Ambien CR and insomnia

I took ambien CR for about 5 months every night. The lower dose didn't have much effect but I was sleeping well with the 12.5 dose. I did not have any of the bizarre sleep behaviors that many have described. I did however realize that it was producing severe anxiety. I stress this is not my normal level of life anxiety. I began to realize that I was in a constant state of "edginess" and it was getting worse and worse. If could not relax at all and felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. Within a day of stopping it the anxiety was gone but of course I had severe "rebound insomnia" going whole nights with 30-90 minutes of sleep. Tried lower doses but with daily use the anxiety came back. Trying lunesta now and hoping for normal sleep some day

I am 32 years old. For years I have suffered with insomnia. I finally decided to do something about it and get a prescription because I was tired of always being tired in the daytime and not sleeping well at night. Well almost 3 weeks ago I was prescribed with Ambien CR. That 3rd week of taking Ambien I noticed significant hair loss behind my right ear. I now have a bald spot the size of 2 quarters. My hair is continuing to fall out still today and that spot is now enlarging. I made an appointment to my physician and she claimed Ambien has no side effect of hair loss. Strange thing is, I have never experienced any side effect that Ambien reads on the prescription paper from the pharmacist and the pharmacist claims hair loss isn’t a side effect found in research. My memory is well collected and usually when I would take the Ambien CR I would wake up feeling great. Now taking the Ambien allowed me to sleep well relaxed but with 4 hours max and I would wake well alert to start the day. Those 4 hours of rest did feel like an 8-hour rest. So that was the only downfall with sleep using Ambien CR is that I was sleeping enough hours like I should have been. My physician now claims I have Alopecia Aerate because significant hair loss has caused baldness on my head. Blood work was tested for various diagnoses of illnesses and my results came back clear. She referred me to a dermatologist next week to seek help if it's possible for hair growth while I still take Rogain. I find it quit amazing that with in a few weeks of taking Ambien CR that I have experienced patches of baldness. I did stop taking Ambien CR because I strongly believe this Ambien CR is the cause of my hair loses. Me losing my hair have caused me to become depressed. I am very worried and scared that I may loss more hair and that the bald spot will continue to grow larger with extensive hair loss because I took Ambien CR before. I just know that this drug is the cause of my hair loss. I pray that with dermatology help that my hair will stop falling out and grow back. I DO believe hair loss is my side effect of Ambien CR since I experienced no other side effect of this drug.

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.

Responding to chap56:
If you have a problem with Ambien CR, then don't take it. Wanting to take it off the market for other people is totally over reacting and rather selfish though on the surface it would appear well-meaning. We don't need you to act like a nanny for other people, for whom Ambien is a wonder drug, like myself. And no, I don't work for the makers of Ambien, I've just had insomnia for many years.

My husband took Ambien for about 4 months when he was experiencing severe insomnia. (He would go days without being able to sleep!) The Ambien majorly messed with his head!! The best way to describe it is that it made him STUPID! Its so sad, but true. He couldnt think!! his head was foggy. Do not confuse this with him being sleepy. It was NOT sleepyness, or drowsiness. It was his thought process. the brain itself! Simple things became hard to do. He'd forget EVERYTHING!!

The straw that broke the camels back was when he almost got in 2 SERIOUS car accidents. One day on his way to work he was pulling out of a gas station right into traffic. He said he didnt even look! he just drove without thinking!!! By the grace of GOD alone did he not kill someone or get killed himself!! Then the last time, where I put my foot down... My husband went to make a left turn into a store parking lot... but he was in the right hand lane!!! So he turned right into the left lane of traffic and we got t-boned by another woman. THANK GOD it was at slow speeds. Both lanes just started off from a red light, so we were all going less than 20 mph. But the accident was almost hard to believe! If i wasnt there I would have never believed he would do such a STUPID thing!!!!!! Both incidents were within the same week!!

At work that week too he locked himself out of the one office and had to call his boss to come let him in.... (thought there was a problem with his key) the problem was he had the deadbolt locked! It never even dawned on him to unlock that part too!! Now mind you he's been employed here for 3 years! He's been in and out of this door a million times!

My husband is a brilliant man!!! Went to college for Civil Engineering, is a math wizard, among many other things! He has a squeaky clean driving record! This isnt a case of him just being an idiot on his own merits. This medicine was seriously messing with his head!!!!! he said he felt like he had no control over his mind. He had no "quick" thinking!

I called his doctor to ask if it was the Ambien CR or possibly another medication (he takes meds for blood pressure) and the doctor said to stop the Ambien because that was the newest medication. Within a week of stopping it, my husband got his mind back!! It was night and day!!!

This is the worst medication and I will not be surprised if its pulled from the market! Its one thing to give someone a headache, or maybe make them gain a little weight. These things arent dangerous. But when it messes with critical thinking and thought processes....this is DANGEROUS!! I have no doubt in my mind my husband would have ended up killing himself in a car accident if he didnt stop that medication when he did!