Ambien "over- the- counter"?

It is 100% NOT over the counter in the USA. First of all, like all other drugs you have to determine your body chemistry to see if it will be ok to take or not. Consult your doctor, as you will have to anyway to get a prescription. Regardless if it is alright for you to take it or not, it is not to be taken long term at all. Use as needed and not more than a couple times a month.

Zolpidem 5 mg is sold over the counter in a few countries. In my opinion, the intelligent ones. America is backward, it's not funny.

Dolores Atwood wrote:

<quoted text>I dont think so you can buy 24 capsules at dollar general for 1.25 of pay 10 or 12 dollars for somminex which is exactly the same thing. All those expensive sleep aids contain 25 mg diphenhydramine Dolores RN in Louisiana same thing just different price.

I just recently bought Equate brand MAX STRENGTH NIGHTTIME SLEEP AID and it is 50mg of Diphenhydramine. I take 2 of them and I am out cold.$4.00 from Walmart for a bottle of 32 gel caps. Not bad and it seems to work.

I stopped ambian cold turkey because me and my neighbors were seriously addicted . i am now a walking sleep deprived animal . but i will just have to wait until i crash and burn.

Amy wrote:

I stopped ambian cold turkey because me and my neighbors were seriously addicted . i am now a walking sleep deprived animal . but i will just have to wait until i crash and burn.

Amy, hop over to the topix ambien headache... topic found at http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/ambien/T8MMMF... . There is a lot of active discussions about recovering from ambien, and the damage it does to mind and body.

Time will heal your brain and you will be able to sleep again. Ambien does a serious screw job on the brain, but it does eventually heal.

I've had insomnia for as long as I can remember and have tried everything under the sun, usually ending up groggy in the morning with a sleep drug hangover. I haven't had caffeine for years and have taken up yoga to try to help. Basically, if there's any sort of suggestion, I've tried it. I've been using generic Ambien (Zolpidem) for about a year and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I only take half of a 10 mg pill every once in a while but it puts me to sleep fast and not wake up groggy. I use it when I've had a lot of consecutive nights of staying up past 4 involuntarily; it helps to break the cycle. I don't think taking it nightly would be a good idea since I don't want to build up a tolerance but while people should be aware of the side effects, I think the side effects of insomnia are much worse for myself so it's a chance I'm willing to take for now. And about herbal drugs- they are not FDA regulated. Herbal or all-natural does not mean it's safe.

Anna wrote:

I've had insomnia for as long as I can remember and have tried everything under the sun, usually ending up groggy in the morning with a sleep drug hangover. I haven't had caffeine for years and have taken up yoga to try to help. Basically, if there's any sort of suggestion, I've tried it. I've been using generic Ambien (Zolpidem) for about a year and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I only take half of a 10 mg pill every once in a while but it puts me to sleep fast and not wake up groggy. I use it when I've had a lot of consecutive nights of staying up past 4 involuntarily; it helps to break the cycle. I don't think taking it nightly would be a good idea since I don't want to build up a tolerance but while people should be aware of the side effects, I think the side effects of insomnia are much worse for myself so it's a chance I'm willing to take for now. And about herbal drugs- they are not FDA regulated. Herbal or all-natural does not mean it's safe.

Anna, be careful with this drug. My husband is able to take it every now and again when he has several nights of no sleep and hasn't become addicted. I started taking it just as you describe, and loved it, until we went overseas for a 3 week trip and I started take it every night to help with jet lag. Big mistake! I was hooked. Took 5 mg. every night for the next 5 yrs. Suffered hair loss, anxiety, depression, body pain, blurred vision, high cholesterol/bp, to name a few!!. I slept 8 hrs. a night and didn't up the dose so Ambien for me was the only thing working. What I didn't know was that withdrawal kicked in every morning at 10 like clockwork. I ended up living on the sofa, thinking my problems were caused by life issues. Not so, ALL of my problems were because of my addiction to Ambien. Ambien is a hynotic drug and affects the brain. For me, it damaged my brain, and has taken 2 yrs. to recover from. Be very careful.

sava777 wrote:

<quoted text>however the drug company manages the strength of the public consumption

It is the government regulating ambien along with other drugs. I personally feel the government needs to stay off my body. I should be able to ingest anything I want. It would get worse with Obamacare because the government would really know all my doctors, what I take etc worse than they already do.

CreamPuff wrote:

Generic, generic, generic! Nobody ever said OTC.
Open your ears, people!

Oh yea they did say OTC…CNN and FOX and ABC news

I started taking ambient maybe a yr ago in the beginning it was awesome and for the most part still is that is,to fall asleep fast. For me it takes like 10 mins and I either fall asleep or eat like a mad woman and fall asleep still up with food still on my mouth haha. But I started sleep walking then drove to store and didn't know I was driving Thennnnn the worst I almost burnt my kitchen completely down by putting oil in a pan and turned heat on high went back to sleep sooo no more ambien but it is still awesome to make u sleep if u eat before u take it then take it and lay down then its fine. Thats what my experience was.