User Reviews of Ambien » Ambien and Alcohol

Husband & Ambien Addiction

Anonymous Visitor — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:44:53 +0000

My husband has gone down hill for the last year now. Drinking, gambling, and now Ambien. He combines the Ambien and Alcohol.

He is not acting himself either. An incident this past Christmas day has led him “us” to be in counseling. He is going to drug/gambling/drinking rehab outpatient program, he is going to mental health counseling, and he and I are both going to marriage counseling.

I believe he is lieing when he goes to his other counseling. They do not know he is drinking. They do not know he is combining alcohol and ambien. He may or may not be telling them that he still gambles the second he has an extra $5-$10-$50-$100 in his pockets. He will drive to the casinio a few minutes away if he has ANY money in his pocket.

Yes….I am living “in” it now. Watching the “shadow” of a guy I got married to 7 years ago. I don’t know this other guy. He has changed so much. No aggression, hostility, anger, violence. He is just in a pretty constant state of being “doped”, “drugged”, “high”. Using the Ambien recreationally. And at night adding the alcohol to the Ambien. Enough to put a horse to sleep.

I am sorry about your dad.

We “ARE” seeing professionals. THree to be exact. And I don’t think it is going to help.

Like with ANY other addiction? The person has to ACKNOWLEDGE there is a problem first. Before they can look for help.

Ambien & Klonopin Side Effects

Anonymous Visitor — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:29:39 +0000

I feel for you. I just lost my 19 year old brother from that exact combination but minus the large amount of alcohol. He was living with us and took 2 ambien at about 3 in the morning. My dad (who was also staying with me due to a house fire) woke him up at about 4 to go to the bed room to sleep. He went to the bathroom, asleep, and took more. We dont know yet how much but the pills we found on the bathroom floor were ambien and klonipin (sp?). The next morning at about 11 my dad went to wake him and he had labored breathing and wouldnt wake up. When the ambulance arrived his heart stopped. They resuscitated him in the ambulance. He was in ICU in a coma for 5 days. On the 5th day they declared him brain dead. He had alot going for him and wouldve never done this on purpose either. He loved his nieces and nephews and would have never done this, especially at my house where we all lived. He had just got a job that he was really looking forward to. I cant believe a drug that has these side effects are available. For those who havent experienced it yet please be careful and think twice before you take it. I personally would prefer not being able to sleep then not being able to wake up. I hope with stories out there that this will be taken off of the market. If a Dr is going to prescribe it there need to be major considerations for the other meds they are on and alcohol consumption. It was hard seeing my baby brother die that way and I pray that this doesnt have to happen to so many other families when it can be prevented.

Ambien Side Effects: Blackouts

Anonymous Visitor — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:07:45 +0000

I took Ambien for a few years and had multiple blackouts and things happen that I do not remember until people told me the next day. I started having weird episodes during the day after just a few drinks. Then one day I was at a ski resort had a few drinks and one shot with my freinds, then I woke up in Jail the next day being told i had a hit and run, the cops at the sceen said I did not know where I was or where I was going, I was in a part of town I had never been in before. My blood alchohol level was not enough for a blackout and since this just started happening I know it was the Ambien built up in my system reacting to the Alchohol, plus I do not have a spleen wich could of aided as well. I am looking at a Felony Assoult, loss of license for a year, I lost my job, and my freinds and family are completly disapointed. Its like I woke up in someones nightmare. Please be careful if you take Ambien that even during the day if you drink it might cause you to blackout!!!

Ambien Side Effects: Terrible Dream Loop

Anonymous Visitor — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:28:28 +0000

I’m a 28 year old guy and I’ve taken one 10mg Ambien every night now for the last two or three years. It only costs me $15 a month which is not too expensive. It seemed to do the trick at first. The side effects I noticed from the very beginning were a drugged like state similar to how a drink or two of alcohol feels. I would loose my balance after about 20 min and rarely experience an amazing sense of euphoria before falling asleep. If I had a tiny bit of alcohol in my system nothing bad happened. If I had more than a little bit I would just have unusual dreams and sometime nightmares. I almost always avoid those two combinations though. Its weird because over the last few years I’ve had weeks were one pill a night keeps me asleep perfectly. However, sometimes I’ve taken a second after 45 min or so just to finally get me asleep. The only real side effects I’ve experience with Ambien the next day are anxiety and dizziness. Lately I’ve been taking one before sleep and then another about 4-5 hours later when I wake up in the middle of the night all restless stuck in some terrible dream loop. I’m definitely not taking it tonight. I’ve noticed when I go without Ambien for a few days my sleep is disrupted. However, once it’s completely out my system I actually feel a lot better. Anyone who maybe feels addicted to Ambien should try some other sleep aid for a week to see if depression, anxiety, and any other negative side effect subside. I recommend half to a full dose of Nyquil in it’s place. Sometimes Nyquil only works for 4 hours or so. Maybe try half a dose to get you to sleep and the other half if you wake up again during the night. Just be careful because the acetaminophen (tylanol) in Nyquil is not good for your body in large doses or with alcohol. Benadryl also works, it just takes forever and isn’t very strong. You can buy liquid benadryl (children allergy medicine) that will work a lot faster. (Liquid medicines always work quicker). I’ve tried taking one 10mg Ambien with a full dose (25mg) of Equate brand children’s allergy medicine and I actually would stay asleep for a nice 9-10 hours. The Ambien puts me to sleep and the allergy medicine keeps me asleep. Don’t waste your time with sleep aids like melatonin though. It doesn’t work very well. I’ve also noticed that I sleep really good during the night when I go running during the day for an hour or so. Anyways, I hope all that info was useful to someone out there

