot left untreated for 3 months- but is very inexpensive and can easily be obtained where herbal supplements are sold. Take this advice from an ex-Benadryl junkie. Give yourself at least 6 hours (being realistic) and expect an hour "hangover". 7+ hours you should be great.

There is another product that has both plus Trytophan (the stuff in turkey that makes you drowsy)- but I have not tried it, mainly because the cost is outrageous.

Start with the lowest dose of Melatonin, since they have 1,3 and 5 mg pills. 3 is best for me, sometimes a little much. Just one is barely enough. I break the 5mg in half, and golden.

Sweet dreams...

cigarettes aren't classified as drugs. FDA doesn't regulate them

You can tell by Bob's avatar he is strictly Haute cuisine day in and out, and has no room for 'smokers'.

Pole smokers are the exception.

Let's just hope you never drive while under the effect of Ambien, like one of my friends did yet had no recollection of the next day. With Ambien you AREN'T sleeping, your brain is disonnected in certain ways that make you think you slept.

UDunnoBro: I think you are talking out your posterior. Your personal experience does not equal everyone else's. On the few nights a month I use Ambien (after a few lousy nights of sleep), I wake up feeling fantastic and well rested.

I agree with TraceyS. I take Ambien, never had a problem with sleepwalking or driving or eating that I can't remember, or any other such thing. I sleep well, and whatever you're talking about, UDunnoBro, I've never experienced that "disconnection" you refer to. But I only take a half a tablet. One was too much for me, and I'm not a small person. So if a small person takes a full dose, and can't remember doing things, then maybe they DO need to cut their dosage down. The thing people need to remember with drugs, any of them, is that one size does not fit all. I sleep well with Ambien, and have no problems. But I only take a half a tablet. That's what works for me. Somebody else might need something different.

VERY TRUE!! (although the drug companies claim they are not habit-forming...yet they most definitely are)

Because they are playing with the meaning. Sure they may not be physically addicting, like some street drug. But psychologically they are, due to dependency.

Bart, Ambien is a schedule V drug, nobody is claiming that it isn't habit forming. Except for you that is :)

Sax: Your personal anecdotal evidence does not mean that most other users have not found benefits in it. Let's "ban" it because it didn't work for your roommate?

my personal experience is far from the exception

It works beautifully for me and many others. Don't have a good experience with it? Don't take it.

Sax,

Maybe your roommate had another psychological issue and insomnia was one of the symptoms.

Now if that was happening to even 10 percent of the people who took Ambien nobody would want to prescribe it.

i woke up one night to my former roommate organizing about $200 worth of lunch meat on the counter in the kitchen. he had drove to the store, bought all the lunch meat, and then drove home without any memory of ever doing so. Ambien scares the crap out of me.

also had a good friend I grew up with get stabbed and killed by her husband, who then stabbed and killed himself. he was on ambien, and I bet he really wasn't aware when he killed them both.