Ambien causing depression

Has anyone experienced depression as a side effect of ambien?

Yes, I did. Everything looked gloom and doom which is totally against my nature. Since I quit taking it I am back to my normal self.

Yes! I'm a type A personality and always doing 50 projects at one time. Feeling depressed was just not part of my make-up. Yet, there would be times while I was on ambien that I would sink down in a whole of funk.

I was on the drug for 7 years. I'm off now and struggling to find some normalcy with my sleeping patterns... but a feel more like myself again.

I have been on ambien for close to 3 years and in the last few months I have felt very depressed....I am not myself..I am also paroniod...very emotional!!! HELP!!!!

aprilstorm wrote:

I have been on ambien for close to 3 years and in the last few months I have felt very depressed....I am not myself..I am also paroniod...very emotional!!! HELP!!!!

I have also taken ambien for little over 2 years and have been pretty depressed for a while. I can distinctly remember a time when I was not depressed but never imagined that it might have been the beginning of my ambien use that did it. Note that I never feel depressed when feeling the effects of the drug. In fact, its the opposite. The effects of ambien also somehow make the bad things in life somehow seem less of a problem.

The next day the gloomy way of looking at things comes back and im still the same ol depressed kid.

Ambien does provide you with relief shortly after you take it and after that you don't remember much and just fall asleep. But the next day is a different story.
Sadly, it does cause depression and it is a fact.

l_una wrote:

Ambien does provide you with relief shortly after you take it and after that you don't remember much and just fall asleep. But the next day is a different story.
Sadly, it does cause depression and it is a fact.

I find it ironic that my doctor prescribed Ambien because I had difficulty sleeping and was diagnosed with depression(hospitalized for two weeks). I currrently am prescribed Paxil for depression and anxiety attacks yet the doctor willingly suggests Ambien to help me sleep. For seven years I took both drugs. As of last February a new doctor has refused to prescribe Ambien and I have slowly weaned myself off the Ambien (HELL). As of July I'm off the Ambien completely and will NEVER do that again.(Withdrawal-Horrible). I still to this day (three months later)have side effects.

I am certain that it does cause depression. I have never felt it until I took ambien for three months.

SUPERMOM:

Are you still on this forum?

RobertJ wrote:

I am certain that it does cause depression. I have never felt it until I took ambien for three months.

I didn't realize how much it affected me until I was off of it. My withdrawal was horrible. The closest I have come to hell.....Glad you are doing better. There is hope for those who wish to get off of this poison.

ambien is a short term aid, 7-10 days. if you take it longer you may get addicted to it. the withdrawel from ambien for me, was like 10 times worse than b4 when i actually started taking it.

The reason I was prescribed Ambien because I had been on several forms of steroids (bronchitis & asthma-related issues). Steroids was causing jittery and anxiety, hence insomnia. My doctor prescribed Ambien and I started taking Ambien (5 mcg) for five straight days and then Ambien CR (12.5 mcg) for seven straight days. I decided to take myself off of it because I noticed that I was building a tolerance (less hours of sleep per night) and the withdrawal symptoms was horrible (anxiety, night terror, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, drowziness, emotional, loss of appetite). I have been off of it now for four days and still have not slept. I've tried valerian root, hot whirpool lavender bath and chammomile tea; unfortunately, it didn't help. O started acupuncture yesterday and started taking 3 mg of Melatonin (per my doctor). I still didn't sleep well but slept for several minutes and woke up calling my child's name. So, in a sense it was good because I was dreaming.
I hope to hear from you all on how you're doing.

Yes! I've taken it for an extended period of time twice and both times I have experienced depression. The first time I would cry on the phone with my daughter and night and be difficult to understand. She finally convinced me to stop taking it. Most recently I realized that I became depressed during the day and became depressed after I had been feeling really good about life. I started taking Tylenol Simply Sleep and it helped me with the sleep and actually worked better with no side effects. I have sworn off Ambien because of the depression side effect.

After reading the posts,I noticed a pattern,I slipped into a deep depession,After I started taken ambien,I have a script for 30 and my friend gave me 7 to start off with.My severe depression started after taking ambien for about 2 weeks.Im not taking it ever again.Be careful on this stuff.Alot of people I know are on it.Be well!!!

This is me wrote:

Yes, I did. Everything looked gloom and doom which is totally against my nature. Since I quit taking it I am back to my normal self.

I do a big mood change I hope this doesnt last forever

I have experienced a big mood change I do sleep though which is a big change. After our daughter died I did not sleep for 3 months I think you have to figure out what is important Sleep or mood.

I have taken it on and off for sometime but recently I have been taking it regularly and I cry and am depressed all the time. I just don't want to have to function. I am done with it today. I know I won't sleep but this is awful.

I have only been taking it for about 2 weeks and I have noticed a difference in my mood today! I did not take it last night and was awake until 4am but I feel better getting 2 hours of sleep than I have after taking ambien. And its the same thing I am on an antidepressants why are dr prescribing something that slows down your brain?

Long term use of Ambien will cause alot more than depression. STOP TAKING IT EVERYONE. The withdrawals are awful and can last for months. Even if you've only been taking it 3 weeks or so. It is very addicting. You feel like your sleep is the most important thing in the world so you keep taking it because you won't be able to sleep at all without it. You are so worried about sleeping that you don't notice all of the bad things Ambien is doing to you: depression, memory and recall problems, irritability, and even digestive problems. Doctors prescribe it freely because they are trying to help us. In the end, they are making us worse. Ambien is a huge money maker for the drug companies so the side effects and problems withdrawing are not well publicized. Do yourself and the people that have to live with you a favor, get off Ambien now and NEVER take it or anything like it again.

I started taking ambien as everyone else does(about three years ago) to sleep. I do feel I have one of the best Doctors. I have not told anyone about my depression since I thought it was my daily worries. My kids are grown but as most grown children when they leave home they tell us more than they did when they were younger. At times it does worry me. I do not let them know. I am married for the second time and do feel I am very happy and do trust my husband. But lately I just feel that things I could handle before are getting out of hand and I just don't want to be here or anywhere else. I just don't want to think or be around anybody. I am going to stop taking ambien and try to kick it on my own after seeing the other comments on this website. I have a very hard time sleeping and even when I take ambien sometimes it does not work. I do not want my husband or kids to know of my depression or thoughts but I will ask for help iif can not deal with this myself.
I feel better knowing that someone else is seeing the problems ambien is causing and hope we all get back to being ourselves again.
Thank you