Ambien & Alcohol Effects

Anonymous AmbienOverdose.org Reader — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:09:29 +0000

I am an alcoholic struggling to become & stay sober. I have great difficulty sleeping if I don’t drink. A couple of months ago I saw my doctor about getting some sleeping pills so I don’t have to drink every night. She put me on Ambien. I was a little scared because of the stories I had heard, but I was desperate. I hadn’t experienced anything crazy during my first 10 or so nights taking it (over about 3 months), other than waking up in my daughter’s bed. However, that all changed Sunday night. Sunday night I did drink, and for the first time took an Ambien after drinking. I remember taking one Ambien and going to sleep. The next thing I knew, I was in the emergency room. I had NO idea what happened. After being shipped to the local mental ward, because they thought I tried to kill myself, my boyfriend told me that about 2 hours after I went to sleep, I woke up and took the second half of my 30-day prescription. I was in the “hospital” for 3 days. It was the worst experience of my life! I have NEVER been suicidal in my life! I am now a major advocate AGAINST ambien in any form and will be advocting the serious caution not to take ambien with alcohol. My doctor knows I am an alcoholic and did not make that concern known to me.

Ambien and Alcohol: Side Effects

Anonymous AmbienOverdose.org Reader — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:38:27 +0000

I am an addict and alcoholic. I am over 35 yrs old. It sounds like a lot of you are pretty young, younger than I. If I could tell you this and you could REALLY understand and take it to heart…you might have a chance. Any drug taken to get a ‘high’ is deadly. Ambien is especially dangerous. I have been abusing it on and off since it first came out. I’m sure you know by now, Ambien numbs the part of your brain and you lose all…I mean ALL inhibitions. It doesn’t sound like most of you are taking the doses I have taken, than God! When I do get it, I usually get 30 – 10 mg pills and I take them throughout the period of one day, the next day I get one of the two refills and take another 30 that day, and then the last 30 over the 3rd day. I have no idea how I have survived, other than a very high tolerance. I have done some crazy things while on ambien that has brought me to my knees and to tears. I’ve gone to jail for driving while on Ambien. I don’t think I even understood what was going on nor did i care until it wore off in jail. I have almost hit my mother while she tried to keep me from doing some pretty crazy things. One time I was trying to let an elephant in my bathroom window and had the window wide open in the cold of winter. She came in the living room late at night b/cuz the tv was LOUD as HELL and I told her I couldn’t b/cuz of ‘them’, the people in the room with me said they couldn’t hear the tv…there was noone there. I had another episode last night. I have a family and it scares me to think of what might happen one of these times. Last night, took all 30 and ended up going to a restaurant and going table to table and telling my life story to people! Yea, IDIOT or addict. Sad, pathetic. Then, left with a guy’s wife who was much younger than I and we went looking for more drugs. We went to a bar and I KNOW I was asking LOUDLY if anyone had something. We were asked to leave. We left with 3 young guys in my car, me driving. Stupid. I am blessed I did not get pulled over or killed someone or died from overdose. I guess we were on our way to have sex with guys we didn’t know! I remember catching my senses and ended up going home to my ‘family’. I’m afraid to give too much away. Paranoid, I suppose. If you have depression, ambien will make that worse. If you mix it with the wrong meds, you can die. Funny thing, one day I might only take 6 and for some reason my heart will stop. YOURS MIGHT TOO! Go to a meeting you younger people. You have a chance to live a GOOD and PEACEFUL and HAPPY life. Don’t fall into this trap of addiction that I have. It ruins any happiness or hope for a good life. I prayed tonight for God to help me not pick up my refill. I pray you STOP taking this drug, it kills, it makes you do things like I’ve told you. And, thats not even the worst. My Mom and I were on a road trip and I was in the back seat eating my cigs!!!! Then, I was trying to jump out of the car and she had to pull over and talk me into laying down..lasting maybe a minute. Asking people at gas stations for drugs in FRONT of my poor Mother. She’s been thru this so much with me, I feel so bad for her. Anyway, this is the first time I’ve let all this out, about the ambien. I have been apart of AA on and off for almost 20 years now. It’s not so cute when you’re out of control at my age. PLEASE, I ask you from the bottom of my heart to stop this ambien or any substance abuse. It only gets worse and I mean more WORSE THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE.
Peace and love to all.

–Lee