Ambien CR and headache

Significant hair loss has caused thinning around my face & entire hair line. Within weeks of taking Ambien CR... Woke up daily with headaches, mood changes, depression.....

I am a licensed NYS Cosmetologist. I know what is normal hair loss & what is not. It started with itching on my whole scalp, there was a lot of white greasy almost dandruff substance on my scalp. It didn't flake off like normal dandruff though. Then I noticed my hairline was not what it would normally be. Each time I brushed my hair the brush was filled with more hair daily... I stopped taking the Ambien CR, the itch went away almost immediately & so did the hair loss. I thought I'd give it one more try & took 1 pill one night. The next day the itch came back, so did the white greasy substance on my scalp & my hair started to fall out again.......... Went to my Dr told her what was going on & she didn't even blink, just asked if I wanted something else for sleep. I said no thank you not after this experience. Went back on Advil PM, not sleeping as well as I was, but at least my hair isn't falling out any more. Just keep hoping it will grow back in, has anyone had their hair grow back???

I've been an Ambien (short-acting) user for many years with no real problems unless I drank any alcohol with it and then stayed up for any time at all after taking. (Two major no-no's!!). Besides the oft-reported binge eating and frenzied cleaning, etc., the strangest thing I ever did was what I call "sleep-emailing." I did this twice--I composed bizarre emails on two separate occasions to two different individuals and sent them. The emails didn't just not make sense, but were as if I was typing a dream out loud--I suppose like sleep talking in print. The first time it happened, one of my friends emailed me the next day and said she had received my "cryptic" email. I told her I hadn't emailed her and didn't know what she was talking about. She copied and pasted the content and sent it to me--I told her I didn't know who wrote that, but it wasn't me! She then forwarded the entire email to me and I saw that it had indeed come from me. That was frightening. I had zero recollection of writing it. The second time it happened, once I was made aware of the email I did have a very vague memory of writing it, and incidentally the email itself was not quite as bizarre as the first one was. I've learned that as long as I don't consume alcohol with Ambien and go straight to bed after taking, I have no problems with it whatsoever, and have found it to be very helpful for my insomnia. I have recently begun trying the extended release version, Ambien CR, as I'm having more problems with periodic awakening throughout the night. Thus far the only side effect I seem to be having is the daily onset of a headache on awakening that I can will develop into a migraine without intervention (I've suffered from migraines for many yrs). If it continues it may be enough for me to have to discontinue the medication.